Two visions unveiled for new bridge over River Wear in Sunderland - plus updates on Vaux developments and Crowtree site

Development at the former Crowtree leisure centre site, the redevelopment of Sunderland train station and moving forward with work on the Farringdon Row site are all also included in a £6million decision on design, feasibility and development works to be considered by senior councillors on March 24.

Council leader Graeme Miller said: "The £6million reflects the size and importance of these projects. This is very probably the biggest allocation of funding this council has made for feasibility and design works.

"The council and its partners in the private and public sectors are deadly serious about building a 21st century city and our City Plan for a more dynamic, healthy and vibrant Sunderland."

Details are outlined in papers prepared for a meeting of Sunderland’s ruling cabinet.

Ideas for a new bridge

Two ideas for the footbridge are outlined in the report to cabinet:

1) A high-level bridge between the former brewery site and the city's Keel Line to near the Stadium of Light at Sheepfolds.

2) A lower-level between the Galleys Gill Riverside Park to link up with the C2C cycle route.

Councillor Miller said: "It's well-known that for several years there's been ideas and aspirations to have a new pedestrian and cycle bridge from the city centre to the northern side of the city."The recent publication of the Sunderland Riverside masterplan has also highlighted that potential."A high level bridge would improve links from the city centre to the stadium and promote development on both sides of the river. A bridge from Galleys Gill would help bring the park back into use and, again, promote more development on both sides of the river."

Sunderland City Council earmarked £36.2million for works at Farringdon Row, £9million towards a 500-space multi-storey car park and a £7.4million retail development at the Crowtree site at its 2020/2021 budget meeting earlier in March 2020.

Farringdon Row, Crowtree, Sunderland station and Vaux

The multi-storey car park has been earmarked for Farringdon Row, which councillors say would help maximise development opportunities at the former Vaux brewery site and reduce city congestion.

The funding is part of a £270million council investment programme over the next 12 months and takes the authority's investment programme over the next four years to £450million.

A larger proposal for re-building the railway station and redevelopment of the southern main entrance is currently part of the bid to the Government's Transforming Cities fund. A further study will look at the station’s ‘sub-standard’ northern entrance.

The cabinet report outlines how the council is in negotiations with a client about a new building and lease of the site at Farringdon Row.

For Crowtree, further studies and cost estimates will be drawn-up and presented to the council.At the former brewery site, the Beam building now includes tenants such as home delivery group Ocado and work is progressing at the neighbouring City Hall, which will be the council's new HQ alongside other public sector partners. In November, Legal & General announced it was committing £100million towards developing a new core business district as part of Riverside Sunderland and supporting the creation of up to 3,000 new jobs.Coun Miller added: "We are making further decisions on more important developments for our city. These studies and designs for Farringdon Row, the Railway Station, Crowtree and Riverside Sunderland, are all part of this council's City Plan and drive to make Sunderland the best medium-sized city in the UK."The cabinet meets from 2pm at Sunderland Civic Centre.