More Sheepfolds buildings set for demolition under new plans

Sunderland City Council has submitted two applications to its own planning department this month seeking permission to demolish more buildings at the Sheepfolds Industrial Estate.

The industrial estate, near the Stadium of Light, has been identified as a regeneration area by the city council as part of the Riverside Sunderland project, which aims to transform both sides of the river.

Sheepfolds will be connected to the former Vaux site via a new footbridge over the river Wear and will house the new Sheepfolds Stables hospitality venue offering new restaurants, along with wider public realm improvements and future plans to create a huge new housing development.

As part of works to transform the Sheepfolds area, phased demolition has been taking place across the industrial estate, with a number of planning applications approved in recent months to bulldoze old factory and industrial units.

In a previous update to councillors, council development chiefs said efforts were underway to support businesses based at the industrial estate to re-locate as demolition and public realm works progress.

The latest planning applications from Sunderland City Council aim to demolish more buildings which, according to planning documents, represent “phase three” of demolition works at Sheepfolds.

The first application includes buildings on both sides of Stobart Street at the northern tip of the industrial estate, encompassing numbers 1A, 1B, 1C and 2 Stobart Street, as well as unit three Stobart Street and 46 Stobart Street.

A planning application said the buildings are “redundant” and describes them as the “former commercial buildings formerly known as Fred Reed, Stadium Motors Limited, Slayco Ltd, Glaziers and Thirkells”.

The planning application adds that post-demolition, the site would be “left for future development by Sunderland City Council”.

The second demolition application is linked to a cluster of commercial units at the southern end of the industrial estate, near St Peter’s Metro Station.

This includes Hay Street units 1-12, which are described in a planning application as “six individual structures of similar construction”.

The planning application adds: “The works consist of the demolition of the redundant buildings, under a single contract, of the former commercial buildings to make way for future development of the site”.

Subject to approval by city council planners, work on both demolition projects is expected to start in mid-September this year and finish at the end of October.

Updates on both demolition applications will be published on Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website once decisions have been made.

Decisions on both planning applications are expected in coming weeks.

For more information on the Stobart Street application visit the council’s planning portal website and search reference: 24/01370/DEM

The Hay Street demolition application can also be found by searching reference: 24/01375/DEM