New adventure park creating 80 jobs in South Tyneside gets green light from council

Around 80 jobs are set to be created at a new ‘indoor adventure park’ in South Tyneside after plans were given the go-ahead.

Adventure and trampoline park operator AirHop applied for permission earlier this year to change the use of alarge warehouse unit at Boldon Business Park, near the Boldon Leisure Park which houses Cineworld and McDonald’s.

The redevelopment aimed to transform the vacant building, which was previously occupied by delivery company Evri, into an “indoor adventure park” with a range of indoor activity zones, party spaces and customer facilities.

An accompanying planning statement noted the AirHop site would create around 70–80 jobs with a mix of full-time and part-time positions, including general staff, supervisors, and managers.

Around 94 customer parking spaces were also planned, including disabled spaces, along with 22 staff parking spaces and 80 cycle parking spaces, with half the cycle spaces provided within the building and half outside.

A report by council officers, published ahead of a decision-making meeting this week, had recommended the plans for approval.

South Tyneside Council’s planning committee approved the development on Tuesday, September 22 and under planning conditions, work must take place within three years.

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Council planners acknowledged the development would “result in the loss of a warehouse unit that contributes at present to the borough’s constrained supply of employment land and buildings”.

However, they noted the lack of “firm offers” from warehouse/industrial occupiers to move to the site, despite marketing for more than two years, and said this “appears to be a reflection of the deficiencies of the unit in terms of meeting warehouse/industrial occupier requirements, the very limited demand for large warehouse/industrial units and the substantial supply of such units across the wider region”.

Planning officers argued that the benefits of the trampoline park development, including bringing a vacant unit back into use and the creation of dozens of jobs, were “not substantially outweighed” by the development’s “adverse effects.”

They said the trampoline park would also bring “community and health benefits” by providing an indoor sports facility not currently available in the area, as well as creating wider economic benefits from potential “linked trips” to the Boldon Colliery District Centre.

Council planners added the applicant demonstrated that no suitable alternative premises were available due to the specific needs of the development, including floor space and ceiling height.

For more information, visit the council’s planning portal website and search for reference 260094.