Revised plans for a platform at Roker Park’s boating lake to provide a “safe haven” for wildlife have been submitted to city development chiefs.
Sunderland City Council’s planning department has received a new application for the popular park to help boost ecology in the area.
This includes a platform in the middle of Roker Park pond and boating lake to provide an option for nesting swans, ducks and other wildlife to use.
Original plans for the platform were submitted by ecologist Julie Dyson, who previously created an online fundraiser for a raft to be installed at the pond for nesting swans and wildlife.
However, around 18 public objections were submitted to the council over the proposed platform, including concerns from the Roker Park Model Boat Club, which builds and sails model boats at the park.
The club said the pond was designed as a boating lake and would be unsuitable for wildlife and also claimed the wildlife platform would interfere with signals used for model boats, “rendering the boating lake completely unsuitable for its historical main purpose”.
The plans were approved at a public meeting of the Planning and Highways Committee at City Hall on 3 July 2024, on the condition that the use would be kept under review.
This included a mechanism to potentially remove the platform if it is not used by swans or other wildlife within a set period, with the review expected to take place within a minimum of three years or “earlier if required”.
More than a year since the July 2023 planning approval, no platform had been installed at Roker Park boating lake, casting doubt on whether the plans would materialise.
A new planning application has since appeared on the council’s planning portal website from the same applicant, with plans to amend the designs.
A supporting statement submitted to the council said that following last year’s planning approval, a “local interest group” had raised concerns over the “aluminium the platform was going to be made from potentially affecting the model boats, due to the aluminium ions in the water”.
Several design alternatives were considered by the applicant, including stainless steel and wood and a “smaller amount” of aluminium, but a final option was agreed with a company called Biomatrix Water, according to submitted planning documents.
This includes a raft made from “recycled, marine engineered,
environmentally friendly, non toxic materials”, with a mix of “316 stainless steel [and] HDPE (high density poly ethylene)”.
Those behind the scheme said funding had been secured for the platform and that its new materials “shouldn’t be a target sellable product for thieves”.
The design statement adds: “Originally in the design we had designed and thought up our own way of securing the platform to the bottom of the lake, a non-permanent fixture using drums of water.
“Due to us going with the ready made design option with Biomatrix Water, the platform comes with the fixture and fittings specific to the raft.
“There will be four anchor blocks which sit on the bottom of the pond, attached to the four corners by stainless steel chain, the chain will have additional length to allow the ebb and flow of water rising.
“These anchors can be simply removed whenever is needed if the raft was to cause any problems with the boat club in the future or if it is needed to be moved for any pond maintenance or for any future fountain displays in the park, like in the previous light festivals.”
The original planning application for the platform, described as a “safe haven for future wildlife”, was received by local authority officials in October 2022.
Local fundraising for the plan followed the city council having to intervene at the park in early-2021, by placing a fence around swans and warning dog owners to keep their pets away after nesting was disturbed.
A decision on the revised application for the wildlife platform will be made once a period of council consultation has concluded.
Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website lists a decision deadline of 10 December 2024.
