Landowners to appeal after plans for new Sunderland 'equestrian arena' turned down

The local authority’s planning department recently refused plans for a development at land to the rear of South Market Street in the Hetton area.

The planning application sought permission to construct an “outdoor equestrian arena for personal use” bounded in part by a perimeter fence and by a “post and rail equestrian fence”.Council planning documents said the area would be of “sand and fibre construction” measuring 40m in length by 22m in width and would be used to “exercise horses”.

After considering the planning application and assessing it against planning policies, Sunderland City Council’s planning department refused it on June 20, 2023.

Several reasons for refusal were listed, ranging from the visual impact of the horse arena use and perimeter fence to the development “encroaching” on the countryside.

However those behind the scheme have criticised the ruling and claimed they didn’t receive any formal notification from the council days after the decision was made.

They have now revealed their intention to challenge the council refusal ruling by lodging an appeal with the Secretary of State.

Applicants stressed there was no objection from local residents or Hetton Town Council to the equestrian arena and that there was local support for this use.

The local landowners noted the site was historically used as a builder’s yard and was “overgrown” and a “local eyesore” with timber and brick sheds, which were demolished following Storm Malik.

The applicants added they had offered to add some plantation to “screen” the site and had explained to council planners why the site was chosen.

This included the “flatness” of the land, its “quietness with no traffic”, more protection from the weather, better drainage and “maximised” grazing space.

A statement from the applicants added : “Having seriously weighed up the options available to us we felt that this was still the optimum spot for the development.

“We expressed our gratitude to the planner for providing us with a couple of alternative options but they both had issues (traffic noise exposure, much more exposure to the wind and rain, land currently not flat and potential increased risk to neighbouring land flooding).

“The alternatives would still require a new planning application anyway so it made sense for us to pursue our much preferred option with a view that if planning was refused and if we were to lose an appeal that it would still make more sense to invest in the proposed site by grassing it to enable us to use the land for grazing which we could still use to exercise the horses in this flat, quiet, sheltered area of our land but on grass versus the preferred all weather cushioned equestrian surface base proposed in the application.

“With the support of Hetton Town Council we will now prepare our appeal.”

A Sunderland City Council spokesperson said: “The application for a proposed equestrian arena was refused planning permission on the basis that it would not be compatible with the existing area and would have a negative impact on the neighbouring residential properties.

“It was also refused due to concerns that the proposal would not protect or enhance the landscape character as no planting or screening was proposed.

“The applicant was made aware at an early stage that the application was likely to be refused and the local planning authority has tried to work proactively with the applicant.”

The appeal will be decided by the Planning Inspectorate, with a Government-appointed planning inspector expected to rule on the matter.