Delay on Sunderland pub site redevelopment decision after CAMRA concerns

Proposals for The Cavalier public house in Silksworth went before Sunderland City Council’s Planning and Highways Committee on Monday evening.

The application, submitted by CJ Taverns, would see the demolition of the pub buildings and 14 houses and a three-storey building providing five apartments built in its place.

The proposals would also see car parking, landscaping and a new pedestrian access provided, as well as existing vehicle access arrangements at the site being “retained and upgraded”.

Council planning officers had recommended the scheme for approval subject to conditions in their report.

However three objectors spoke out at Monday’s meeting, raising concerns over the plans, including ward representative for the area Cllr Phil Tye.

He said he had concerns linked to the proposed apartment block around the access road to the site and the separation distances between properties, and called for more communication between the developer and residents.

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Tye said: “I want to be really, really clear as a city councillor I want to have development in the city, I want to see development and I want to see development on this site if the pub is not going to open.

“What I can’t support, and this is the only thing and I’ve made it really clear to the planning officers from the outset, the only issue that I have with this is about the flats.”

A resident living nearby also raised numerous concerns including potential increased noise pollution and road safety issues stemming from the additional number of homes in the area.

She also had raised worries over the scale of the development, separation distances and the impact on the privacy of existing properties.

Following the concerns being raised, councillors on the committee unanimously decided to defer making a decision on the application to allow for a site visit to take place, after it was called for by Conservative Councillor Michael Dixon.

Other members on the committee agreed, adding it would allow them to view and assess the concerns raised and clarify any issues.

Ian Monteith-Preston, pubs protection officer with Sunderland and South Tyneside branch of Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), also voiced his objections to the proposals at the meeting.

He said: “CAMRA lobbies that no public house should be demolished unless it has been proven that it is unviable and it has been demonstrated that meaningful attempts to market the property as a going concern have failed.

“Just because the current owners have not been able to make the venue viable, that doesn’t mean that a new or different owner would fail.

“The last two years there has been a surge in new and reopening venues.”

He added a nearby new 250-home development could also increase interest in a potential pub being open at the site.

Representatives speaking on behalf of the proposals and applicant CJ Tavern stressed the development does comply with the required separation distances between properties.

They added they are”sympathetic” with the concerns of residents and are happy to meet with them, although noted the current building is “in a state of disrepair”.

The site, which includes a public house with a large beer garden area and parking off Silksworth Lane, was previously granted outline planning permission for the demolition of the pub to build detached dwellings.

However, a design and access statement submitted on behalf of applicant CJ Taverns said the site had been marketed for sale with “little interest due to the limited numbers of large executive dwellings.”

The statement added the revised scheme would provide “family homes more suitably sized for the site and location along with five apartments.”

The proposals will come back before the committee for a decision later this summer.