City shop apart-hotel plan rejected by council
BBCPlans to turn a city centre card shop into an apart-hotel have been rejected due to concerns about noise, security and the quality of the accommodation.
Sunderland City Council said guests at Raj Deep Holdings Ltd's proposed four-room hotel on Blandford Street would have been negatively affected by nearby pubs and clubs.
Officers also criticised the scheme's design and layout, arguing it failed to provide a secure arrival point, adequate facilities or an acceptable standard of accommodation.
The applicants had said the scheme would "bring an underutilised town centre building back into productive use" by "creating quality visitor accommodation".
They also claimed there was a "strong and demonstrable demand for short-stay accommodation" in the city centre, but failed to convince the council's planning department, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
Council officers believed the "existing noise environment", including the site's close proximity to several late-night venues, would "significantly impact any future guests and limit the feasibility of the building for hotel use".
Planners also said the development would not provide a secure frontage for arriving guests, rooms were "lacking in the provision of basic facilities" and the scheme's design, layout and access arrangements did not have a clear function.
The refusal followed a public consultation where a number of objections were raised in relation to noise, access, safety, antisocial behaviour and the impact on the operation of nearby music venues.
