Why bid to open BoyleSports betting shop in Sunderland's main railway station has been rejected
A bid to open a betting shop in Sunderland’s redeveloped railway station has been blocked after council public health chiefs raised concerns about gambling-related harms.
Sunderland City Council’s planning department has refused plans from gambling company BoyleSports for the station’s main business unit.
The unit has been vacant since the multi million-pound southern concourse officially opened to the public in December 2023 and is within walking distance of several other city centre betting shops.
Council planning officers said the BoyleSports plans, if approved, would “exacerbate a rigorously evidenced public health issue in relation to gambling-related harm” and would “prejudice health and wellbeing in Sunderland”.
The refusal followed a formal objection from the council’s public health team, which noted the “scale of gambling-related harm in Sunderland”, the “already high level of access and normalisation” and the “specific risks” associated with the proposed location.
A council gambling-related harms health needs assessment in 2023 estimated more than “over 30,000 residents in Sunderland are affected directly or indirectly by gambling-related harm”.
It was noted that the issue is more common among people already facing poverty or debt, mental health difficulties and insecure employment or unemployment.
BoyleSports, which was once an SAFC club sponsor, previously stressed that its stores “ensure responsible gambling” and said the Sunderland development would be “a significant, positive investment in a prominent vacant unit”, creating local jobs.
The applicant’s agent also challenged the council’s public health objection, noting previous planning appeal decisions and arguing that the plans represented an “appropriate town centre use”.
Public health chiefs maintained their objection, however, and said “key concerns remain unaddressed” and that the proposal would “result in additional, avoidable population-level harm”.
They concluded the proposal would “increase exposure to gambling in an already saturated environment, normalise gambling within a prominent civic gateway, exacerbate existing health inequalities and conflict with the council’s strategic approach to health and place”.
The application attracted 25 public objections, with comments referencing potential gambling-related harms, the “oversaturation of betting shops” and describing the railway station as an unsuitable location for a new betting shop.