Wearmouth Candidate World Heritage Site Masterplan and Design Code Supplementary Planning Document (SPD)
The council is consulting on a proposed masterplan and design code to guide regeneration and development around the city's candidate World Heritage Site at St Peter's. The consultation runs from Wednesday 9 November 2011 until Wednesday 7 December 2011.
Introduction
St Peter's Church and Grounds, and its association with the Venerable Bede, is the city's greatest cultural asset. It forms part of the Wearmouth-Jarrow candidate World Heritage Site (cWHS).
However, it is located immediately next to a key city regeneration area. The council's adopted Unitary Development Plan (UDP) Alteration No.2 identifies Bonnersfield and St Peter's University campus as a strategic location for change. There is the potential for major new development in the area which could impact on St Peter's Church and the cWHS.
The Outstanding Universal Value of the cWHS must be protected and enhanced. It is important that future development in the area does not jeopardize the bid for World Heritage Site status.
 | Background In 2010 the City Council carried out a public consultation exercise on an earlier draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) for the area, then titled St Peter's Riverside and Bonnersfield Planning Framework. Many responses to the consultation were generally supportive and issues raised could have been accommodated in minor revisions to the SPD. |
Crucially however the response of English Heritage raised fundamental concerns that the draft SPD would not provide a sufficiently robust mechanism for protecting the Outstanding Universal Value of the cWHS that will be required to support the bid. This was particularly in relation to potential development on the north side of the River Wear.
The City Council has since engaged in further positive dialogue with English Heritage and the major stakeholders on the north side of the river (the University of Sunderland and other significant land owners) to better inform a redrafting of the SPD to meet the requirements of protecting the Outstanding Universal Value of the cWHS.
To reflect the increased emphasis given to the cWHS and the protection and enhancement of its Outstanding Universal Value, the document has also been retitled Wearmouth Candidate World Heritage Site Masterplan and Design Code Supplementary Planning Document (Consultation Draft).
Purpose and coverage of the masterplan and design code The masterplan and design code has been prepared to guide future development in the area. It will ensure that there is the right balance between protecting and enhancing the area's heritage and achieving significant regeneration activity. It is intended to supplement policies NA28A and NA3B.1 of UDP Alteration No.2. It covers the entire 'buffer zone' of the cWHS, including St Peter's Church and Grounds and areas on both sides of the River Wear where archaeological remains of the St Peter's monastic estates are likely to be found. |  |
 | Six broad character areas have been identified in the masterplan:
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Urban design principles The masterplan incorporates a number of broad planning and urban design principles relating to acceptable uses, layout, scale of development, access and landscape. |  |
 | Wearmouth Masterplan The masterplan provides one interpretation of how development could be brought forward in a way that respects the heritage of the area and creates a vibrant, new city quarter. It celebrates the setting of the cWHS and reinforces its historic relationship with the river. |
Key views and Vistas Crucially, the masterplan aims to protect and enhance key views to and from the cWHS. The design code sets out the standards of urban design the council requires in the development of the area. It deals with a range of urban design elements - in some cases specific to individual character areas - which, together, will create the required high quality environment and setting for the cWHS. |  |
Images of the forms of the development These images illustrate the forms of development that could be brought forward in accordance with the masterplan and design code. |  |  |
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Have Your Say
The consultation draft SPD document and associated documents can be downloaded by clicking the relevant links on the right hand side of this page (under 'Downloads').
Copies of the SPD document are also available for inspection at all city libraries and at the council's Customer Service Centre, 31-32 Fawcett Street, Sunderland SR1 1RE.
You can comment on the proposed SPD by:
- Completing a Wearmouth Candidate World Heritage Site Masterplan and Design Code Consultation form; or
- Contacting the Planning and Implementation Team using the contact details shown on the right
