Decision due on plans for new storage warehouses at Sunderland's Nissan plant

Plans for new storage facilities at the home of Nissan on Wearside are due to go before councillors for decision next week.

Sunderland City Council’s Planning and Highways Committee is set to discuss two applications for the Nissan Motor Manufacturing (UK) Limited site.

Nissan manufactures hundreds of thousands of motor vehicles every year at the plant and earlier this year, the company celebrated building its 11 millionth car since production first started in 1986.

In recent months, several planning applications have been approved for the site including new storage warehouses.

The company also hit the headlines last year after announcing it would invest billions to produce new electric versions of the Juke and Qashqai vehicle models at the city plant.

New planning applications for the Nissan plant include two warehouse buildings to receive and store car parts necessary for the general vehicle manufacturing process.

One application includes a “single temporary modular warehouse type structure” in an area which is used for the receiving and parking of delivery lorries at a large existing warehouse.

A design and access statement submitted with the application states Nissan is “committed to maintaining a modern and efficient manufacturing operation, by responding to market demand and customer vehicle requirements”.

The company said it had “identified a pressing requirement for alternate space for the receiving and unloading of component delivery vehicles”.

In relation to the planned modular warehouse, applicants say the “existing goods receiving area has been identified as a location that can be repurposed to accommodate the new model process equipment”.

The second planning application is linked to the same area used for delivery lorries and parking, linked to a building referred to as the ‘trim and chassis shop’.

The reason for this modular warehouse is the same as the first application, namely to “accommodate the new model process equipment”.

Council planning officers have said the two planning applications are acceptable in principle and have recommended both for approval.

A council committee report states the developments would “assist in the competitiveness of an existing employment use at the site”, which was said to be a “nationally significant centre for automobile production and an important regional employer”.

It was also noted that the developments would be acceptable in relation to “design and visual impacts, impact on residential amenity and in relation to other technical matters including highway and pedestrian safety/sustainable travel, ecology, flooding/drainage and land contamination”.

A decision on the planning applications rests with members of the Planning and Highways Committee, who will next meet on Monday, January 8.

The meeting is scheduled to take place from 5.30pm at City Hall and will be open to the public.