Shipbuilding sculpture plans officially submitted

One of the proposed Ray Lonsdale sculptures shows shipyard workers on their lunch break reading the Sunderland Echo

Plans for three new sculptures paying tribute to a city's shipbuilding heritage have been submitted.

Sunderland City Council’s planning department has received three separate applications for pieces of public art along the riverside walkway in the St Peter's area.

Two of the sculptures have been created by North East artist Ray Lonsdale, while the third, a tribute to the city’s forgotten women shipyard workers, has been created by Sunderland-born artist Dr Ron Lawson.

Members of the public have been invited to have their say on the proposals.

The planning applications for the three sculptures were recently publicised and have now appeared on the council's planning portal website.

People can leave comments and share their views on the plans as part of a formal consultation exercise.

Subject to formal planning permission being granted, the three corten steel sculptures are expected to be installed later this year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

A second sculpture by Ray Lonsdale, Launch Day, depicts a young girl sat with her grandfather overlooking the River Wear

The two sculptures created by Mr Lonsdale show two male workers during a lunch break towards the end of the city's shipbuilding period, and the other is of a young girl sitting with her grandfather, who is telling her stories from his time at the shipyards, after they were closed.

Mr Lawson's sculpture, Molly, was commissioned by the Sunderland Soroptimists in tribute to female workers.

It is designed to look lifelike, and remember the more than 700 women who worked in often harsh conditions.

A third proposed riverside sculpture, Molly, pays tribute to Sunderland’s female shipyard workers

The new sculptures will become part of Sunderland’s Sculpture Trail, which was launched more than three decades ago and now runs along the final part of the Coast to Coast cycle route.

A planning and design statement submitted to the council notes the sculptures aim to "pay tribute to the city as a global hub of shipbuilding" and to "tell the story of the decline of shipbuilding in the city and ultimately the closure of the yards".