Former Sunderland newsagents shop to be converted into 'bedsits'

City councillors have given the go-ahead for a Sunderland shop to be transformed into 'bedsits'. The Planning and Highways Committee of Sunderland City Council approved plans this week for the Chester News site at 129 Chester Road, near the Chesters pub.

Initial proposals submitted to council officials sought to convert the ground floor of the property into three 'bedsits', each with en-suite bathrooms. However, due to the "lack of communal space", applicants were told 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 including a kitchen/lounge area and separate toilet and shower room. The proposed works also included external alterations to the building to "replace the shop front with domestic-style double glazed windows and a domestic entrance door".

Ahead of a decision-making planning committee meeting, Sunderland City Council’s planning department had recommended the planning application for approval. Concerns about the plan were raised during the debate on the application at a Planning and Highways Committee meeting at City Hall on October 21, 2024.

Councillor Ehthesham Haque, Barnes ward councillor, expressed his deep concern about the application and the potential parking impacts from the number of tenants living in the "tiny property". He said: "There’s double yellow lines on both sides and double lines along the front and we [councillors] cannot get enforcement at all , parking is really bad around there," He also questioned a report that suggested changing the off-licence shop into a small house in multiple occupation wouldn’t increase parking issues, saying he didn't understand how that would work out.

Councillor Michael Dixon, a member of the Planning and Highways Committee, also interrogated planning officers about the impact of losing a shop front and replacing it with a residential frontage without a bay window. He asked: "Does that not worry you a little bit because all the residential properties further up and further down from Chester Road have bay windows," adding that this would be the first of its type with this sort of design.

In response, council planning officers stated that the original character and appearance of many properties in Chester Road had been "eroded" through the addition of shop fronts over the years, and that the proposed frontage for 129 Chester Road was acceptable in that context. They added that the conversion of one business unit to a residential use would not harm the Chester Road district shopping centre.

Cllr Dixon has voiced concerns about a residential property "impinging" on the shopping parade and the application "leaving the door open" for similar applications "slap bang in the middle of the shops for example". "That could change the whole aspect of the secondary shopping parade in Chester Road," he remarked.

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Council officers have countered by saying that the planning policy for the Chester Road district area allows residential uses, and there is no reason to object to such a use at ground floor level. Typically, planning applications like this are decided by council officers under ‘delegated powers’.

However, this particular application was brought before the council’s Planning and Highways Committee by Barnes ward Cllr Ehthesham Haque. The planning documents reveal that the ground floor commercial space of the property is currently vacant, with the first floor serving as a residential flat connected to a kitchen area on part of the ground floor.

The planning approval for converting the ground floor to residential use comes with a stipulation that the applicant must contribute financially towards coastal ecology mitigation. This contribution aims to mitigate the significant effects on European sites from recreational impacts caused by new residential development.

The applicant has been given a deadline to make this payment, failing which the planning application will be refused.

A report from the Planning and Highways Committee has stated: "The principle of changing the ground floor to a HMO (house in multiple occupation) is acceptable."

It goes on to say, "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."

Furthermore, it assures that "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."

Council planners have reviewed the application against the council’s house in multiple occupation (HMO) policies and determined it would not lead to an "overconcentration" of HMOs in the vicinity. Additionally, it was highlighted that new residents could be eligible for parking permits through the council’s community parking management scheme (CPMS).

For those interested in further details on the planning application or wishing to follow its progress, they can visit Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website and search for the reference: 24/00480/FUL.