More Improvements Planned for Sunniside

Work is soon to start on £2 million of improvements to streets in Sunniside in Sunderland city centre.

The work is part of the ongoing regeneration of Sunniside and follows on from the success of the award-winning Sunniside Gardens. Improvements will include pavement widening and better street lighting, making it safer and more pedestrian friendly and helping to improve connections between Sunniside and the rest of the city centre. The project, which has been funded by One North East and is due to start later this summer, will also include installations by international artists.

The streets earmarked for improvement are:

• St Thomas Street
• High Street West (between Fawcett Street and Norfolk Street)
• West Sunniside Norfolk Street (between High Street West and Sunniside Gardens)
• Coronation Street

The public were invited to see the plans at an open exhibition at thePlace arts and business centre before Christmas. The proposals involve new or amended traffic order changes. The public can now view these changes during normal working hours at Sunderland City Council Civic Centre, Third Floor Reception; Chief Solicitor, Legal Services, Burdon Road; and the City Library and Arts Centre, Fawcett Street on Monday and Wednesday 9.30am -7.30pm, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9.30am - 5.00pm and Saturday 9.30am - 4.00pm.

Ben Hall, director of Sunniside Partnership, said: “Sunniside Gardens have proved what good quality public realm can do to improve an area. They have breathed new life into the heart of Sunniside and we want to continue this by creating better streets in the surrounding area. This will improve linkages and help to encourage more people into this beautiful part of the city centre.”

For more information about the improvements, please contact Stuart Ainsley at Sunniside Partnership on 0191 5674822 or email stuarta@sunnisidepartnership.co.uk