Plans approved for more demolitions at Sheepfolds Industrial Estate
Plans to ramp up demolitions at an industrial estate as part of city council regeneration efforts have been given the green light.
Sunderland City Council’s planning department has approved two council applications looking to demolish more buildings at 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.
The Sheepfolds area recently welcomed the Sheepfolds Stables hospitality venue offering new restaurants, and wider public realm improvements are planned along with future plans to create a huge new housing development.
As part of works to transform the Sheepfolds area, phased demolition has been taking place with a number of planning applications approved in recent months to bulldoze old factory units and industrial units.
In a previous update to councillors, council development chiefs said businesses based at the industrial estate were being supported to re-locate as demolition and public realm works progress.
The latest planning applications from Sunderland City Council represent “phase three” of demolition works at Sheepfolds and aim to facilitate “future development”, planning documents confirm.
The first application included 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 were “redundant” and described them as the “former commercial buildings formerly known as Fred Reed, Stadium Motors Limited, Slayco Ltd, Glaziers and Thirkells”.
The second demolition application was linked to a cluster of “redundant” 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”.
After considering the demolition applications, Sunderland City Council’s planning department approved both on August 12, 2024.
Work on both demolition projects is expected to start in mid-September this year and finish at the end of October.
In terms of site restoration, buildings would be “demolished down to slab level only, with any voids within the site backfilled and compacted with site won contaminate free hardcore”.
A council decision report on the Stobart Street demolitions said the method of demolition “would be acceptable at this location, where there are reasonable separation distances to nearest residential properties”.
A council decision report for the Hay Street demolitions added: “The proposed demolition works are required as part of works to demolish and then redevelop the wider site at Sheepfolds, in accordance with the aspirations set out within the Riverside Sunderland Supplementary Planning Document.
“A screening opinion for the phased demolition, remediation and engineering works to create development platforms at the Sheepfolds Industrial Estate has already been issued, concluding that EIA (environmental impact assessment) is not required.
“This included the buildings subject of this prior approval demolition application”.
For more information on the Stobart Street application visit the Sunderland City 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