Sunderland dental practice lodges appeal after expansion plans blocked for Fulwell Road

Earlier this year, Sunderland City Council’s planning department refused a planning application linked to the Fulwell Dental practice.

Plans for the premises at 162 Fulwell Road in the St Peter’s ward included a two-storey extension into a rear yard area to make way for new facilities.

This included a ground floor garage space, a small porch projecting into the space to the side of the extension and an additional office, meeting room and store on the first floor.

However the city council’s planning department refused the application on February 15, 2023, after raising concerns about the proposed design and wider parking and highway safety fears.

This included concerns about the “attraction of vehicles to the site without adequate off-street parking, leading to traffic congestion within the vicinity of the site, to the detriment of highway and pedestrian safety”.

It has been confirmed that applicant Lynwood Healthcare Ltd has since lodged an appeal with the national Planning Inspectorate.

The appeal, which is listed as ‘in progress’, will eventually be decided by a Government-appointed planning inspector.

Appeal documents, published on Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website, provide more details of the appellant’s case.

Those behind the appeal said the dental practice is based in a “highly sustainable location” and that around 90% of patients live within one mile of the appeal site, with appointments “spread out during the working day”.

It was also noted that there were no on-street parking restrictions on the streets around the dental practice, and that increased parking provision would be provided as part of the extension plans.

The ‘grounds of appeal’ document said the development aimed to “improve the quality of dental care” and to “help an existing, local business provide a better and more efficient service to its patients”.

It was argued that the building extension would be “subordinate in scale to the original building” with its design “taking account of the neighbouring property by positioning it away from the boundary to reduce its physical impact”.

An appellant statement also noted the dental practice has operated an NHS contract in Fulwell for more than 25 years, and that the majority of dental services offered are NHS.

The appellant statement added: “Our extension is aimed primarily at increasing staff facilities and the patient care on offer.

“Currently we have no staff office or staff room/area, we have limited storage and no consultation rooms for patients.

“If we can not offer these to attract and maintain staff we have and will seriously have to consider dropping our NHS services to reduce our capacity and the stresses the business faces.

“I will not lie and say that this planning application directly impacts the decision to keep our NHS contract, but it has a significant effect on our staff and patient welfare, which of course affects the business decisions being taken.

“The improvements being made will attract more patients, but given we have a limited capacity under the contract, it does not represent a major increase to what we are already delivering”.

An update on the appeal will be published on the Planning Inspectorate’s website once a decision has been made.

More information on the appeal can be found on Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website by searching reference: 23/00013/REF