South Shields: Empty Bede Trading Estate factory to be torn down ahead of redevelopment
A vacant factory building in South Tyneside could soon face the bulldozers under new plans submitted to council development chiefs.
South Tyneside Council’s planning department has received an application for an industrial unit in the Bede Trading Estate in the borough’s Bede ward.
The unit sits near the junction of Pilgrimsway and the A185, near the Port of Tyne, and was once the home of a manufacturing business with factory space and offices.
A planning application for the site describes it as an “old factory building” and notes demolition is being proposed because the building is “disused”, in a “poor state of repair” and “not compliant with modern standards”.
Applicant Northern Trust Company Limited said that “progressive demolition” is proposed with a “long reach 360 degree machine with cab protection and demolition attachments” and that “masonry and concrete arisings will be crushed to generate recycled aggregate”.
In addition, it was noted that “all other arisings will be sorted into different waste streams and removed from site for disposal and/or recycling.”
Applicants hope to start demolition work on site at the beginning of October, 2025, and to complete work by December 19, 2025.
Planning documents note the “site will be left in a tidy, safe and flat condition with a capping layer of recycled aggregate to protect subsoils where the building and hard standings have been removed”.
The planning application also confirms that “redevelopment or rebuilding” is “proposed at a later date”, although no further details are provided.
A decision on the demolition application will be made following a council consultation exercise.
For more information on the plan, or to track its progress, visit South Tyneside Council’s planning portal website and search reference: 250462