Washington: InPost parcel lockers near Top Club blocked over dangerous, gridlocked road and noise fears
Plans for a ‘parcel locker’ near a Washington community venue have been blocked by council planners over highway safety and noise fears.
Sunderland City Council’s planning department has refused an application for the erection of an ‘InPost Parcel Locker” near the Top Club in the Concord area.
Plans submitted in recent months, from company InPost UK, aimed to erect InPost Parcel lockers adjacent to the community hub off Manor Road, and a large unit made up of parcel compartments was proposed.
During a council consultation exercise on the plans however, there were objections from Washington North ward councillor Jill Fletcher and two nearby residents.
The concerns, summarised in a council report, included “highway safety specifically at peak times.”
Cllr Fletcher, in a consultation statement, said the proposed parcel locker was “sited in the wrong place as nobody would take any notice of the double yellow lines down that road”.
The councillor added: “It is already a very dangerous corner and traffic at school time is already gridlocked and the buses and residents who live opposite would have difficulty getting off their driveways.”
After considering the planning application, Sunderland City Council’s planning department refused it on March 24, 2025.
Three reasons for refusal were given, including the plans impacting pedestrian and highway safety, visual impacts on the area and “harm to the amenity of residential properties” near the site due to “noise and disturbance caused by the comings and goings of users of the lockers and their vehicles during unsociable hours.”
Council planners, in a decision report, noted that a “proposed delivery vehicle canopy” would be located adjacent to the Top Club on a “small parcel of green space which has recently been replaced with concrete hardstanding for the base of the lockers”.
They added that the appearance of the lockers would be “unacceptable in the context of the wider predominantly residential setting with commercial premises” and would be an “incongruous feature within the streetscene”.
Council planners also said that the proposed InPost lockers “would lead to potentially frequent visits from the public and be available as advertised 24 hours a day” and would “lead to potential noise and disturbances during unsociable hours”.
On highway safety matters, the council decision report added there was no “dedicated parking provision available adjacent to the lockers” and that “both sides of Manor Road feature, at this point, double yellow lines to prevent on-street parking and the road is relatively busy”.
This was because the road “provides access to a range of nearby facilities (local shops, the church, Usworth Colliery school) and it is also a bus route,” planning documents state.
Council planners noted that there had been a formal objection from the council’s ‘transportation development team’ on highway grounds, as “the presence of the lockers will likely lead to short term inconsiderate parking on the public highway immediately in front of the lockers, to the detriment of road safety”.
It was noted that the objection would remain “unless an alternative space can be found within curtilage of the site for appropriate short stay parking”.
The council decision report adds: “The proposal does not give rise to any land use concerns and it is accepted that the proposal will provide additional commercial facilities for the local community, and this should be given positive weight.
“However, for the reasons explained above and covered in detail by the future transport team’s consultation response, the proposal would be sited at a location which is considered likely to attract vehicles to and from the site via Manor Road, and without adequate incurtilage parking or servicing provision, is likely to lead to conditions which are prejudicial to pedestrian and highway safety.”
The applicant has the right to challenge the council’s refusal decision by lodging an appeal with the Secretary of State.
For more information on the plan and council ruling, visit Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website and search reference: 24/02597/FUL