Plans approved to demolish more buildings 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 chiefs.

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

In recent months, the city council has approved a number of applications to remove buildings at the riverside site.

This includes factory units and a former fish and chip shop, and buildings once linked to printing giant Edward Thompson, as well as a recent factory unit demolition which was approved in February, 2024.

Although the council has cited ‘economy and health and safety’ as the reasons for demolition in many cases, previous council planning documents reference wider regeneration plans for the Sheepfolds Industrial Estate.

This includes 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”.

Sunderland City Council recently revealed CGI images of how the Sheepfolds area could look as a residential community, with formal proposals for hundreds of homes due to be submitted in future.

A recent planning application, approved by Sunderland City Council’s Planning and Highways Committee, also included a change of use from industrial land to ‘public realm’ in part of the area to improve connectivity.

The latest demolition plans at Sheepfolds Industrial Estate were submitted last month and sought permission to bulldoze a row of five units to the north of Brooke Street.

This included unit 10, a single-storey former garage/vehicle repair building linked to City Motors Ltd.

A second workshop building (unit 11) linked to PST Construction was also proposed for demolition, as well as the former Edward Thompson Building (block two) at unit 12.

Another building proposed for demolition included a single-storey factory unit/warehouse partly linked to business Europcar, which was granted permission to move to a new base in Pallion back in 2023.

The building, made up of units 13 and 14, is also used by Sunderland City Council to house its grass-cutting machines and to store materials.

A planning application from the city council stated the five units were being demolished on the grounds of “economy and health and safety”.

After considering the planning application, Sunderland City Council’s planning department approved it on April 19, 2024.

Council planners, in a decision report, said the “nature and scale of the proposed demolition”, and method of site restoration, were acceptable.

This included the units being “demolished down to slab level only, with any voids within the site backfilled and compacted with site won contaminate free hardcore”.

In addition, a “knee rail birdsmouth fence would be constructed around the perimeter boundaries to enclose the site”.

Demolition works are proposed to start this month and have an estimated completion date of mid-July, 2024.

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

The planning application added: “The area has been designated as [a] redevelopment area by Sunderland City Council and major redevelopment works are to be carried out in the near future”.

For more information on the planning application or council decision, visit Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website and search reference: 24/00547/DEM