New lease of life for 'abandoned' golf course

Plans for a garden centre and café at a former Sunderland golf course site have been given the stamp of approval by councillors.

Last year, Sunderland City Council lodged an application with its own planning department for the former Elemore Golf Course.

Regeneration plans for the site, which is earmarked for a majorrevampaspartofawider visiontocreatea“Heritageand Eco Country Park”, were developed through the council’s ‘Let’sTalk’publicconsultation, withlocalresidentsexpressing a desire for it become “usable green space.”

The first phase of work, which includes turning the former golf club buildings as a community-rungardencentre and plant nursery with “associated café, meeting, heritage interpretation and training facilities”, went before the city council’s Planning and Highways (West) Committee.

And the proposals for the site, which has previously beenbranded“overgrown”and “abandoned”, won unanimous support from city councillors.

Councillor Melanie Thornton, chair of the Planning and Highways (West) Committee, described the scheme as an “absolutely fantastic development.”

Cllr Thornton went on to say:“I think it’s great to see investment across the city and the fact that this is right on the boundary of the city.

“We sometimes have levelled at us that it’s only the city centre that has investment.

“So this is demonstrating that Sunderland City Council arehappytoinvestrightacross thecity,acrossallwards.Ithink this is a fantastic development and a community-run project – we can only encourage those sorts of applications.”

The 18-hole golf course, on the site of Elemore Colliery, closed in 2019.