New 'pizza cafe' planned for site near Penshaw Monument

Plans for a “pizza café” development near Sunderland’s Penshaw Monument have been submitted to council development chiefs.

Sunderland City Council’s planning department has received an application for land near the Penshaw Hill House and Cottage complex.

The site sits adjacent to the two dwellings at the foot of Penshaw Hill, off the A183 Chester Road, and within the Green Belt.

New plans aim to erect a detached building providing a “pizza food and beverage offer for visitors to Penshaw Monument”.

This would include an “eating/servery area and support facilities incorporating a display area for National Trust publications and information”.

The development is described in the planning listing as a “pizza café” and in supporting planning documents as “monument pizza hut”, while floor plans show a large internal seating area and a covered terrace with outdoor seating.

The single-storey building would be based on a “previously developed part of the site namely the redundant ménage”.

A design, access and heritage statement submitted to council officials adds toilets at the site would be available 24/7 to “service monument visitors”.

Those behind the scheme said the building had been designed to be “low profile and unobtrusive” and would incorporate a “low pitch sedum [green roof] effectively camouflaging the building when viewed from the monument above”.

Vehicular parking would be provided within the curtilage of the site with four spaces, including one disabled parking bay, as well as electric vehicle charging points.

It was also argued that the proposal would “neither increase nor decrease the number of visitors to the monument” and had been designed to reduce visual impacts to the Green Belt.

The design, access and heritage statement adds: “The development would result in minimal impact upon the openness of the Green Belt.

“Due to the natural topography of the site and in particular Penshaw Hill to the north west, the proposal would not result in significant harm to the Grade I-listed asset [Penshaw Monument].

“The adjacent residential properties would not be adversely affected by the proposal, the development would not increase overlooking or decrease privacy in relation to residential amenity.

“The proposal would provide significant employment opportunities [and] would provide a high quality service to the local area”.

According to planning documents from applicant Green Property Developments Ltd, the development would create around 20 jobs, with 12 full-time and eight part-time positions.

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

Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website lists a decision deadline of June 4, 2024.

For more information on the plan or to track its progress, visit the council’s planning portal website and search reference: 24/00224/FUL