Supermarkets Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury's oppose plans for £15m Sunderland retail park featuring M&S, Aldi and Starbucks

Sunderland City Council’s planning and highways committee will next week discuss and vote on an application for a 2.7-hectare site off Silksworth Lane, near the current Sainsbury’s supermarket, where an M&S Foodhall, Aldi store and Starbucks drive-thru could all open.

Earlier this year, the £15 million retail scheme was announced for the disused parcel of land, with developers stating it would create more than 100 jobs.

The proposed M&S Foodhall, if approved, would be the retailer’s second large store in the city following the opening of its expanded store in Washington and the closure of its High Street West site back in 2024.

Developers PRZM Real Estate confirmed the development would provide a large customer car park, improved pedestrian links to bus stops and a new controlled pedestrian crossing to improve accessibility and safety.

A planning statement added the proposals would “not have any significant impact upon the vitality and viability of existing centres, in terms of consumer choice and trade/turnover” and said there were “no reasonable highway grounds for refusal”.

Hundreds of comments have been submitted in a council public consultation on the development, which at the time of writing saw more than 200 comments in support and 47 objections.

Representations in support noted the plans would create jobs and bring M&S back to a more central Sunderland site instead of customers having to travel to Washington.

Meanwhile, objectors raised a number of concerns ranging from loss of green space, noise and light pollution, to antisocial behaviour, privacy impacts, ecology impacts, increased traffic and loss of trees.

An objection was submitted on behalf of Morrisons raising concerns about the plans conflicting with policies focusing on retail and town centres.

Elsewhere, Sainsbury’s objected to the plans raising concerns about retail planning policy, development on green space and “car parking overprovision”.

An objection was also submitted on behalf of Asda raising “highways-related concerns” and asking for more information on technical matters related to the development.

Responses from the applicant’s agent stated that the development proposals satisfied relevant tests and that planning issues raised had been addressed.

Sunderland City Council’s planning department, in a report published ahead of a decision-making meeting next week, has recommended the plan for approval.

Council planners said the proposed development would “accord with relevant policies in relation to retail development as the applicant has demonstrated that there are not any sequentially preferable alternative sites that could accommodate the proposed development”.

It was also noted that the applicant had “further demonstrated that retail impacts accord with the relevant policies” and that findings had been confirmed by the council’s “independent external consultant”.

The issue of the overprovision of parking and potential impacts of customers using cars instead of public transport was deemed a “minor adverse impact”.

The plans will go before the council’s planning and highways committee for decision on Monday, July 20, at City Hall and the meeting is scheduled to start at 5.30pm.

If approved by councillors, the plan would be referred to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for a final ruling.

This is because of the development’s “edge-of-centre, out-of-centre or out-of town” location and the level of development floor space proposed.