Pallion Shipyard campaigners defy Sunderland City Hall evacuation to stage protest

Campaigners from the Pallion Shipyard Partnership had planned to match from Keel Square to City Hall ahead of a meting of the full council at which a petition was to be handed in yesterday (Wednesday, October 12).

But the entire building was evacuated and St Mary’s Row sealed off after a 'malicious communication' was sent to city chiefs.

Northumbria Police confirmed yesterday they had arrested a 67 year-old man following the incident, which saw Sunderland City Council’s HQ evacuated.

The building did not reopen until late afternoon.

Although the planned protest was cancelled, a small numbers of campaigners still attended and unfurled a banner to highlight their campaign, which has previously seen them march through the city centre.

Shipbuilding began to decline in Sunderland towards the end of the 1970s and the city’s last shipyards eventually closed in 1989, bringing an end to more than six centuries of shipbuilding on the Wear.

Pallion Shipyard remains the only standing shipyard to remain in the city since it closed at the end of the 1980s.

Campaign organiser Brian Moore said reopening the yard made sound economic sense and would provide new opportunities for the city’s young people.

“Pallion is the only fully enclosed shipyard on the east coast of Britain – to build a new one would cost £200 million,” he said.

"With a normal shipyard, when it rains, you can’t work – but a fully enclosed yard is able to run 24/7, 465 days of the year.

"What we are looking for at Pallion is to create apprenticeships to get young people off the streets and into well-paid careers.”

The development of off-shore wind farms meant there were was growing demand for marine engineering facilities along the North East coast, said Brian.

"There is a boom in shipbuilding and it is being driven by off-shore. All these places need to be maintained,” he explained.

"On Teesside they are building a new channel – but we have already got the River Wear that could do the same job.”