‘Far better that the Marsden Inn becomes a supermarket than another eyesore’

Last week, South Tyneside Council’s planning department received an application for the disused Marsden Inn site, which sites on the corner of Redwell Lane and Marsden Lane.

In 2024, the pub announced it would be closing at the end of May to allow for “future development” and thanked customers for their support over the years.

Shortly after, the pub and hotel had been put up for sale for £475,000 and at the time of the pub’s closure announcement, the business was no longer on the market.

Under the proposed plans, the pub could be turned into a “food retail unit”, “small supermarket”, and a “convenience store” - with all phases being used in various planning documents.

Shields Gazette readers have expressed both support and opposition against turning one of the borough’s most iconic pubs into a retail space.

This is what you’ve had to say via the Shields Gazette Facebook page:

Carl Bray: “Reopen it as a pub. Lets keep all pubs open instead of closing them down and turning them into shops or flats.”

Dan Ward: “The days of local pubs are dead sadly, wages haven't kept pace with the rising cost of beer, energy, etc. so there's a massive disconnect between the money it costs to run a pub and the disposable income people have to make that profitable.

“As a resident of the area, far better that it becomes a supermarket than another eyesore and magnet for feral charvers, like the dilapidated former Marsden Rock House and Jolly Steward have become.”

Susan Stone Turnbull: “Probably best that it is a supermarket rather than it going to wreck and ruin. It’s a canny walk to The Nook for folks that live around that area.”

Daryn Saxon: “Yes we all would love to see it kept as a bar, however it won't work now. The days of popping into a bar on the way home from work have gone now, it's too expensive.

“A convenience store at one side and something else on the other side would be good, even just making a small bar.”

Carol Stevens: “Who wants another supermarket? Keep it as a pub - Wetherspoons to the rescue, please.”

Faye Louise: “I live close and we could do with a decent shop close by. I think it’ll do very well as a supermarket to be honest.”

Shelly Pandeles: “My Mam managed the Marsden Inn for a few years, we had some great times working there - lots of happy memories made.

“It was a fab pub back then, she would have been devastated reading this.”

Nikki Dobson: “Yet another pub lost to a supermarket chain. Taking business away from small independent traders.”

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Rebecca Alexandra Hanson: “Make it into a hotel? To turn it into another supermarket is a disgrace to the town, yet again.

“We are a seaside town. We need tourists to visit our town. Make it into something pretty as the building deserves.”

Adrian Cleugh: “I love how everyone is complaining about it becoming a supermarket, what you guys are forgetting about it is the amount of elderly people that live right next to it that it would benefit.

“Not everyone can walk far these days so it would benefit a lot of people in the area.”

Jenn Pattinson: “This was my local pub and I loved it, I was gutted when it closed.

“I personally don’t want an overpriced mini supermarket thanks, I’m all for making it a place for the community.”

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