Bid to build new Hartlepool homes is rejected at appeal hearing

Last year Hartlepool Borough Council’s planning committee refused proposals for the three and four-bedroom homes at Southbrooke Farm, off Summerhill Lane, in line with recommendations from officers.

An appeal was lodged over the refusal on behalf of the applicant, Mike Dickinson, to the national Planning Inspectorate in a bid to get the decision overturned.

Jim Ferguson, council planning and development manager, told the latest meeting of the council’s planning committee that the appeal had been dismissed.

He noted it was an “important appeal” for the council, with the crux of the issue around the amount of planning contributions the applicant would pay to improve the area.

He said: “We requested a number of planning obligations and the applicant vacillated on whether he was paying or willing to pay them.

“It’s an important case, it strengthens our position in relation to asking for planning obligations.”

The application was refused by councillors for a number of reasons, including how it was an “unsustainable form” of development and would negatively impact on ecology, nature conservation, and the local road network.

The report from inspector Susan Hunt, appointed by the Secretary of State, supported the council’s decision and noted there was a “lack of justification” for the proposed reduced contributions from the applicant.

She said: “The development fails to make adequate provision to secure infrastructure, social and ecology contributions which are necessary.”

The proposals were previously approved by councillors in 2017, subject to a section 106 legal agreement securing planning contributions, which the applicant had agreed to pay at the time.

However the applicant later said the costs totalling some £235,000 could not be met in full, which included contributions towards highways, education and sporting facilities in Hartlepool, including the cost of the forthcoming Elwick bypass.

At a meeting to decide the application in August 2021, a representative for the applicant proposed an alternative £60,000 figure to offset the impact of the housing while providing “some positive planning gains for the community”.