Shops plan lodged for former Hartlepool United Services Club

The proposals for the former United Services Club on Miners Avenue, Hartlepool, say the applicant is “keen to reinvigorate and transform” the empty building, describing the scheme as a “highly sustainable” way to recycle a brownfield site in the neighbourhood.

Planning permission is being sought to convert the premises into three separate commercial spaces, which together would provide 191 square metres of commercial floorspace, along with storage and toilet facilities for future occupiers.

Only the front facing section would be converted. (Image: Robinson Brown Design)

The planning statement says the site currently consists of a vacant brick building with a flat felt roof and surrounding hardstanding, and argues that bringing an existing, disused structure back into use is preferable to pushing new development onto undeveloped land elsewhere in the town.

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With West View youth club, a Baptist church and the community centre all on its doorstep, the former club is described as sitting at the heart of a “well‑established” residential area on the northern edge of Hartlepool.

Developers say the plot is within walking distance of local services and close to bus routes, and that they have looked at other potential premises in Hartlepool’s town centre and local shopping parades but found no sites of a suitable size that are both available and viable for the same amount of space.

The application is now being considered by Hartlepool Borough Council, which will weigh it against the local development plan, national planning policy and other material considerations before making a decision.