Plans for a Nissan-led “education and training facility” aiming to “create a new generation of skilled local workers in electric vehicle and battery technology” have been given the green light by councillors.
Sunderland City Council’s Planning and Highways Committee have approved an application for the future of an industrial unit (Unit 5) at Infiniti Drive, Hillthorn Business Park, in Washington.
Plans submitted earlier this year by Nissan Motor Manufacturing Ltd sought permission for an “education and training facility” at the site, along with a new security gate, fencing and external flues and condenser units.
A covering letter submitted to council officials noted the proposed development would be “one of two open access training facilities within the International Advanced Manufacturing Strategic Site, in Sunderland [and] part of the NE Investment Zone (the other being an existing training facility called SASMI)”.
Together, the “skills and innovation centres” are expected to become the home of MADE NE (Manufacturing, Automation, Digitalisation, Electrification North East), a major initiative announced last summer.
The initiative is expected to receive funding from the North East Combined Authority and will be led by Nissan with partners “on behalf of the region’s advanced manufacturing sector, with a particular focus on electric vehicle (EV) and battery manufacturing”.
The covering letter also set out details of how the site would be “reconfigured internally to accommodate the training facility”, including “six bespoke rooms within the building for groups of around 14” and “eight shop floor training areas provided for small groups of six learners within the main warehouse floorspace”.
Proposed training at the site would include “activities such as welding and fabrication, body shop work, AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) training, material handling training and robotics training.”
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Sunderland City Council’s planning department, in a report published ahead of a decision-making meeting this week, had recommended the scheme for approval.
There were no comments on the plans from members of the Planning and Highways Committee when the application was presented at the decision-making meeting on Monday at City Hall.
After being put to the vote, the plans won unanimous approval from councillors.
Council planners, in a report to the committee, acknowledged that the proposal would “result in the introduction of a non-employment use within an allocated primary employment area”, as defined under planning policy.
However, it was noted that “exceptional circumstances have been submitted to justify the loss of primary employment land in this instance”.
This included reference to the site’s location being “within the £160m North East Investment Zone (‘IZ’) which is set to unlock growth across ‘clean energy and green manufacturing’ businesses through a ten year programme”.
Council planners added that the plans, on balance, would “not be considered to result in the unacceptable dilution of the employment function” of the area and that the building would be restricted to “provision of education only.”
In response to questions about why the development was on the agenda of the Planning and Highways Committee, planning officers said it was a “major planning application” and therefore couldn’t be decided by planning officers under “delegated powers”.
It was noted that the plans would support the wider regeneration of the area by providing a “training facility for the neighbouring suppliers.”
Applicants previously confirmed the scheme is “part of the region’s North East Investment Zone (IZ) programme [where] significant investment is being made into MADE NE”.
It was also noted that “the start and end times of any training sessions will avoid clashing with scheduled staff shift change over times” and that “training sessions will generally take place between 8am and 6pm”.
The covering letter adds: “This is a £14.6 million project which is expected to receive £9.6m from the North East Combined Authority.
“The project is being led by NMUK (Nissan) on behalf of the automotive sector and its aim is to create a new generation of skilled local workers in EV and battery technology.
“Integral to this approach is industry leadership, establishing a new way of working in an open access facility across further and higher education and independent training providers alongside industrial innovation.
“The facility will include at scale industry representative equipment and draw on industry leadership in the training provision.
“The proposed training facility at Unit 5, Hillthorn, is a key component of this project.”
Planning documents state the proposed facility would “focus on the skills and innovation required for scaling up in the new manufacturing technologies required within the electric vehicles and battery sector”.
The site is “the only site that is suitable with the scale of facility and required proximity to key industrial partners that will be / become future employers to the trainees of the centre”.
The “existing automotive cluster which includes NMUK [Nissan], Vantec and AESC” in the area was noted as a key factor in the choice of site for the proposed education centre.
The covering letter continues: “These companies are driving forward EV and battery technology with thousands of staff being employed here and further staff are to be employed at the AESC battery gigafactory once it becomes operational.
“Furthermore, the training facility needs to be located very close to these companies so that existing staff can return to work quickly after having undertaken their training.
“It is therefore clear that there are exceptional reasons from a strategic and operational perspective for a training facility to be provided at Unit 5, Hillthorn Business Park.”
