Plans for new trampoline park creating up to 80 jobs are unveiled
Plans for a huge indoor trampoline park creating up to 80 jobs have been submitted to council development chiefs.
South Tyneside Council's planning department has received an application for a large warehouse unit at Boldon Business Park, near the Boldon Leisure Park, which houses Cineworld and McDonald's.
Plans aim to transform the warehouse building into an “indoor adventure park” linked to UK adventure and trampoline park operator AirHop.
The development aims to reconfigure the ground floor internal layout to accommodate the new use, with a range of indoor activity zones, party spaces and supporting staff and customer facilities planned.
New glazed entrance doors are also planned to replace existing roller shutters to provide a dedicated customer access point and AirHop branding and signage will also be installed across the building.
Those behind the development said around 94 customer parking spaces and 22 staff parking spaces were planned, including disabled spaces, as well as a delivery/ servicing area, waste storage area and secure cycle parking.
A planning statement submitted to the council notes the AirHop site, if approved, would create around 70–80 jobs with a mix of full-time and part-time positions, with roles including general staff, supervisors, operations managers, a general manager and a regional manager.
It was noted that “given the nature of the proposed leisure activities and peak operating hours falling outside of standard school and working hours, the development is expected to provide a range of youth employment opportunities”.
The planning statement added that the application site has been “comprehensively marketed for over two years” with “no firm commitment from any occupier falling within the property’s existing use class”.
It adds: "There do not appear to be any comparable existing or planned uses, either within or in indeed beyond a defined centre within South Tyneside district.
“Given the clear scarcity of suitable town centre locations for the proposed use, it is not considered that the proposal would have any material undue impact on town centre vitality and viability in the district.
"Rather, realistically it represents the optimum location for such a use and is likely to have a positive impact on the vitality and viability of the adjacent Boldon Colliery district shopping centre.”
A decision on the planning application is expected following a council consultation exercise.