Sunderland City Council gives green light for Sunniside housing plans
Councillors have approved plans for major housing development in the Sunniside area of the city.
Sunderland City Council’s Planning and Highways Committee, at a meeting this week, approved an application for 75 new homes at a site bound by High Street West, Villiers Street, Coronation Street and Nile Street.
The project, referred to as the “Nile + Villiers community”, is supported by Levelling Up Fund investment and aims to reinstate two streets demolished in the 2000s which were historically home to printers, cabinet makers and textile workers.
Plans aim to establish both sustainable homes and up to 10 ground floor units for commercial businesses, learning and other groups, with an aim of re-establishing a “creative living and working neighbourhood” in the area.
The new homes are also a key element of a 10-year place strategy for the Sunniside area aiming to grow new and existing creative industries, increase the residential population and bring under-used buildings and spaces to life.
Siglion Developments LLP, part of the council-owned regeneration company Siglion, is listed as the applicant for the scheme.
A planning and heritage statement submitted to council officials noted the project would provide around 60 two-and-three-bedroom dwellings on part of the site for “private market rent in a mix of terraced houses and maisonettes”.
There would be open space to the rear of the dwellings to provide “communal space for residents incorporating paths, trees and ornamental planting, raised beds for food-growing, informal play space, communal storage for waste and refuse, and sustainable urban drainage (SUDS) infrastructure”.
The part of the site incorporating the former 19-21 Nile Street, which has been demolished, would include five homes for private market rent in a mix of terraced houses and maisonettes.
Meanwhile, the part of the site bound by High Street West, Nile Street, Villiers Street and Little Villiers Street would include 10 dwellings, and “up to 10 units of retail, office or community space”.
As the development does not propose dedicated on-site car parking, Northumbria Police previously raised concerns about “a large number of vehicles trying to use the limited/restricted parking” in the area and associated “neighbourly disputes”.
However, council planners, in a committee report, said the car parking for the site was “acceptable for a city centre-located development as the site benefits from nearby car parking and good transport links”.
A supplementary report provided to councillors this week said developers had provided additional information to the police, who found there was a “positive solution” to issues raised.
It was noted that future residents could purchase permits to park in council-operated car parks, including the Sunniside Multi-Storey Car Park nearby.
After being put to the vote at a Planning and Highways Committee meeting at City Hall on July 29, 2024, the plans won unanimous support.
An agent speaking in support of the application told councillors the “well-designed sustainable scheme” would transform a vacant site and that no objections had been received from consultees internally, externally or from the wider community.
It was argued that the scheme was a “significant project for Sunniside, supporting Sunderland city’s plan in bringing residential population back to the city centre, offering good homes and a vibrant city life”.
Councillor Iain Scott, welcoming the scheme, said: “This is a really good application and I can see this tying in very nicely with the City Plan and the ongoing regeneration that we’re going to see at Sunniside.
“It’s a very ambitious project and this is certainly one of the key steps to making that happen, so I’m really delighted to see this today”.
Councillor Michael Dixon also backed the plan and referenced his previous input into a council scrutiny committee project which looked at the Sunniside area and how to improve it.
Cllr Dixon added: “I’m very very happy to support this application and I think the number of residents who will be coming in will help the businesses.
“You can see the number of businesses there are from the people who were consulted and there are many more.
“So I will give it my approval and hope it’s a great success”.
Sunderland City Council’s planning department, in a report published ahead of the decision-making Planning and Highways Committee meeting, recommended the housing scheme for approval.
The council report added a number of mitigation measures had been recommended for the homes to reduce impacts from road traffic noise, “entertainment noise” from nearby music and dance venues and commercial noise from a nearby car workshop.
Developers have previously confirmed that the majority of the proposed dwellings would be acquired by built-to-rent specialist Placefirst, with others being sold to local buyers.
It was noted that the development would include a “community energy microgrid providing residents with clean affordable energy” and shared gardens, as well as being cycle-friendly with “150 cycle parking spaces for residents, with secure cycle parking within their rear gardens”.
A new “mixed-use building” would also recreate the frontage to High Street West to help the scheme “sensitively integrate” within the Old Sunderland Conservation Area.
The planning and heritage statement from developers confirmed the Sunniside scheme does not include the provision of affordable housing, with a viability assessment submitted to support this position.
Viability issues cited by developers included the “abnormal costs” associated with the brownfield site previously occupied by industrial buildings and the higher build costs linked to “sustainable design”.
The council committee report added that the “significant benefits arising from the proposed development”, including increasing the resident population of the city centre, re-developing vacant land and enhancing nearby heritage assets, would “outweigh the [scheme’s] minor to moderate adverse impacts”.
As part of the planning permission being granted, developers are expected to provide financial contributions to the council as part of a legal agreement.
This includes an allocation of around £80,000 towards reducing impacts on coastal nature areas, ecology issues, local infrastructure (in consultation with ward councillors) or education.
It was also agreed that the viability of the scheme would be “re-tested” at “appropriate interval(s) using actual build costs” to establish whether the development could provide more financial contributions in future.
Construction works are expected to start on the council-owned site later this year, subject to the legal agreement being completed.
For more information on the planning application, visit Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website and search reference: 24/00562/FU4
Caption: CGI image of how new residential community in Sunniside could look Credit: Xsite Architecture
Caption: Site proposed for new residential community in Sunniside, Sunderland (April, 2024) Credit: LDRS