Restaurant extension planned at The Dunes on South Shields seafront

South Tyneside Council’s planning department has received an application for The Dunes entertainment complex next to the fair and seafront in the town.

The venue includes a traditional amusements arcade,  eating and drinking establishments, a bowling alley and a soft play area and is a popular destination for visitors to the foreshore.

New plans submitted to council development bosses are seeking permission for a ground floor extension to the existing Sambuca restaurant on site.

The extension, if approved, would provide additional seating and toilets with an additional “70m2 of new internal floor space” to the existing property.

Works are planned on a rectangular site where timber decking is based and the project aims to provide a “direct link” between this area and the “curved face of the restaurant”.

Submitted designs show a rectangular box-shaped extension with entrance doors and ‘Sambuca’ signage.

The extension plan also shows space for around 11 tables with 40 covers, as well as a toilet and separate accessible toilet.

A design and access statement submitted to council officials states existing timber decking would be removed and that the new floor level would match the existing to “create one level throughout”.

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The design and access statement adds: “The [extension’s] main walls will be timber panelling coloured black with a double glazed aluminium curtain walling surrounded by an aluminium fascia colour silver”.

It is not the first time plans have been submitted for the land at The Dunes, with proposals for converted shipping containers and an extension to create hot food takeaway units registered back in 2021.

However, the plans were refused by South Tyneside Council’s planning department in February, 2022,  following health and obesity fears and an objection from the council’s public health department. 

A decision on new proposals for the restaurant extension is expected to be made once a period of council consultation has concluded.

Comments can be made on the plans, via South Tyneside Council’s planning portal website, until December 10, 2024.

For more information on the planning application, or to track its progress, visit the council’s planning portal website and search reference: ST/0642/24/FUL.