Update on plans for a 10,000-capacity arena on Sunderland's former Crowtree Leisure Centre site

Council chiefs stressed they still have “ambitions” for an arena in the city despite a “pause” on plans for a 10,000-capacity venue earmarked for the site of the former Crowtree Leisure Centre.

Sunderland City Council bosses said the development has been impacted by issues such as rising costs and inflation, although negotiations are continuing around the site and the potential for an arena in the region.

Plans, made public in 2022, included a 10,000-capacity multi-purpose arena, a food hall, restaurants, a hotel and studios for the site of the old Crowtree Leisure Centre.

The update comes after a question was asked by councillor Antony Mullen, leader of the Conservative Group on the local authority, at the latest meeting of the scrutiny co-ordinating committee, around what is happening with the site and the plans.

Anthony Crabb, council project director, said they had been speaking to “a number of interested parties to operate the new arena.”

He added one of the challenges was they all “wanted a new build arena on the site”, which would have required further land deals which have not been completed “albeit negotiations still continue.”

He said: “Where we are at this moment in time, due again largely to the increased borrowing rates, construction, inflation, as well as energy costs across the sector, is that we’ve had to pause that development, the new build arena, at this moment in time.

“What we are looking to do is to redirect our attention to how we can reuse the existing structure of the Crowtree, which was the original intention.

“Our intention is to look at and explore what other options are, which may incorporate some form of spectator music arena of some sort, but it will not be in the fashion of a new build arena facility.”

He added the council is also looking at “other areas of the city” to provide an arena “in the event that the Crowtree development comes forward as an alternative option.”

Mr Crabb continued: “I think it’s something that we will continue to explore, there is an ambition to still have an arena in the city, there are interested parties.

“The challenge is going to be around the market conditions correcting itself and also if we can find subsidy or some form of funding regime.

“I think the conditions at this moment in time dictate that we can’t deliver a new build arena, which I think is evident when we look at Gateshead and the like which are struggling to deliver that scheme which has been on the cards for a number of years now.”

Council chiefs added, in regards to proposals for development on the former Crowtree Leisure Centre site, they are speaking to “a number of different interested parties” and are “assessing which are the most viable in terms of delivery.”

Council officers at the meeting, which took place on December 7, outlined how some of the funding from Government initially planned for the Crowtree arena project has been directed towards the Culture House development “to meet the issues around inflation” and rising costs.