Plans have been submitted to transform the burnt out Whitburn Lodge into a housing development
Earlier this year, a blaze broke out at the disused Whitburn Lodge pub in Marsden with firefighters spending almost nine hours tackling the fire. A stretch of Mill Lane was closed as crews battled to bring the blaze under control.
But almost a year on from the fire, plans have now been submitted which could see the damaged building and its car park turned into homes, after the former pub is demolished. The homes would comprise of a mix of two, three and four bedroom semi-detached and detached homes.
The homes will be designed by architects, Ergo Projects, with national house-builder, Lovell Homes being the developers behind the project. A planning application, which was lodged with South Tyneside Council earlier this month, states: “We very much feel that the proposed mix of house types achieves an appropriate balance, with each dwelling having their own private garden space to the rear of properties.
“Each dwelling also benefits from its own private driveway, with all plots allowing space for a minimum of two vehicles. All of the dwellings have parking to the front or side of the properties. There is one site entrance designed to come from Mill Lane, with the proposed dwellings facing towards the entrance to create an attractive street scene. The streets have been designed to provide natural surveillance to the pedestrian routes, and a safe and secure feel within the development.”
The application says that the plans form an “important regeneration opportunity” for a gateway into Whitburn. It adds: “The site in its current form has become an eyesore and public safety risk due to the existence of burnt-out vacant buildings and a number of incidents recorded on the site in recent years. Despite its Green Belt allocation, the site constitutes brownfield land and has been identified for housing within the Council’s emerging Local Plan.”