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Vaux: 10 years a wasteland
A decade on from the closure of the Vaux brewery, politicians and former company bosses today condemned the lack of action on the prime city-centre site.
A bitter legal wrangle between the land's owner, Tesco, which wants to build a large supermarket on the derelict area, and regeneration company Sunderland arc has contributed to the massive delay.
Sunderland South MP Chris Mullin said it was a tragic waste for Sunderland and a missed opportunity.
He said: "The Vaux closure was a tragedy for Sunderland and those who worked there.
Closure that sparked a planning wrangle
"The company was profitable until the day that it closed. The closure came about because a majority of board members cynically calculated that the site was worth more without the brewery than it was with it.
"A classic case of the triumph of greed and short-termism by money men over the public interest.
Sunderland arc boss gives his view
"The result was that Sunderland lost one of its most respected employers and ended up with a decade of dereliction on a prime site."
Former Vaux managing director Frank Nicholson is still hurting from the closure of the brewery, 10 years after the management buyout bid he helped to engineer was rejected.
He said: "There was a comment 10 years ago that the closure was an act of corporate vandalism.
"I think that was probably kind. It was an act of corporate manslaughter in terms of its consequences.
"There is not an hour of any day goes by that I don't think about what happened and what might have been."
For Frank, the pain of seeing the brewery close has been compounded by the lack of action to redevelop the site.
"When the brewery closed, I expressed the hope that something would happen very quickly, but I feared nothing would happen for 10 years.
"I was mocked and ridiculed by some. All I would say now is; 'Who was right?"
His brother, former Vaux chairman Sir Paul Nicholson, today said: "The destruction of Vaux was an act of corporate vandalism on the advice of City financiers that the company would be better off closing the site rather than selling it to the management.
"It is very sad that in 10 years the site is virtually a desert. I hope that it will not be another 10 years before something positive is done with it for the good of Sunderland."
The Government-backed arc continues to be in negotiations with Tesco over the purchase of the 26-acre derelict site.
The regeneration bosses want to build offices, homes and hotels on the area.
Sunderland Conservative leader Lee Martin, who wants to see the site turned into a park, said: "It is not a happy anniversary for the city at all and it seems we have completely missed the boat on this.
"For the best part of 15 years there has been a lot of public sector cash around and the economy has been strong.
"That was exactly the time when progress should have been made.
"The closure of Vaux was a tragedy for this city – a profit-making enterprise gone, hundreds of skilled jobs lost and an iconic institution, a long-established feature of Sunderland, vanished – the Vaux pub signs, the smell of roasting hops, the dray horses, the Brewery Tap all became things of the past. It was not only a terrible economic but also psychological blow for Sunderland."
Now that time has passed and progress seems unlikely to be made any time soon.
“The closure of Vaux was a tragedy for this city – a profit-making enterprise gone, hundreds of skilled jobs lost and an iconic institution, a long established feature of Sunderland, vanished – the Vaux pub signs, the smell of roasting hops, the dray horses, the Brewery Tap all became things of the past. It was not only a terrible economic but also psychological blow for Sunderland.”
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Friday 10 February 2012
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