Hallgarth Care Centre, Hallgarth Street, DURHAM, DH1 3AY

Conversion of care home (C2) to Student Accommodation comprising 69 bedspace in the form of 9 cluster apartments, re-roofing of conservatories, erection of new cycle shelter and replacement bin store

Authority: Durham County Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: residential · Change of use
Inspector: Dowsett J

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect of the proposal on creating, or maintaining, a mixed and balanced community, having regard to the policies in the development plan.
The effect of the proposal on the living conditions of the occupiers of nearby residential properties.

What decided it

The proposed units would be licensable as HMOs, causing the scheme to conflict with the 10% HMO concentration threshold in Policy 16 of the CDP and thus with the development plan as a whole.

the modest benefits of the scheme (building reuse, employment, accommodation provision), individually or cumulatively, did not overcome the significant weight given to the conflict with the development plan

Plan policies cited: Policy 16, Policy 31, Policy C16

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

What an account adds

Draw a red line around your site and the appraisal follows.

Heritage. Listed buildings by grade and distance, conservation areas, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, heritage at risk.
Landscape and environment. Green belt, national parks and national landscapes, SSSIs, ancient woodland, SPA, SAC and Ramsar sites, nutrient catchments.
Flooding. Flood zones 2 and 3, surface water, and both again with climate change.
Transport. The 800 metre station catchment and service frequency, bus stops with their weekday frequency, the cycle network, and the Framework’s transport tests measured for the site.

Then the development plan position, the housing land supply as an Inspector last accepted it, and every appeal decided around the site with its letter.

Every English appeal since 2016, with the letter behind it wherever the Inspectorate published one. Searched by meaning as well as by words, with the key case law counted live across the letters.

Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.

The judgement stays yours. The tool gathers the material and dates it.