Green light for £9m eco-friendly council depot

A £9.1m council depot project development aims to boost Sunderland’s ambitious plans to become a cleaner and greener city.

Planners have given the green light to transform the Parsons Vehicle Workshop and Depot in Washington – with work beginning in the next few months by Esh Construction.

Sunderland City Council bosses say the project will help the city achieve carbon neutral status by 2040.

The existing workshop will be demolished to make way for a new depot building, fuel station, electric charging hub, and a large barn to store up to 7,500 tonnes of gritting salt, and a security gatehouse.

Cllr Graeme Miller, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “As we move towards our aim of being a carbon neutral city, it is fantastic to expand our capacity for specialist electric and other low carbon emission vehicles.

“Future-proofing and investing in our depot facilities ensures we can continue to deliver quality frontline services to residents.”

The depot will include solar photo voltaic and battery storage system, which will capture the energy produced by the solar PV and provide a charging facility for the council’s growing electric vehicle fleet.

Gary Dobson, divisional director at Esh Construction, said: “We’re delighted with the planning outcome and look forward to working with Sunderland City Council, one of our long-standing and valued clients in the region, to deliver this development.

"It is an exciting time for the city with a number of transformational projects recently unveiled.”