South Shields children's residential centre plan approved

The centre will have bedrooms for two children and two live-in staff

Plans for a new centre offering a temporary home to children in council care have been approved.

South Tyneside Council said it wants to increase the number of beds available for children across the borough to stop them having to be moved out of the area, away from family and friends.

Plans have been submitted for three new sites in South Shields, Jarrow and Hebburn.

The South Shields assessment centre was approved by planning councillors.

The building will sit on vacant land behind Seton Avenue, Fox Avenue and Laybourn Gardens and is expected to offer two bedrooms for children and two bedrooms for live-in staff at night, as well as an annex suite of accommodation.

The centre will be built behind Seton Avenue, Fox Avenue and Laybourn Gardens

A design and access statement said the building would provide short-term accommodation "whilst an assessment is undertaken to determine the most appropriate longer-term living arrangement at a different location".

Four objections were raised including from properties on Sefton Avenue and Fox Avenue with concerns ranging from increased traffic and parking to privacy fears and safeguarding concerns.

According to the planning conditions, work needs to commence within three years

One objector also suggested the development was "cramped within a site too small for the intended purposes" and that alternative sites should have been explored, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Those behind the scheme said the plans would deliver a "much-needed facility" with high design and energy efficiency standards and that the location was deemed be the "most appropriate site".