More demolition work planned for Sunderland's Sheepfolds area, with factory units facing the bulldozers

Plans to demolish more buildings at a Sunderland industrial estate have been submitted to city development chiefs.

Sunderland City Council’s planning department has received an application for factory units in the Sheepfolds Industrial Estate area.

In recent months, several applications have been approved by the council to bulldoze buildings in the area.

This includes factory units and a former fish and chip shop, and buildings once linked to printing giant Edward Thompson.

Although ‘economy and health and safety’ were cited by the council as reasons for demolition in many cases, council planning documents last year also referenced wider regeneration plans for the Sheepfolds Industrial Estate.

This included proposals to “demolish and then redevelop the wider site at Sheepfolds, in accordance with the aspirations set out within the [council’s] Riverside Sunderland supplementary planning document”.

A report noted there had been a request for a screening opinion from the council for the “phased demolition, remediation and engineering works to create development platforms elsewhere at the Sheepfolds Industrial Estate”.

New plans submitted by Sunderland City Council this year aim to demolish building blocks, referred to as blocks 1B and 1C, which were once linked to the wider Edward Thompson factory site.

The building blocks, located on the north side of Richmond Street, include a single-storey factory unit comprised of workshops, offices, welfare facilities and storage areas.

A planning application from the city council states demolition is proposed on the grounds of “economy and health and safety”.

The planning application adds: “The buildings have exceeded their useful economic lifespan and are now redundant, they are in a poor state of repair and are structurally deteriorating, posing a danger to the public.”

Demolition works are proposed to start later this month and to finish by March 15, 2024.

Council planning documents state the site would be demolished to ground level and surrounded by a “knee rail birdsmouth fence constructed to the perimeter”.

However, one of the largest parts of the former Edward Thompson factory, block 1A, is not included in the latest demolition application.

A decision on the planning application for units 1B and 1C will be made once a period of council consultation has concluded.

Information on Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website lists a decision deadline of February 20, 2024.

For more information on the planning application and to track its progress, visit the council’s planning portal website and search reference: 24/00123/DEM