New substance misuse help centre to be built

Planning permission has been granted for a new £3.6m substance misuse centre.

Proposals were submitted to Hartlepool Development Corporation last year to demolish the existing treatment centre in the town's Whitby Street, deemed not fit for purpose, and replace it with a single-storey hub on the same site.

The new building has been designed to meet the "increasing demand" for help for drug and alcohol abusers, according to documents supporting the borough council's application.

A report from development corporation planning officers said the new centre would be "bespoke for clinical interventions".

Concerns had been expressed by council planners about the design of the building, which is to be constructed from modular Portakabin units.

However it was ruled the benefits of the development to meet demand for services "provided weight in favour of the application".

The development corporation report said: "The existing facility at Whitby Street is in a poor and deteriorating condition with its internal layout ill-suited to the needs of modern clinical practice.

"The proposed development will provide a bespoke building for primary care-orientated clinical interventions in a clean and modern environment."

Previously a new site had been proposed for Roker Street car park, but was scrapped in July 2023 following hundreds of objections, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

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