City centre regeneration

Investment Corridors

Environmental improvements to Sunderland City Centre have a vital role to play in supporting its wider regeneration.

It is crucial to ensure that our city centre is a welcoming destination for residents and visitors, to add vibrancy as well as support existing businesses, encourage private sector investment, and improve customer spend.

The Investment Corridors project seeks to align investment to key routes and destinations within the city centre and facilitate private sector development.

• High Street West: £2m improvements to High Street West and Bridge Street have now been completed, as well as works to the public square to the front of the former Dun Cow Fire Station

• Minster Quarter: Infrastructure works identified within the Minster Quarter Masterplan are to be delivered from 2018 to facilitate the area's development as a cultural destination. The £3m works will include public realm upgrades to High Street West, provision of a new Minster Quarter Access route and pedestrian crossing and junction improvements to St Michael's Way. The relocation of the Dun Cow Street Substation is also proposed. A proposals plan for the area can be viewed here Minster Quarter Draft Proposals Plan (PDF) [963KB] .

Minster Quarter Masterplan

The regeneration of the Minster Quarter in the city centre is a key priority for the City Council.

The vision is to create a cultural quarter and a key gateway into the city centre of Sunderland that restores the area's historic importance and creates a place that is valued by the whole community. In order to deliver the vision, a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD), the Minster Quarter Masterplan has been produced to provide specific design guidance for the area. The Masterplan will help facilitate the planning and regeneration of the Minster Quarter in a manner that supports the aspirations set out in the Central area urban design strategy. It will help to achieve a much higher quality of development and influence all planning applications in the Masterplan area.

The Draft Minster Quarter Masterplan was the subject of a statutory public consultation between 15 November 2016 and 15 February 2017. Following the consultation it was amended and adopted by the City Council as Minster Quarter Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) in April 2017.