Housing plans approved for former church site in South Shields

Plans for an apartment complex on a long-vacant former church site in South Shields have been given the go-ahead by councillors.

Proposals were submitted to South Tyneside Council planning department last year for a four-story residential building featuring 14 apartments in land off St Aidan's Road.

The site on the Lawe Top was the former home of St Aidan's Church which was cleared in the early 2000s, with the land remaining as grassed open space.

Submitted by applicant St Aidan's Court (South Shields) Ltd the proposal sought to provide ten two-bed apartments, two three-bed apartments and two three-bed penthouse apartments with "terrace areas".

The application went before the council's planning committee for a decision on Monday (May 22) where the proposals won unanimous approval, in line with recommendations from officers.

Councillor Geraldine Kilgour, Fellgate and Hedworth ward representative, said "on balance" there was no reason to refuse the application.

She added: "It's not the look that I like, however it is very different, very contemporary.

"I think you can either go for an attempt to look like something, which sometimes fails, or you go for something different and this is completely different.

"I think it's quite an ingenious use of the landscape."

Councillor Mark Walsh, Horsley Hill ward representative, added he did not think the proposed building was "beautiful" and he had his "reservations" over the scheme, but admitted the project was "sustainable".

In total 11 letters of objection were submitted against the plans by residents.

The main issues raised included concerns around parking, traffic and congestion, privacy, construction noise and the appropriateness of the scale and design of the development.

However council officers had ruled the proposals offered "appropriate housing and a boost to housing land supply" in the area and would not be "materially detrimental to residential amenity".

The site will feature communal amenity space and 28 parking bays, including one disabled space, with access taken from the west elevation of the building off Henry Nelson Street — with further visitor parking and cycle storage also provided.

The committee heard the building would be "red brick to compliment the surrounding terraces" with grey cladding used, providing a "contemporary take" in comparison to existing nearby properties.

The approval is subject to routine planning conditions and the completion of a legal agreement securing  £5,642 towards mitigation linked to habitat regulation assessments.

Between 2007 and 2021 there have also been four applications for residential development approved by South Tyneside Council on the site, with the most recent being a bid for four residential ‘self-build’ plots.

However work was never carried out and the site has remained vacant.