Hebburn pub redevelopment: decision day set for The Kelly café-restaurant and flats plan

The Kelly’s next chapter heads to a council vote

Decision day is looming for The Kelly, a once-busy local pub on the road linking Jarrow and Hebburn. Councillors are due to consider plans that would turn the ground floor into a café-restaurant and carve out residential flats elsewhere in the building. The proposal comes from I and A Commercial Properties Ltd, who want to give the shut-up site a fresh role at street level while adding much-needed housing on the upper floors.

The building’s scale and layout tell the story of what it used to be. Sales particulars list the property at around 597 sq ft, with a bar area set up for roughly 60 covers and a function room that previously seated around 80. There’s also a spacious three-bedroom owner’s flat, a common setup for corner pubs that doubled as both business and home. Before the redevelopment bid, the freehold was on the market through leisure specialists Fleurets at £295,000 following the closure.

Locals know The Kelly as more than just a bar. It was one of the few places around with a large function room, which made it a go-to for team socials, family gatherings, community meetings, and small events. That shared space is part of why this plan matters. The applicant is pitching the café-restaurant as a modern, accessible use that keeps people coming through the door, even if it’s not a traditional pub anymore.

On paper, the change is straightforward: switch the ground floor from a drinking establishment (sui generis) to a café/restaurant use, and reconfigure space to create flats. In practice, the planning committee has a checklist to run through. They’ll weigh whether the scheme fits the character of the street, whether it keeps the building active and tidy, and whether it avoids headaches for neighbours. Because the site sits on a busy local route between Jarrow and Hebburn, traffic, parking, and deliveries will be under the microscope.

Officers will also consider how the new use handles noise and smells, two common sticking points. A kitchen means extraction, and extraction means fans, ducting, and filters that have to be designed properly. If the café-restaurant opens early or runs into the evening, the council may look at soundproofing, conditions on opening hours, and where rubbish is stored. Residential units add another layer: entrances need to be safe and separate, and homes right above a food venue need solid acoustic insulation.

For a building like The Kelly, mixed use can be a lifeline. Ground-floor food and drink keeps the frontage lively at daytime and early evening, while flats help pay for the upgrade and pull in steady footfall. It’s a pattern seen across the North East where older pubs have struggled to survive on beer sales alone but can be repurposed to stay part of daily life. The question for councillors is whether this particular mix works on this particular corner, with this set of neighbours and street conditions.

Expect the committee report to focus on the nuts and bolts:

• Design and layout: how the exterior is treated, signage, and any extensions or alterations.
• Amenity: noise controls, odour extraction, waste storage, and separation between homes and the café-restaurant.
• Highways: parking demand, cycle storage, deliveries, and customer pick-up/drop-off.
• Accessibility: level access, door widths, and internal layout for the ground-floor venue.
• Housing quality: natural light, space standards, and storage for the new flats.

There’s a social angle too. The Kelly wasn’t just another bar; it was a hub in a densely populated patch with limited large rooms for gatherings. Losing that kind of space can hit local teams and groups who need a place to meet. The flip side is that an empty building drags a street down fast. A café-restaurant can act as an anchor—serving breakfasts, coffees, and evening meals—drawing regulars through the day instead of only at night and weekends. If the operator leans into community use—hosting small events or reservable tables—some of that old function-room value could be kept in a new format.

Economically, the numbers matter. The £295,000 sale tag shows this isn’t a giant city-centre asset but a mid-range local building that needs careful investment to stack up. Fit-out for a kitchen, extraction, toilets, and front-of-house will add costs before a single scone is baked. The flats help balance that risk. If the scheme gets the green light, the developer will still need building control approval and, depending on the offer, the right licences if any alcohol is served with meals.

For neighbours, the main asks are usually predictable: keep noise under control, avoid cooking smells drifting into homes, and don’t block the road with deliveries. Those issues are often managed through planning conditions—things like approved extraction specs, set delivery hours, and limits on when bins can be moved. If the committee feels those can be nailed down, approval is more likely. If not, they could ask for tweaks or defer for more information.

Location will help the case. A lot of café-restaurants survive on passing trade, and this route between Jarrow and Hebburn is as steady as it gets for local traffic. Schools, bus stops, and nearby housing add a base of customers who don’t need to drive. If cycle parking and a sensible pick-up point are included, the impact on parking can be kept in check. These are the kinds of practical details councillors tend to probe when a hospitality use sits close to homes.

The committee has three broad options: approve with conditions, refuse with reasons, or defer for changes. An approval would likely come bundled with conditions on hours, extraction, and the fine points of the residential layout. A refusal would zero in on specific harms—say, noise, odour, or inadequate living standards for the flats. If the plan is turned down, the applicant can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate or come back with a revised scheme.

For now, the application keeps the spotlight on what to do with well-known pubs that no longer work as pubs. Some are knocked down. Others sit empty for years. This bid aims for a middle path: keep the building, keep it social, and add homes. That doesn’t replace the old function room like-for-like, but it does try to keep the door open and the lights on. As councillors sit down to vote, that balance—between neighbourhood amenity and a viable future use—will likely decide which way The Kelly goes.

What approval would mean—and what to watch next

If the plan is approved, expect a tight timeline. Internal works could start quickly once conditions are signed off. The fit-out will be the heavy lift—kitchen installation, extraction and duct routes, fire separation between the café-restaurant and flats, and acoustic measures. Street-facing changes like new signage or a refreshed shopfront would follow, aiming to make the venue feel open and safe from day one.

Residents nearby will want to keep an eye on a few practical points during and after construction:

• Construction management: hours, dust control, and contractor parking.
• Odour and noise: final extraction spec and acoustic testing before opening.
• Waste: where bins are stored and how collections are timed to avoid early-morning disturbance.
• Access: separate, well-lit entrance for the flats with clear address signage and mail delivery.
• Jobs and opening offer: whether the operator targets daytime trade, evening meals, or both, and how many local roles are created.

Whatever the outcome, the decision will signal how South Tyneside sees the future of small high-street buildings that sit at the heart of their neighbourhoods. If this Hebburn pub redevelopment passes, it could become a template for similar corner sites that need a new purpose without losing their place in everyday community life.