Football and basketball centre plans approved

The new football and basketball centre is planned for the site of an old sports centre in Southwick

Plans for a new football and basketball facility on the site of an old sports centre have been approved.

Sunderland City Council said the new facility would be part of a pilot scheme to "tackle inequality" in accessing sport.

The development will be on the site of the old sports area in Church Street, near the Southwick Community Centre.

The new centre will include pitches and fencing, as well as LED floodlights.

The pilot scheme is part of the Football Foundation’s Play Zones Programme, set up to “tackle inequalities in physical activity and access to high quality facilities in targeted areas”.

Council planning officers said the current Southwick site was in a “poor state of repair”, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A council planning report said revamping the sports court would provide community benefits and “encourage active and healthy lifestyles".

'Anything is better'

A meeting of the council’s planning and highways committee heard the site had been unused for five years and that the new development was acceptable at the location, subject to conditions around noise and light pollution.

These included controlling the hours of use and installing an acoustic fence.

The floodlighting system would also have an automatic cut-off switch at night, the meeting heard.

Conservative Councillor Michael Dixon representing St Michael's ward said “anything is better than what the site is at the moment”.

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