OAP flats bid on Garth site
A DEVELOPMENT of 85 sheltered homes on the site of a notorious former council estate could bring more than a dozen jobs to Sunderland.
Tolent Construction has applied for planning permission to build 71 apartments and 14 bungalows for the elderly at the former Burgleigh Garth site in Hendon.
The Keelboat Lodge complex would consist of affordable rented or shared ownership properties centred around an enclosed landscaped garden.
Communal facilities will be open to the public, including an on- site convenience store, hair salon and restaurant, and the development is expected to create 13 jobs.
Vivien Taylor, manager of the nearby Chance community project, said most residents appear to be in favour of the devel- opment. “I genuinely believe the build would be very positive for the area as long as it is used for the purpose it is being built for,” she said.
“We would get a convenience store, which is desperately needed, because there is nothing around here.”
“When looking at the planning application itself, there is noth- ing to object to,” she said. “The concern is what would happen if they don’t get people to go into the properties,” she said.
“Hendon is home to 80 per cent of all of the hostels in Sunderland.
“We’ve got to space people around so that not just one community has to support them.”
Consultant Tony Stafford, acting as agent for Elliot Associates, said: “The development is designed specifically for elderly people.
“It is not designed for any other group.
“I have spoken to Viv and reassured her that it is designed specifically for that use.”
He added that developers are in discussion with sheltered housing provider Housing 21, regarding the management of Keelboat Lodge once it is built.
The plans are subject to Sunderland City Council’s planning process, and a decision is expected later in the year.
Burleigh Garth was one of five Garths built in the 1930s to house thousands of people as part of a major slum clearing programme.