Councillors to make decision on plan to convert Sunderland shop into 'bedsits'

-Credit: (Image: Google Maps)
-Credit: (Image: Google Maps)


Plans to transform a Sunderland shop into 'bedsits' are set to be reviewed by councillors this month. The Planning and Highways Committee of Sunderland City Council will deliberate over the future of the Chester News site at 129 Chester Road, near the Chesters pub.

Planning documents reveal that the ground floor commercial space is currently vacant, with a residential flat occupying the first floor, its kitchen area extending to part of the ground floor. Initial proposals submitted to council officials sought to convert the ground floor of the property into three 'bedsits', each equipped with en-suite bathroom facilities.

However, due to the "lack of communal space", applicants were advised that the proposal would likely be recommended for refusal as it would "provide an inadequate level of residential amenity for future occupiers". Revised plans were put forward in August, 2024, reducing the number of bedsits from three to two and incorporating a kitchen/lounge area and separate toilet and shower room.

READ MORE:Eight firms hiring staff over Christmas including Aldi, Amazon, Sainsbury’s, Argos and Royal Mail

READ MORE:Teachers explain just how much you should help your child with school homework

The proposed works also include external modifications to "replace the shopfront with domestic-style double glazed windows and a domestic entrance door". Normally, planning applications of this nature are decided by council officers under 'delegated powers'.

However, Barnes ward councillor Ehthesham Haque referred the application to the council’s Planning and Highways Committee, meaning the decision will be made by councillors at a public meeting.

Sunderland City Council’s planning department, in a report published ahead of the decision-making meeting, has recommended the planning application for approval.

Any approval would be on the condition that the applicant makes a financial contribution towards coastal ecology mitigation, helping to “address likely significant effects on European sites, arising from recreational impacts generated by new residential development”.

The committee report adds: “The principle of changing the ground floor to a HMO (house in multiple occupation) is acceptable.

“The amended proposal would cause no harm to the visual amenity of the street scene or host property, and is unlikely to cause significant harm to the amenity of existing residential occupiers in the locality given the prevailing mix of residential and commercial accommodation in the area.

“The prospective occupiers are also considered to be afforded an adequate level of amenity whilst the proposal would not be considered to impact negatively on highway or pedestrian safety or ecology, subject to the receipt of the coastal mitigation strategy contribution.”

The council’s Planning and Highways Committee will review the proposed plans on October 21, 2024, at Sunderland's City Hall.

The meeting is set to commence at 5.30pm and members of the public can attend. Those interested in more details about the planning application or wishing to follow its journey can visit the council’s planning portal website and use the reference number: 24/00480/FUL.