Demolition date revealed as 'dangerous' Sunderland changing rooms are to be bulldozed
Plans to demolish a “dangerous” and “neglected” former changing rooms building on Wearside have been approved.
The city council’s planning department has approved an application to bulldoze the derelict changing rooms site at Tunstall Hills Local Nature Reserve.
The building sits adjacent to a surfaced car park area accessed via Leechmere Road and has been blighted by anti-social behaviour over the years.
The planning application form said the building has been “derelict and neglected for several years with no maintenance” and has “suffered from previous vandalism and breaking into the cavity masonry walls”.
Other issues listed in the planning application included the roof timber fascia boards being “rotten and in poor condition” and the building’s main walls “suffering from bulging and severe cracking due to foundations settlement/movement”.
It was noted that the “building structurally is not in imminent collapse but suffering from severe deterioration and requires urgent attention”.
In terms of the future of the council-owned site, the planning application noted that “maintenance and repairs are likely to be very costly and not cost effective in comparison to demolition”.
Sunderland City Council’s planning department approved the demolition application earlier this month.
A council report noted the structure is in a “poor state of repair” and said that the “proposed means of demolition and subsequent treatment of the site is considered acceptable”.
It was noted that demolition works are expected to start on July 28 and would be “carried out with due regards to all ecology/wildlife legislation, survey mitigation requirements, in particular bats, nesting birds and protected species”.
The report added: “All footpaths to the perimeter of the site will be made good to highway standards, with foundations and brickwork being retained, where required, to ensure the footpaths and highways remain structurally stable.”
A heritage statement also submitted with the plans noted the building footprint would be “reinstated as wild grassland” and that a bat box would be fitted on completion of the demolition works.