New Sunderland eye hospital plan recommended for approval

The new hospital would be built on the former Vaux brewery site

Revised plans for a new £36m eye hospital in Sunderland are being recommended for approval.

Sunderland City Council's planning committee is due to decide on the scheme for the new hospital on the former Vaux brewery site on Monday.

It would replace Sunderland Eye Infirmary on Queen Alexandra Road which has been operation for more than 75 years.

The hospital would house 342 staff by 2030, planners said.

Plans were previously approved in November 2021, but they were changed in August this year to boost patient capacity and reduce waiting lists, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

According to the planning application, the NHS is facing a national backlog and long waiting lists due to many planned treatments being postponed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a report prepared for councillors, planning officers said the scheme would make a "significant and positive contribution to townscape character" and would become a "significant development in the city".

The council's planning committee will meet at 17:30 GMT on Monday.