Plans approved to boost parking at Sunderland church site to support studios and workspaces scheme

Plans to improve parking at a Sunderland church to support its conversion into an arts and events hub have been given the green light.

Sunderland City Council’s planning department has approved an application for St. Mark’s Church, which sits off Hylton Road in the Millfield ward.

A community association currently operates from the church hall on site, while the Grade II-listed main church building is understood to have been vacant for several years.

A planning bid from applicant Pecorino Properties Ltd, submitted back in 2023, aimed to extend the church’s existing surface car park area.

The car park extension bid followed a separate, but linked, planning application for the church which aims to remove pews and platforms and construct “internal studios and workspaces”.

The application, which was approved in January, 2024, aims to attract not-for-profit organisations, local artists and small start-up businesses to the site, as well as using part of the internal space for events and exhibitions.

Plans to extend the site’s parking area aimed to support this development, increasing the on-site car parking area to 12 dedicated spaces.

Supporting documents added the plans would provide “adequate parking provision on the site” while also “minimising on-street parking in St. Marks Terrace”.

The main vehicular access to the car park would be taken via Wentworth Terrace, with the new parking area also including one ‘access bay’.

After considering the parking application and assessing it against planning policies, Sunderland City Council’s planning department approved it on March 11, 2024.

A council decision report stated the plans would not increase “noise and disturbance within the vicinity to a degree that would warrant refusal of permission”.

It was also noted that the parking proposals would “support the re-use of the redundant church to provide studio/workshop spaces for local artists/craftspeople and small start-up businesses”.

The council decision report added: “The highway officer confirmed that although improvements to the access would be encouraged, as the application is only for the extension of the car park and the vehicular access is as existing, with regard to highway safety the proposal is acceptable”.

The parking application is a key step towards the main church building becoming a community hub once again, and follows other linked planning approvals for the site.

This includes a new security fence between the church and church hall and a certificate of lawfulness to convert the church into a “venue for community education and arts exhibitions and programming”.

For more information on the planning application, visit Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website and search reference: 23/02585/FUL