A Sunderland pub is set for a makeover, after plans for a new games room and improved beer garden were given the go-ahead.

Sunderland City Council has approved proposals to extend The Guide Post, in Ryhope Street South, and bring a neighbouring disused building back into use, with the investment also expected to create six part-time jobs.

Works include a ground floor extension linked with an existing outbuilding, which would be converted into a games room with seating, as well as changing the outbuilding’s shopfront to match the existing pub, new window openings and beer garden area improvements.

The proposals, from pub group Dorbiere, aim to bring the vacant, dilapidated building that adjoins the site back into use, which the applicants say would “have a positive improvement on the street scene.”

The Guide Post pub in Ryhope Street South, Sunderland.

placeholder image — The Guide Post pub in Ryhope Street South, Sunderland.

The proposals were approved on October 26 following an amendment to remove plans for a hanging sign on the pub’s outbuilding.

Council planners said the final scheme’s design was acceptable and would not cause any issues in relation to overshadowing, loss of daylight, or privacy.

The decision report adds: “The proposed link extension would be recessed such that it would only be partially visible from the public domain.

“In any case, its scale, massing and appearance are all considered appropriate and coordinated to the extent that it would not give rise to any harm insofar as visual amenity is concerned.”

The applicant’s previous planning, design and access statement described the proposals as sustainable and said they would improve an existing local facility on previously-developed land.

It was argued that the plans also represented “significant investment into an existing business” and would enhance the local area.

Under planning conditions, work must get underway within three years.

For more information, visit the council’s planning portal website and search for reference 26/01303/FUL.

Find out about the community matters that affect you on the Public Notice Portal. Go tohttps://publicnoticeportal.uk/ and enter your postcode to find out what is going on in your area.