GO-AHEAD FOR 57 HOMES ON SITE OF VANDAL-HIT OLD CLUB
Unanimous approval for flats and houses
DOZENS of new homes have been given the go-ahead on the site of a vandal-hit former social club – despite more than 40 objections.
City councillors unanimously approved Pineways Development Ltd’s proposal for 49 flats and eight semi-detached homes at the old Meir Sports and Social Club.
Planning committee members praised the ‘100 per cent affordable’ housing scheme – which the developer said would bring a ‘longstanding derelict and declining site’ back into use – for giving young people a chance to get on to the property ladder.
The committee granted permission on Wednesday, having previously delayed a decision to allow members to visit the site, off Weston Road.
It means the developer can now build two blocks of one and twobedroom flats – one four storeys high, the other three – as well as the threebedroom homes.
Stoke-on-trent City Council demolished the club building in January 2019, after years of complaints about anti-social behaviour, including arson.
Pineways’ ‘locally contentious’ application was called in for review by the site’s ward councillor Asman Ali, who had raised concerns about ‘certain aspects’. Councillor Ali said: “This site has had its fair share of problems especially with anti-social behaviour, flytipping and more recently arson.”
The council also received 44 objections to the proposal. Issues raised included pollution, increased traffic, impact on wildlife, loss of privacy and the character of the area being harmed.
Deborah Hughes said: “Weston Road cannot sustain the amount of traffic that is already on it now and [this development] will cause major disruption.”
Keith Matthews said the flats were ‘completely out of keeping’ and would ‘overshadow and dominate the houses immediately next to the development’.
But city planning officers said in their report some elements of concern had been directly addressed during the application process.
They added: “Other matters are capable of being conditioned and on balance the application can be supported.”
After the meeting, committee chairman Ross Irving said the decision had been a ‘no-brainer’.
“The old building got vandalised, and had two or three arson attacks on it and it became a dangerous structure,” he said.
“In the end I had to ask planning to get the building demolished and then have charge put on it for the work done. That money will be repaid to the authority, but it needs to be brought back into use.”
He added that the site visit had allayed concerns about the distance between the new blocks and the existing properties.