Update on housing plans for former Sunderland pub The Cavalier in Silksworth

Sunderland City Council’s planning department has published an update on plans for The Cavalier public house site in Silksworth, which has faced delays since plans were approved last year.

The application from CJ Taverns, approved by the council’s Planning and Highways Committee in July, 2023, sought to demolish the pub and provide 14 houses and a three-storey building with five flats.

The proposals also included car parking, landscaping and a new pedestrian access being provided, as well as existing vehicle access arrangements at the site being “retained and upgraded”.

However, the approval was subject to the completion of a section 106 agreement, which is used to secure funds from developers to help mitigate the impacts of developments.

At a meeting of the city council’s Planning and Highways Committee in April, 2024, councillors were told there had “not been any substantive progress upon the legal agreement”.

The agreement for the development aimed to secure the provision of three affordable units on site and financial contributions towards allotments, “equipped play spaces” and open space, along with funds to boost biodiversity and funds to reduce impacts on protected coastal nature areas.

City planners said the application had returned to councillors so that the recommendation for approval could be amended to provide a final deadline for when the legal agreement must be completed by.

Councillors agreed that the legal agreement must be completed by June 30, 2024, otherwise, the application would be refused.

It was noted that without the suggested financial contributions the scheme would not be deemed “acceptable” in planning terms.

Councillor Iain Scott, speaking at the planning meeting at the time, said the move showed the council were “very serious about section 106 legal agreements” which are “important” for local communities.

Council planners added the approach was likely to be adopted for other planning applications that need legal agreements following updated government guidance for “an accelerated planning system”.

Although The Cavalier site application was at risk of falling through if the legal agreement was not finalised in time, an update on Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website confirms issues have been resolved.

The planning portal states the planning application was officially approved on June 29, 2024, and confirms planning permission is now in place.

Under planning conditions, works on the new housing development must take place within three years.

At the Planning and Highways Committee in April, 2024, council officers said the pub building had been demolished in February “for reasons of safety” following a major fire at the site at the end of last year.

Council reports noted comments from the applicant’s agent which said the local authority’s building control team had been consulted and the Health and Safety Executive had “requested demolition immediately as it was classed as an unsafe structure and a danger to the public”.