22 affordable homes at Land To The South Of South Parade, Thornley

What was proposed

The application proposed 22 dwellings, all for social rent, with landscaping, infrastructure, parking, two accesses and underground drainage storage.

“All 22 of the proposed dwellings would be affordable housing. The tenure of all 22 would be Social Rent units. All of the dwellings form part of the Council House Delivery Programme, which sets out to deliver 500 affordable homes. The development would be a mix of two storey buildings comprising flats, single storey bungalows, and two storey houses. Each bungalow and house would feature their own private rear gardens.”

“Each bungalow and house would have in-curtilage cycle storage through proposed sheds. The flats would benefit from parking storage within the communal garden. The development would be served by two new vehicular accesses from South Parade to the north of the site. The proposal also seeks to create a below ground drainage attenuation tank at the southwestern corner of the site, instead of a Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SuDS) basin.”

Officer report

The site

The site is a grassed field at the settlement edge, surrounded by homes on three sides and an agricultural field to the south.

“The site comprises a grassed field measuring 0.84 hectares (ha) in area. The site is located at the southeastern edge of the settlement, with residential dwellings to the east, west and north, and an agricultural field to the south.”

“The site is now a flat grassed field and is currently used as amenity open space. The southeastern edge of the site features a number of trees and scrub, and the southwestern edge is more open. Whilst the site can be seen within long distance views from Wheatley Hill and public footpaths to the south, this relatively small site is clearly seen within the context of the built form to the immediate east, west and north from these vantage points.”

Officer report

Earlier site history

The site previously contained terraced housing cleared in the 1960s and has no relevant planning history for the application site.

“The site previously contained terraced housing, with historic mapping indicating they were cleared in the 1960’s. Historic mapping also shows that a former railway was located to the south of the site, running from the former Thornley Colliery to the west to a former rail junction to the east, and on to Hartlepool.”

Officer report

Why officers recommended approval

Officers considered the site sustainable and found that the benefits of affordable housing outweighed limited harm and identified policy conflicts.

“As explained in this report, the applicant has worked proactively with officers to address some initial concerns, and the proposed design and layout of the proposal is now improved. There are outstanding concerns relating to car parking provision for two flats, and garden depth provision for two bungalows.”

“The Affordable Housing officer has maintained concerns with the provision of 8 flats, 4 ground floor and 4 first floor, given their scepticism on whether there is a long term need for these types of affordable units in this part of the County. The affordable housing officer would still prefer to see 2 bedroom houses being proposed which are better suited to young families and are considered to address identified local need.”

Officer report

Consultation responses

Most consultees raised no objection subject to conditions or contributions, while highways and affordable-housing officers retained specific concerns.

“Affordable Housing – Raise concerns with the principle of providing flats as affordable units in this part of the County, given scepticism on whether there is a long term need for these types of affordable units in this part of the County. The affordable housing officer would prefer to see 2 bedroom houses being proposed which are better suited to young families and are considered to address identified local need.”

“Design and Conservation – The development has been assessed through the Councils Design Review Panel on 8th October 2025. Following that initial assessment there has been further discussion with the Affordable Housing, Highways and Drainage officers, leading to an updated scoring. The current amended scheme has received 2 ‘Red’, 3 ‘Amber’, and 7 ‘Green’ scores.”

Officer report

Public objections

Nine objections raised concerns about open space, traffic, parking, services, flooding, construction effects and neighbouring residential amenity, with no support letters received.

“Proximity to existing dwellings and subsequent impact on amenity of neighbours through overbearing, overlooking, loss of light, and loss of outlook • Impact of car lights and street lights on amenity of neighbouring residents • Noise, dust and light impacts during construction period • Overdevelopment of the site • Increase in traffic • Insufficient parking • Impact on amenity of wider landscape • Loss of public open space • Increased flood risk • Capacity of sewer network…”

Officer report

Who spoke

The Senior Planning Officer presented the application, and the agent spoke in support, highlighting the bungalows and ground-floor flats.

The committee vote

Councillor M Wilkes moved approval, Councillor J Elmer seconded it, and the application was approved by vote.

“Councillor M Wilkes noted that it should not have come to this point at Committee, and he felt it could lead to challenge of non-DCC applications where they are refused on design red flags. He noted that this had been the case within this Committee and the County Planning Committee, where Members had been able to support applications when looking at them in detail.”

“That the application be APPROVED, subject to the conditions and s106 Legal Agreement as set out within the report.”

Minutes