Plans to convert a South Shields church into flats are given the green light

South Tyneside Council’s planning department has approved a new application for the former church at 6 Westoe Avenue in the town’s Westoe ward.

The site was once used by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which has since relocated, and prior to that, the site was used as a “nursery and a co-operative store”, planning documents state.

New plans aim to convert the building into accommodation, with four two-bedroom flats and alterations to windows and doors in the south and west elevations.

The application comes following a previous scheme for a self-contained apartment and a seven-bed house in multiple occupation (HMO) at the site, which was later withdrawn by the applicant.

The initial, and now shelved, scheme proposed a self-contained two-bedroom apartment to the ground floor and seven en-suite bedrooms forming a HMO over two floors of the building, along with communal facilities.

New plans for the site represent a scaled-back scheme with floor plans showing how the building would be subdivided, with two flats on the ground floor and two flats on the first floor.

Each flat would have two bedrooms, kitchen/living/dining areas and a bathroom, planning documents state.

During a council consultation exercise on the plans, six public representations were received in objection.

Concerns ranged from the flats adding to “already problematic parking in the area” and highway safety issues, as well as concerns around bin storage, the loss of the church, the property becoming a HMO in future and more.

After considering the planning application and assessing it against planning policies, South Tyneside Council’s planning department approved it on August 15, 2024.

Council planners, in a decision report, said the proposal would not cause any “significant harm to the visual amenity of the area, residential amenity, highways safety or biodiversity” and that works to the building would be “sympathetic to the surrounding area”.

It was also noted that the proposed use for residential flats was “considered to be an appropriate use within this residential area” and that there was “adequate indoor space for tenants”.

Council planners said that “it is not for the planning system to consider the day-to-day operational matters and tenancy management” but that any future noise issues could be investigated by the council’s environmental health team.

On the building itself, the council decision report said the property “is not a listed building, locally listed or listed as an asset of community value” and does not have any “formal protection with regards to its loss, for community purposes”.

The council decision report added: “Due to the application proposing a change of use from a community church to residential accommodation, it is considered that there would be a reduction in comings and goings to the site in large numbers (such as a day when a service would take place) and would be more akin to movements of existing residential properties.

“As a result, it is considered that this would result in an improvement to the residential amenity of neighbouring properties”.

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Council planners noted there was potential for “one or more of the apartments proposed [to] change to a smaller HMO (Use Class C4) without requiring planning permission” under ‘permitted development rights’.

The council decision report said it was “not considered reasonable or necessary to restrict permitted development rights for the property relating to any potential future conversion to a C4 use (smaller HMO)”.

The council report added that “planning permission would be required from the local planning authority should a larger HMO be proposed at the application site in the future”.

Under planning conditions, the plans for the four flats at the site must be brought forward within three years.

For more information on the plan or council decision, visit South Tyneside Council’s planning portal website and search reference: ST/0297/24/FUL.