Dozens object to plans to open tanning salon on site of Hartlepool's former Saxon pub

Proposals have been submitted to Hartlepool Borough Council planning department to carry out work at the former Saxon pub site in Easington Road.

The area is now home to a small collection of shops and businesses, with the latest application seeking to convert the vacant unit five, located on the first floor, into a tanning salon, with a tenant “already lined up”.

Plans from Ingleby Barwick Land & Property Developments state the site, which currently has permission for a flat, has been vacant since work on the parade was completed.

Yet 64 objections have been submitted by nearby residents, raising concerns there is no need for the facility, with another tanning salon already located nearby, and alternative uses being more suitable.

Other worries included “insufficient parking” being available.

A decision is set to be made on the proposals at the council planning committee meeting on Wednesday, September 13, with a report from officers recommending the application is approved.

It said: “The proposed use is considered to be appropriately located within the designated local centre, where it would not have any adverse impact on the character and amenity of the surrounding area or neighbouring land users.”

A statement from Prism Planning supporting the proposals said the development would bring a “vacant unit into a beneficial use”.

It would provide two full-time and two part-time jobs.

Plans were also recently submitted to convert the vacant British Raj Indian restaurant at the shopping parade into a “micro beer and wine bar”.