Plans rejected to create six flats in a vacant shop in the centre of Seaham

Last year, proposals were lodged with Durham County Council to create six self-contained flats at a vacant goods store on 29-30 Church Street.

The planning application said each unit would comprise a kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom alongside shared bin and bicycle storage facilities.

It added the intent was to keep the shop front and retain the retail use at the ground floor.

Nearly a year after the plans were lodged, Durham County Council’s planning authority rejected the application.

Refusal reasons included the potential impact on the Heritage Coast and the Easington District Local Plan (EDLP), which was adopted in 2004, being “out of date.”

Planners said that given the age of the plan, and housing supply figures that informed it, housing supply policies did not reflect an “up to date objective assessment of need.”

As a result, the EDLP could only be offered “limited weight” in the decision making process.

Planners said converting the unit to flats would represent a “positive use” and would have some benefit to the town centre.

However, they also concluded that the development would have a “significant adverse impact upon the Heritage Coast” which is a Special Area of Conservation.

They added this could not be “appropriately avoided or sufficiently mitigated.”

The plans were officially refused with a decision notice issued on Wednesday, April 22.

The applicant has the right to appeal.

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