South Shields planners mull demolition of crime-plagued and dilapidated Pickwick Arms

South Tyneside Council recently secured full ownership of The Pickwick Arms, in Dickens Avenue, South Shields, following lengthy legal negotiations with the owner.

The local authority has since confirmed plans to demolish the property, which has previously become a magnet for graffiti, vandalism and trespassing in recent times, despite the council’s attempts to secure the area.

Andrew Whittaker, corporate lead for town centres and foreshore on the local authority, told a recent community meeting it was not possible to repurpose the empty site and that it was “cheaper to knock the building down” instead.

South Tyneside Council has now lodged an application with its own planning department to demolish the vacant pub site, describing it as “severely dilapidated”.

The planning application form indicates the site will be levelled post-demolition and fenced off with a low level timber post and rail fence.

A separate “ecological impact assessment” of the site also noted the “demolition of the building will result in the permanent loss of [bat] roosts and other potential roosting features”.

The report said because “it is not possible to retain roosts within the Pickwick Arms building, a European Protected Species Mitigation Licence will be necessary to allow works to proceed”.

It was noted that “interim roosting habitat (bat boxes) should be retained permanently to compensate for the loss of day roosting features”.

Recommendations linked to the development include “the installation of four bat boxes on a nearby row of council properties, to allow the relocation of any bats found during destructive search /works” and the bat boxes “must be in place before works proceed.”

A decision on demolition plans for the vacant pub site is expected following a council consultation exercise.

Comments can be made on the plans, via South Tyneside Council’s planning portal website, until September 18, 2025.

For more information on the plan, or to track its progress, visit the council’s planning portal website and search reference: 250532