'Eyesore' former Sunderland petrol station site owners hit with fine - and warned more enforcement action could follow

Sunderland City Council took enforcement action over the former service station off Ryhope Road, which sits within the Hendon ward, and is understood to have been vacant for around two decades.

Although planning applications have been approved in recent years to build new homes on the site, none of the plans have materialised.

This includes a recent application from applicant Newcastle Car Wash Limited, approved by the city council’s planning department in May, 2020, for a development offering eight four-bedroom townhouses.

The site remains fenced-off and undeveloped, with the former petrol station structures still standing.

Sunderland City Council issued a formal ‘improvement notice’ in 2022 to the applicant and site owner, which required the structures to be renovated to a set specification, or dismantled to ground level.

As neither happened, the council confirmed it prosecuted the site owner in October, 2022, resulting in a guilty plea and fine of £1,310 including costs and a victim surcharge.

The notice, issued under national planning legislation, includes powers requiring land to be “cleaned up when its condition adversely affects the amenity of the area”.

While some work has been carried out at the site, city leaders confirmed the local authority is continuing to press the site owner to comply with the notice.

The site owner can be fined further if the legal notice is not complied with but the court would expect the council to give consideration to any proposals put forward.

Local councillors have welcomed the enforcement action over the site, which they say has impacted neighbouring residents for years.

Cllr Michael Dixon, St Michael’s ward representative, said: “Although situated in Hendon ward the overwhelming majority of local people who have to look at this derelict garage from their houses or while driving out of their nearby streets, all live in St Michael’s ward.

“After previous applications to obtain permission to use the premises as a car wash and tyre fitting business were thankfully refused, subsequently when approval to build housing on this site was granted there was a positive reaction from residents.

“Sadly that was some time ago and the condition of the ex-garage has declined to its current state.”

He added: “We are in the hands of the ownership and the council’s officers working through legal channels to get this matter resolved.”

Councillor Michael Mordey, Hendon ward representative, added the garage site was an issue that had “impacted the local area in Grangetown for far too long”.

“Unfortunately, the time it has taken for the owners to constructively engage is unacceptable; they should have acted sooner and without the need for the council to take legal action,” he said.

“This is their site, it is their responsibility to maintain and I hope that they get their act together and bring forward suitable plans for its future use without any further delay; so that the residents living and working in and around it no longer have to suffer with a derelict site on their doorstep.”

Councillor Kevin Johnston, Sunderland City Council’s cabinet member for Dynamic City, added: “We’re very aware of the concerns that residents and ward councillors have raised about the site and its maintenance.

“Failure to comply with the improvement notice led to legal proceedings in October and following a guilty plea the owner was ordered by the court to pay a fine and costs of £1,310.

“Council officers are monitoring the site and are continuing to press the owners to comply with the notice.”