Student flats plan dismissed at appeal
GooglePlans for student flats above a city centre restaurant have been dismissed by a government-appointed planning inspector.
The Planning Inspectorate threw out an appeal against Sunderland City Council's refusal of plans to turn 15 Waterloo Place, near the city's railway station, into six apartments.
Concerns were raised about odour and noise from a nearby late-night music venue and commercial waste bins from the establishments below.
A planning inspector said the proposal did not meet the expectations of local policies which aimed to "protect the living conditions of occupants".
There have been several attempts to convert the building's upper floors into residential accommodation in recent years, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Plans submitted in 2024 to provide six flats "suitable for student accommodation" were refused by the then Labour-led authority the following year.
The Planning Inspectorate said the main issue was the effect on the living conditions of future occupants "by way of noise and odour and the effect on the viability of adjacent businesses".
The development was also deemed to clash with national planning guidance around efforts to "integrate new development into the climate of the surrounding environment".
