Plans approved for more demolitions at Sheepfolds Industrial Estate in Sunderland

Plans to demolish more buildings at a Sunderland industrial estate have been given the green light by city development bosses.

Sunderland City Council’s planning department has approved an application to bulldoze factory units in the Sheepfolds Industrial Estate area.

This includes the demolition of several buildings, referred to as blocks 1B and 1C, which were once linked to the wider Edward Thompson factory site.

The buildings, 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, submitted earlier this year, said demolition was being proposed on the grounds of “economy and health and safety”.

The planning application added: “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.”

After considering the demolition application, Sunderland City Council’s planning department approved it on February 14, 2024.

Both the council’s environmental health and highways departments were consulted on the plan and raised no objections.

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

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

Footpaths to the perimeter of the site would also be “made good to highway standards”, with foundations and brickwork being retained where required to “ensure the footpaths and highways remain structurally stable”.

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

The planning approval is the latest in a line of buildings that have been earmarked for demolition in the industrial estate.

This includes factory units and a former fish and chip shop, and other 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 the council had been seeking an opinion on the potential “phased demolition, remediation and engineering works to create development platforms elsewhere at the Sheepfolds Industrial Estate”.

For more information on the recent demolition application, visit Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website and search reference: 24/00123/DEM