Residents living near a proposed housing site on Wearside have urged decision-makers to listen to their concerns ahead of a crunch planning meeting this week.

Sunderland City Council’s planning and highways committee will discuss proposals for land adjacent to Burdon Road in the Doxford area.

Homes By Esh is seeking permission for 49 properties on the former agricultural site with a proposed vehicular access to the south via a “new four-arm mini-roundabout junction with The Fold”.

During a council public consultation there were around 10 objections, including an objection from ward councillor Heather Fagan, raising concerns about the new access generating a “significant” increase in traffic, the wider design of the scheme and more.

Residents living near a proposed 49-home development in the Doxford area have urged decision makers to listen to their concerns.

placeholder image — Residents living near a proposed 49-home development in the Doxford area have urged decision makers to listen to their concerns.

A decision was due at a planning meeting on March 30 at City Hall, where several local residents raised concerns, but councillors instead voted to defer a decision to explore an alternative western access to the site.

In a report published ahead of a planning and highways committee scheduled for Wednesday, June 10, council planners have recommended an “unchanged” 49-home scheme, with a southern access, for approval.

Residents living near the development site said they expected housing to be built on the field but were “horrified” to learn the proposed access would be a mini-roundabout just outside of their homes.

They said that the housing scheme, if approved in its current form, would increase traffic and worsen highway safety and are urging decision-makers to listen to their concerns.

Doxford Park councillor Michael Peacock, right, and local resident Paul Williams.

Heather Murdoch, who lives in Tunstall Lodge Farm, said she was “extremely concerned about the road traffic safety impact on the existing residents and any potential future Esh Homes residents”.

She said that increased house building and associated traffic in the area has made a nearby intersection “increasingly dangerous” and called for an up-to-date “traffic safety analysis” from developers, as well as further scrutiny of the mini-roundabout and impacts on a “single lane track.”

Paul Williams, a resident from The Fold, stressed residents were “not against development” but only the proposed access routes to the site, including a footpath, and said residents had already raised “a number of genuine planning concerns that the council must consider.”

Councillor Michael Peacock, Liberal Democrat councillor for Doxford Park, added: “We know that this land is earmarked for development, people have not objected to the housing itself but simply the ill thought-out access points.

“I hope residents’ concerns are taken seriously on Wednesday evening by the planning and highways committee and they refuse permission until the developer can come up with a better proposal.”

Dale Morris, technical director at Homes by Esh, previously said the applicant was “committed to bringing forward high‑quality homes that respond positively to local needs and priorities.”

Ashbrooke Sports Club, which own the site earmarked for housing, have said the plans would clear the club’s debts and safeguard sporting provision in the city for decades to come.

A council committee report said the proposed southern vehicular access to the housing site could “manage the flow of incoming and outgoing traffic for both the new site and the existing residential properties at The Fold”.

It noted developers had “discounted alternative access arrangements” with an argument centred on “legal/land ownership constraints.”

The final decision rests with the planning and highways committee at its meeting at City Hall from 5.30pm.