Plans for student flats near music venues rejected

Plans for the student accommodation were rejected

Plans for student accommodation in a city centre have been thrown out over their proximity to late-night music venues.

Sunderland City Council refused the application for 15 Waterloo Place, near the city's central rail station.

Developers were hoping to convert the building's first and second floors into five student apartments.

But the local authority turned down the plans for multiple reasons, including the fact future residents might make noise complaints about nearby music venues.

One of the objectors to the plans included the Music Venue Trust, which said that nearby grassroots music venue Independent would face a higher risk of noise complaints from the apartments' residents, which could then affect the site's viability.

The council also said the developers had not demonstrated future residents would be given an "acceptable standard" of living considering the amount of noise they might face from nearby venues.

Several attempts have been made in recent years to turn the corner retail unit into accommodation, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

This included a bid for apartments that was blocked after being labelled "sub-standard" and a separate bid for a HMO that was also refused and then dismissed at appeal by the Planning Inspectorate.