RIVERSIDE RECOGNITION
Winner – Riverside Sunderland beat off stiff competition to win Pineapple award .
City development wins national award
Riverside Sunderland has scooped a prestigious award that pinpoints it as the UK ’ s best future place .
The city ’ s new urban quarter scooped a Pineapple Award at the Festival of Place ceremony , a celebration of “ placemaking ” and the UK ’ s built environment held at Wembley ’ s Box Park .
Sunderland ’ s Riverside development , which comprises the former Vaux site , High Street West , Farringdon Row , Galleys Gill and Sheepfolds was singled out as the winning place , with judges highlighting the scheme ’ s innovation and focus on sustainability .
Sunderland beat off competition from developments including One Waterloo in Lambeth , London , as well as two other London developments and schemes from Cornwall to Jersey .
Councillor Graeme Miller , leader of Sunderland City Council , said : “ We know Riverside Sunderland is a special development that will provide a world-class offer when it ’ s complete .
“ Awards like this are important though , because they demonstrate that – on a national stage – our vision stands out and I think that ’ s a sign of just how ambitious we are in Sunderland and just how hard we ’ re working to deliver something really special .”
The Pineapples are the only awards that celebrate the very best in placemaking , recognising excellence in community engagement , activation , active travel , public space , creative retrofit , future place , place in progress and place of the year .
This is the latest in a string of awards that developments at Riverside Sunderland have scooped .
City Hall , The Beam and The Auditorium all stand within Riverside Sunderland and have won awards for their quality and design .
Riverside Sunderland will include residential , commercial and leisure developments when it is complete .
Transforming land on both sides of the river , the scheme aims to double the residential population in the city centre and increase employment by 50 per cent and also fits with the city ’ s housing strategy , which will see 7,000 new homes build by 2030 .
Planning submitted for upcycling plant
A planning application has been submitted for a new plastics upcycling plant that will create 100 jobs in Sunderland and handle plastic materials that are not currently recycled .
Quantafuel Sunderland – part of a specialist recycling company based in Norway – is applying for permission to build the plastics processing plant on a 12-acre site on the eastern edge of Port of Sunderland .
The plant will take plastics that are not currently recycled from across the north of England and melt them down so the raw materials can be used again .
It will be the first plant in the UK operated by Quantafuel , which will chemically recycle plastics to produce a substitute for fossil oil , reducing C02 emissions by around 50 per cent compared to incineration .
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BUSINESS BRIEFS
LEVELLING UP BID More than £ 117m worth of schemes that would enhance transport , regeneration , town centres and culture are being developed across County Durham .
Durham County Council is working on provisional bids to the government ’ s Levelling Up Fund for five of its local parliamentary constituencies , following the previous success of its application to the same funding stream in respect of the sixth .
The council ’ s cabinet is being asked to support the submission of the five bids , and to the authority contributing £ 21.4m in matched funding .
TIMBER FIRM ON THE UP A timber construction specialist rooted in the Wear region has doubled the size of its manufacturing facility and head office after a year of solid growth .
Fencehouse Timber Engineering , which manufactures sustainable roof trusses , timber frames and floor joists for the construction industry , has purchased additional premises adjacent to its head office and factory in Houghton-le-Spring as it looks to capitalise on the UK ’ s construction boom .
COLLEGE ON WAY TO OUTSTANDING Leaders and governors at Sunderland College are celebrating after education watchdog Ofsted confirmed the college ’ s provision as ‘ Good ’ and ‘ Outstanding ’.
Sunderland College merged with Hartlepool Sixth Form College ( 2017 ) and Northumberland College ( 2019 ) to create Education Partnership North East ( EPNE ).
As a consequence , Ofsted carried out a full inspection in May across all of EPNE ’ s campuses in Sunderland and across the region .
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