Plans for a multi-million pound Home Bargains store in Sunderland creating dozens of new jobs have officially been submitted to city development chiefs.

Sunderland City Council’s planning department has received an application for land to the south of Leechmere Road in the Grangetown area.

Plans for the site, which sits near an existing Asda superstore, includes the demolition of a “reservoir structure” which once served a nearby paper mill and landscaping to make way for a huge retail unit.

The £10million development, first revealed by Fintry Estates and Hargreaves Land in 2022, includes a Home Bargains store with 2,804 sqm gross floorspace and new access arrangements.The Northern Echo:

Read more: Darlington transport redevelopment projects delayed by inflation

Those behind the scheme have said it will regenerate the former industrial site that has been vacant for many years and blighted by fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour.

According to planning documents submitted to the city council in January, 2023, the proposals are expected to create around 60 full time equivalent jobs and other “spin-off employment”.

This includes local businesses and others in the supply chain, and construction employment associated with the development.

A planning and retail statement submitted to council officials notes the plans would provide 162 parking spaces (including 10 accessible spaces and around 10 parent and child spaces), as well as pedestrian links, cycle parking and electric vehicle chargers.

It was also confirmed that developers had looked at other potential sites for the Home Bargains store in the Grangetown and Ryhope areas but ruled them out as they were unsuitable.

This was because of issues relating to “size, location and existing and proposed uses”.

The planning and retail statement added: “The proposed development would regenerate a previously developed and vacant site, which is overgrown and has been subject to anti-social behaviour.

“It would also generate a range of other economic and sustainability benefits, by creating new employment opportunities and enhancing the range of retail provision for local residents”.

Developers, in a design and access statement, added a service yard has been positioned to the rear of the proposed Home Bargains store, to help “minimise the impact” on neighbours and to “ensure that it does not dominate the development”.

Read next:

If you want to read more great stories, why not subscribe to The Northern Echo for as little as £1.25 a week. Click here.

A decision on the planning application will be made once a period of council consultation has concluded.

Information provided on Sunderland City Council’s website states a decision is expected by the end of April, 2023.

For more information on the planning application or to track its progress, visit Sunderland City Council’s online planning portal and search reference: 23/00192/FU4 Caption: CGI pictures of how development could look