Demolition work under way at Sunderland fire station which survived WWII bombing ahead of housing development build

The large tower at Fulwell Fire Station has now been pulled down as work is ongoing to demolish the rest of the building.

The station served the community up until October 2015, when crews moved to the newly built base in Marley Park.

It opened in April 1942 during the Second World War and part of it was struck by a bomb a fortnight after it had opened.

At the beginning of this year, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service confirmed it had sold the site and said it would be putting the money from the sale of the land on Station Road back into its work to prevent fires and save lives across its area.

The amount it was sold for was not disclosed.

Late last year, Sunderland City Council approved plans to use the space, which measures 0.67 hectares, to build apartments.

In November, the council’s area development control sub-committee approved proposals put together by Durham-based Cancara Ltd.

It had hoped to build 32 apartments in two blocks, but reduced the scale of the plans to 28 apartment in a single four-storey building following concerns from neighbours, who also added they had worries about an increase in traffic using the main road.

Parking was also part of the application, along with permission to knock down the former fire station.

To reduce the impact of the new flats, the company was told it will be expected to pledge cash under a section 106 legal agreement.

This will include £24,883 towards primary, secondary and special education in the area, £48,000 for offsite affordable housing, a further £19,628 for new or improved play facilities in the Fulwell community, while an extra £15,932 will be provided for monitoring protected nature sites.

The committee was told at that stage the final say on the plan rested with the council’s executive director of city development, with the approval notice issued on December 20.

A message from the Editor:

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to the Sunderland Echo website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit here to sign up. You can subscribe to the newspaper with 20% off here. Thank you.