Wear footbridge bid moves a step closer
Plans to demolish a former builder’s yard and office to make way for a new footbridge over the River Wear have been approved.
Back in October 2021, Sunderland City Council’s planning department received an application for a site off Easington Street in the Sheepfolds area.
The scheme proposed demolishing disused buildings as part of wider regeneration efforts set out in the council’s Riverside Sunderland Masterplan.
This includes a new highlevel pedestrian and cyclist crossing connecting the former Vaux Brewery site to the Sheepfolds area, which was approved by city councillors in March 2021.
According to planning documentssubmittedonbehalfof Sunderland City Council, the site of the builder’s yard and office is within the ownership ofthelocalauthority–withthe sitealsoearmarkedforredevelopment in the future.
A supporting statement submitted with the demolitionplanreads:“Thesiteforms part of the Riverside Sunderland Masterplan and is located within the Sheepfolds area which is proposed to become a new residential neighbourhood with some commercial and education uses on the periphery.
“The masterplan outlines that the former builder’s yard and office will become an area of public amenity space, known as Sheepfolds Square.”
The former builder’s yard is largely constructed of a corrugated metal roof and walls and sits adjacent to the Grade II listed former North Eastern Railway Stables.
Inaconsultationstatement, the Sunderland Civic Society weresupportiveofthedemolition as an “essential pre-requisite to the construction of the proposed pedestrian bridge over the river, and the wider regenerationoftheSheepfolds area”.
The charity also asked the council to consider acquiring the adjacent listed stables with a view to securing restoration to a viable use and making the site a “focal point in the regeneration of the wider area”.
The planning approval is subject to demolition and protected species method statements being submitted and approved,alongsideotherecology conditions.
For more information on the application for the former builder’s yard and office, visit Sunderland City Council’s onlineplanningportalandsearch reference: 21/02346/DEM