Amended plans for 162 new Hartlepool homes in Elwick Road are approved despite objections

Plans were previously passed in November 2020 for 162 properties to be built on land south of Elwick Road, High Tunstall, as part of a proposed 1,200 homes outlined for the wider site.

Amended proposals were given the green light in late 2021 from a new applicant, Duchy Homes, to reflect a change in housebuilder from Story Homes.

More changes have now gone before the latest meeting of Hartlepool Borough Council’s planning committee.

These included altering the layout to remove 12 visitor parking spaces, adding a footpath across the central area of public open space, changing the colour of block paving and making minor changes to the design of some the properties.

Five objections were submitted from residents to the proposals, raising concerns over the development’s impact on traffic and highways and the lack of need for the homes, claiming nearby new properties remain unsold.

Elwick Parish Council added that it continues “to strongly object to this development” while Dalton Piercy Parish Council noted traffic issues from the site are “already a major problem for the villages”.

Council planning officers at the meeting outlined how the majority of concerns relate to the “principle of development”, which has already been established with the approval of earlier applications.

They added the “relatively minor material changes are considered to be of a modest scale” and are “overall considered to be appropriate and are in keeping with the original approval for development of the site.”

Councillors ultimately unanimously approved the latest Duchy Homes application for the changes.