Sports bar and restaurant approved at ex-Riddicks building in South Shields

Plans to transform a landmark building in South Shields into a sports bar and restaurant have been given the green light by council development chiefs.

South Tyneside Council’s planning department has approved a planning application for the former Riddicks building on the corner of Fowler Street and Keppel Street.

The towering site has had several uses over the years including as a grocer, chain store and snooker hall, as well as serving as the popular Riddicks shoe shop for many years.

However, the shoe shop sold its last pair in 2014, while Racks snooker hall upstairs also shut down, with permission later granted for the building to be used as office space in 2019.

In recent years, the town centre building, which is owned by South Tyneside Council, has been refurbished as part of regeneration efforts in South Shields.

At a meeting of the council’s cabinet of senior councillors in October, 2023, town hall bosses agreed to progress the disposal of the building’s freehold, subject to planning permission being granted for a new use.

Plans from Premier Leisure Ltd aimed to transform the building into a mixed public bar and restaurant across the basement, ground and first floors, along with a new lift shaft to the rear of the building.

In addition, the plans included flats on the building’s second floor, as well as a new pavement café outdoor seating area.

The plans were submitted with a number of supporting documents which confirmed the venue would be named ‘Riddicks Sports Bar and Grill’.

Plans included a main bar area with a kitchen and seating on the ground floor and a large gaming area with ‘feature booth’ seating, pool tables, ‘virtual darts’ and pinball machines on the first floor.

The proposed residential use on the second floor also included five flats, each with an ensuite bathroom and a kitchen and sitting /dining area.

A planning application added the development would create 14 full-time equivalent jobs.

During a council consultation exercise on the plans, no neighbour comments were received.

After considering the planning application and assessing it against planning policies, South Tyneside Council’s planning department approved it on April 16, 2024.

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Council planning officers, in a decision report, said the plans would “bring a vacant unit into use, improving the vitality of the town centre, as well as delivering an appropriate town centre use for the building and contributing to the council’s housing land supply”.

The council decision report confirmed the development would provide seven car parking spaces, and was based in a “highly sustainable location” near bus and Metro services.

It was also agreed to impose a condition around the opening hours of the development to “safeguard the amenity of local residents”.

This included the bar/restaurant opening to the public between the hours of “7.30am to 11.30pm, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 11.30pm on Saturdays, and 9am to 10.30pm on Sundays and bank holidays”.

The council decision report added: “In conclusion, it is considered that the proposed development would be acceptable in principle and would have an acceptable impact in terms of residential and visual amenity, highway safety and biodiversity.

“The proposed development would therefore comply with all relevant local and national planning policy and the application is therefore recommended for approval”.

Under planning conditions, the development must be brought forward within three years.

For more information on the planning application or council decision, visit South Tyneside Council’s planning portal website and search reference: ST/0638/23/FUL