Sunderland City Council is in the process of changing Sunderland and asked people what they thought about their city.
 | | What would your choice of amenity be? |
It was all about drawing in the thoughts and opinions of the way in which the city impacts on you... down your street... in your community... what are the important changes in Sunderland's makeup that would make a difference for you and future generations? People got in touch with BBC Wear in droves to give their opinions on what should be done. You can read a selection of all the comments people sent to BBC Wear below. The Council wanted to know: • Are the identified issues the rights ones?
• Which issues are of most concern to you?
• Are there any other issues that have been overlooked?
• What options should be considered to tackle these issues? Here is a selection of your comments … GH
The Vaux site represents the biggest opportunity to do something outstanding that the city centre will probably ever have. A huge supermarket/shed is NOT the way to redevolop this area. Then again, the arc project seems to be nothing but a talking shop full grand ideas but no idea how to fulfill them. As usual the council seem to be content to play second fiddle to Newcastle. I think it's safe to assume that if the Vaux site were 10 miles up the road, we wouldn't still be waiting for a decision/funds after god knows how many years. Emma B, Hetton le Hole
The main area of the town that I would concentrate on developing, would be the Sunnyside area, near the old sorting offices. I can imagine this particular part of the town being splendid in it's day. Unfortunatley it now seems to be run down, and despite good peoples' attempts at opening prosperous businesses, many of them do not seem to have the custom that they deserve. I personally think that if this area was redeveloped, then there would be more potential for these small businesses to actually be a success, but at the moment, they seem to be let down by the council's numerous promises of redevolpment, which has been talked about for too long. Sunderland needs to change for the better. We are often known as "that place near Newcastle". This should not be how we are perceived. We have a wonderful riverside that has the potential to be far greater than the Newcastle/Gateshead development, but we don't use it. There was a slight improvement by the docks at Hendon, but this seems to have stalled. The riverside should be bursting with excellent restaurants and gain sunderland to be a more cultural city. unfortunately, I have no faith that this will happen, and we will always be 3rd place to Newcastle and Durham, which I find quite sad. Graeme Farrer
Sunderland City council and the related government regeneration bodies are all talk and no action. Over the last few years we have seen many grand schemes for the City of Sunderland result in little or nothing. The only changes I can see in Sunderland are demolished properties, vast areas of derelict land, boarded up houses, an extension to the shopping center, a cinema and a light rail extension linking Sunderland with Newcastle (I thought we already had a rail link with Newcastle!) With this in mind what is the point of making suggestion about reshaping Sunderland! Make the recently talked about suggestion for the Vaux site, city center shopping development, swimming pool, housing, port development, Seaburn / Roker development, new river wear crossing etc happen first. Talking about reshaping Sunderland is pointless unless you can make it happen
 | | This could be a whole new dawn for the city |
Susan Taylor
Clean and update our lovely sea front. Roker Marina is a disgrace. connor
great cool sunderlands the best Dylan
Rubbish. In a word...It needs cleaning off our streets. Especially in the areas around the city center. You can not walk anywhere for fear of treading in somebodies vomit, or picking up endless amounts of disgusting cigarette ends on your shoes. There is no point having nice buildings if you need to climb a mountain of vile trash to get to it.
CHRIS
SUNDERLAND WILL ALWAYS BE ONE OF THE WORST PLACES TO LIVE IN ENGLAND WHILE THE CURRENT COUNCIL ARE IN CHARGE.
 | | Your opnions could bring broader city horizons |
Anon....
