COUNCILLORS have unanimously approved plans to turn a former care home into a hotel.
Hotel 52, in Joicey Square, Stanley, will have 25 bedrooms, a licensed restaurant for hotel guests and customers from the area, a coffee shop and meeting facilities.
Durham County Council north area planning committee chairman Cllr Carl Marshall said: “This shows that things are starting to move in Stanley.
“I welcome the application. I think it will bring employment and hopefully people to the middle of our town.
“It also brings a building that has been unused for a significant amount of time back into use.”
All Saints Living, the Newcastle-based property developer behind the development, says the hotel will targeting the tourist trade with visitor attractions such as Beamish Museum and Tanfield Railway nearby.
All Saints Living has said 30 people will work on the construction and around 15 will be employed to run the hotel once it is complete.
The former Durham County Council care home was closed in 2011 and sold two years later.
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