Planning Objections in the North East

Planning Policy in the North East

Planning applications in the North East are assessed against each authority’s adopted Local Plan and the NPPF as the overarching national framework. Gateshead Council applies the Core Strategy and Urban Core Plan for Gateshead and Newcastle upon Tyne 2010–2030, including Policy CS15 on place-making and Policy CS18 on green infrastructure and the natural environment. South Tyneside Council applies its Local Plan policies including Policy DM4 on intensive housing uses and Policy DMD 9 on amenity space. North Tyneside Council applies its Local Plan policies on residential amenity, design quality and parking standards. Sunderland City Council applies the Sunderland Core Strategy and Development Plan alongside supplementary planning documents on design and residential extensions.

The North East has a substantial heritage stock, including conservation areas in historic town centres and former industrial settlements. Many authorities operate Article 4 Directions in areas of high HMO concentration, particularly around the region’s universities. The BRE daylight and sunlight guidance and the 45-degree rule are routinely applied by North East planning authorities when assessing the impact of extensions and new buildings on neighbouring amenity. The Nationally Described Space Standard (NDSS) is also engaged where proposals involve residential conversion or HMO use.

Experience in the North East

Planning Voice has prepared objection letters across Gateshead, South Tyneside, North Tyneside, and Sunderland. Our North East work has addressed residential extensions, loss of light, HMO conversions, overdevelopment, heritage harm, and new residential development including supported housing and flatted schemes. In each case, we have grounded our objections in the relevant Local Plan, supplementary guidance, and the NPPF.

In Gateshead, we objected to the erection of 20 self-contained apartments on a site that formed part of a wider wildlife corridor within the council’s Green Infrastructure Delivery Plan. Our objection raised the disruption to ecological connectivity, including harm to bat foraging habitat and the loss of Modified Grassland, Neutral Grassland and Mixed Scrub habitats confirmed by the applicant’s own Ecological Assessment. We also argued that the proposed building’s scale and massing would be out of keeping with the surrounding low-density residential character of semi-detached houses and bungalows, and that the development would generate unacceptable parking and highway impacts on surrounding residential streets. The application was subsequently amended to address several of the concerns we raised.

In South Tyneside, we objected to the change of use of a commercial building to 30 studio flats and two six-bedroom HMOs with a new mansard roof. Our objection identified that the proposed studio units fell below the Nationally Described Space Standard, that the shared living and kitchen areas within the HMOs were undersized for the number of occupants, and that there was no private or communal external amenity space for residents, contrary to South Tyneside’s Policy DMD 9. We also raised concerns about the unsuitability of the location for intensive residential use, given the high concentration of commercial activity including restaurants and takeaways generating noise, odours and late-night disturbance, and about the parking and traffic impacts of introducing 32 residential units in an area with limited on-street capacity.

In South Tyneside, we also objected to a rear extension involving demolition and the construction of an outbuilding on a site within a heritage setting. Our objection engaged with the harm to the significance of the heritage asset and the impact of the proposed works on the character and appearance of the surrounding area.

In North Tyneside, we objected to a side extension and loft conversion to a property within a flatted development. Our objection raised the loss of light to neighbouring habitable rooms resulting from the bulk and positioning of the extension. In Sunderland, we objected to a rear extension and loft conversion to a property proposed for conversion to flats, raising concerns about loss of daylight and sunlight to adjoining properties and the cumulative impact of the works on the residential amenity of the street.

Getting Started

Send us the application reference and your concerns, and we will assess the case the same day at no cost. Our objections are prepared at a fixed fee (from £250), delivered within three working days, and written by a Chartered Town Planner (MRTPI). There is no obligation to proceed after the initial assessment. Contact us to get started.