Sunderland City council is a complete joke - they recently allowed Sunderland Marine Mutual Insurance who had been based in Sunderland for over 100 years move to Durham, Why? because they showed no attempt to assist them in finding a suitable site to relocate their business and were forced to relocate to Aykley Heads in Durham and build the North East Landmark building of the Year!!!! Sunderland yet again loose out to a local city and loose over 100 jobs and increase traffic due to staff having to drive from Sunderland to Durham. Is this a council with drive and ambition??? NO... Get a grip Sunderland and wake up to the real world and stop talking about prestigous schemes and get Tesco out of Sunderland NOW... NR
Firstly - DO NOT allow Tesco to build the 60's housing tower blocks on the Vaux site that they have proposed, allow Sunderland ARC or at least an architect with a scrap of design skill to do something with the site (NOT AN ARCHITECT 200 MILES AWAY WHO DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THE CITY ITSELF). If Tesco are allowed to build what they propose it will destroy the centre of Sunderland and will replicate Gateshead before they knocked all the tower blocks down - how can they think the tower block are acceptable???? Secondly - we need a new crossing across the Wear, designed with an iconic status. Also stop talking and start doing, Sunderland has hardly changed in the last 10 years, it is a complete dump compared to other cities and the only major change is the stadium of light site. Paul Bell
I appreciate that there alot of sunbed shops based in Sunderland however I would like to see some spray tanning booths in the area which is a much safer way to achieve similar results.Especially as sunbeds are becoming increasingly popular particularly with the younger generation it is essential that we address this health time bomb as sunbeds can cause skin cancer in later life. Matthew Nelson
Although some new buildings may be needed, restoration is the key rather than demolition.This will ensure that the city retains an individual character.Don't let the "developers" bulldoze everything, otherwise every city will look identical in the end. sean
a new chairman for the football club Anthony storey
Create a truly world class focal point building, on the site of the old brewery. As an exile living in yorkshire _ i think that the city truly needs a focal, landmark building , reflecting both the history and future for the town I love. The city needs something that others can say "wow" to, to recreate a wow factor around the world. That simple. darren kershaw
stop building posh housing that no one can afford and let tesco,s have its way alot more benefical to alot more people in the city Ray
Get the Ice Rink reopened. The Leisure Centre is one of the best things in Sunderland, not many other Cities have such a all-in-one facility. Anthony O'connor
1.More Gay bars are needed. 2.We have some nice parks but they need to keep them tidy. There is nothing worse than when me and my friend Clive go for a walk and their are Glass bottles lying about. 3. A nice music venue for some big acts. 4. The old Vaux brewery site needs to be sorted soon as it is an eyesore. Chris Carr, Sunderland
We need to make progress with regards to the future of the previous vaux site. What we most definitely not do, is allow the site to be another "Super"market in the vein of Hartlepool. Although by the same merits, we can not allow this site to be undeveloped for much longer. We need clear decisions to be made by the council and developers with regards to the future of this premier site. DL
1. Redevelop John St, Fawcett St, etc and restore old Georgian buildings. 2. Redevelop Hendon beach down to Seaham (even just some facilities)so it can be a place to walk, etc. Got to be better than just a dumping ground. 3. A couple more upmarket hotels, not travel lodges blocking the main church. 4. Stop granting so many pub licenses, too many pubs now Sunderland. Also need diversity, different music orientated pubs/cafes etc 5. Definitely a decent music venue to rival Newcastles Carling academy, even just be more ambitious with the Manor Quay building. Why do we have to go up the road to watch decent bands!!?? 6. Will the arc area be sorted in 20 years time, we need something unique not a supermarket, or shopping centre. Plenty more where they came from so if the planners do need advice (which they clearly do) you can contact me!!!! Robert Lynn
i read the questionnaire and found it hilarious how can a city grow when you cannot even cross the river from one side to the other? sunderland cant provide for the people who live there never mind tourists.get some money from somewhere and build a bridge, then try some daft ideas like hotels ,you know tourists stay in them?there is not one in the city . put the place on its feet before you try to turn it into Barcelona. walk before you run if you dont build a bridge soon you will be swimming. tracy humphrey
we need to look at re- educating young people ,were alcohol,drugs and distructive behaviour is concerned.maby we need to look at youth clubs again as a means to a positive distraction ,because lets face it there has been nothing for this age group to outside of school for years. Darren Ross
You can have the best transport, buildings and services in a city, but unless you remove the boorish louts that plague our streets and prevent people from enjoying it, then what's the point? What's the pleasure in a palace if it's peopled by Calibans? Harry Erwin, PhD
I would work on traffic and parking management. The current arrangements produce far too much congestion. With the number of cars in the city likely to go up by 50-100% over the next 20 years, continuing to put off traffic improvements is simply an attempt to ignore the magnitude of the approaching problem. "Pay me now, or pay me later. It'll cost more later." | 
