Latest news with #MichaelMordey
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Lottery grant to help city develop nature access
A lottery grant of £490,000 will help a city improve access to green spaces, the local council says. Sunderland is among 40 areas nationally awarded money from the National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of the Nature Towns and Cities Programme. Plans include a focus on boosting transport and linking community green spaces including the city's coastline and riverbanks. Michael Mordey, leader of Sunderland City Council, said residents would be consulted in the coming weeks and months to help develop schemes. Nature Towns and Cities is a partnership between Natural England, the National Trust and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Sunderland's council will also work with Durham Wildlife Trust and organisations from the voluntary sector as it looks to allocate the funding. Measures are set to include new conservation and horticulture courses, ecological surveys for local Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), such Tunstall Hills and Claxheugh Rocks, and community grants. Welcoming the funding, Mordey said the aims of the forthcoming projects were "all about improving our residents' access to nature and helping them to enjoy some of the fantastic greenspaces, coastline and riverbanks on their doorstep". He added: "As we all know, getting out into the fresh air can really help us to clear our minds and take time for ourselves. "So we'll be looking to work with residents and partners over the coming weeks and months to help us develop the plans further and make sure that we're making the most of this grant funding." Follow BBC Sunderland on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. More on this story The UK's first Nature Towns awarded green funding Related internet links Sunderland City Council Nature Towns and Cities
BBC News
7 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Sunderland handed Lottery grant to develop nature access
A lottery grant of £490,000 will help a city improve access to green spaces, the local council is among 40 areas nationally awarded money from the National Lottery Heritage Fund as part of the Nature Towns and Cities include a focus on boosting transport and linking community green spaces including the city's coastline and Mordey, leader of Sunderland City Council, said residents would be consulted in the coming weeks and months to help develop schemes. Nature Towns and Cities is a partnership between Natural England, the National Trust and the National Lottery Heritage council will also work with Durham Wildlife Trust and organisations from the voluntary sector as it looks to allocate the are set to include new conservation and horticulture courses, ecological surveys for local Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), such Tunstall Hills and Claxheugh Rocks, and community grants. Welcoming the funding, Mordey said the aims of the forthcoming projects were "all about improving our residents' access to nature and helping them to enjoy some of the fantastic greenspaces, coastline and riverbanks on their doorstep".He added: "As we all know, getting out into the fresh air can really help us to clear our minds and take time for ourselves."So we'll be looking to work with residents and partners over the coming weeks and months to help us develop the plans further and make sure that we're making the most of this grant funding." Follow BBC Sunderland on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
07-07-2025
- BBC News
Sunderland-wide anti-social behaviour hubs a step closer
The creation of an anti-social behaviour (ASB) hub in every part of a city is a step closer after three new facilities were confirmed, a police force has hub scheme is expanding to Hendon and Pennywell in Sunderland and Concord and Sulgrave in Washington after data showed higher levels of ASB follows the project's success in Southwick, Hetton and the city centre, where ASB incidents dropped by up to a third, Sunderland City Council leader Kelly Chequer said the new hubs were expected to open in the late summer or in the autumn. Ch Supt Mark Hall of Northumbria Police said: "Launching these additional hubs means we are one step closer to having hubs that cover every ward area in Sunderland."He said similar projects in other parts of the city had been "extremely successful". The local authority said over the last year, incidences of ASB had dropped by about a third in the city centre and Southwick areas and by a fifth in the Hetton and Easington Lane hub area."Dozens of community protection notices, warnings and acceptable behaviour agreements have also been issued across the three areas," a council spokesman council leader Michael Mordey urged people in the newly identified areas to get in touch about their ASB concerns."Residents have seen real benefits from these projects as the issues that matter to them most are tackled," Mordey added. Each hub will have its own community officers, safety specialists and dedicated police support. Follow BBC Sunderland on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Metro
04-07-2025
- Sport
- Metro
Inside the UK's new 200-seater 'ambitious' gaming and esports arena
A new flagship gaming and Esports arena is set to open next year. Multi-million pound funding has been secured for the 15,000 square foot arena in Sunderland and will be Europe's first-of-its-kind 5G facility. The 200-seat arena will be built alongside the city's famous Stadium of Light, the home of the Premier League football team. Work will begin as soon as September and will open in 2026. Its main function will be to support competitive video game players in tournaments like the Esports World Cups and Olympic Esports Games. Athletes will be able to practice under tournament conditions, replicating the conditions of a live esports competition. The arena will also play host to students and future talent, which will help train them for school and college tournaments. The Gaming and Esports Arena will also play host to live music events, esports community events and national competitions. The city already has links to esports with the National Esports Performance Campus (NEPC) opened in the city in 2023. It has hosted an array of esports teams, including Esports World Cup winners Team Falcons, national Great Britain teams in NBA 2K and Rocket League. Adam Payne OBE, chair of British Esports, said the new arena would be 'our St George's Park for esports' that will 'help train the next generation of esports talent'. More Trending He added: 'The flexibility of the arena will be what makes it a sustainable facility that drives value back to British Esports, so that we can do more work for our community.' Councillor Michael Mordey hailed the development as 'one of the most ambitious regeneration schemes in the UK right now.' He said: 'It is a game-changing development which will cement Sunderland's reputation as the home of esports in the UK.' Mordey added that it would be a boost to the economy by creating high-skilled jobs for local people and attracting visitors from across the globe. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page.
ITV News
30-06-2025
- Business
- ITV News
Search for Crown Works Studios investment as private backer pulls out of £450m Sunderland film hub
New investment is being sought for a flagship film studio plan in the North East – after its initial backers pulled out. It has been hoped that the Crown Works Studios in Sunderland would create thousands of jobs and bring blockbuster film and TV production to the region. But Sunderland City Council and the North East Combined Authority are now looking for fresh investment to ensure the studios can be built on the banks of the River Wear, after financiers Cain International withdrew. Local leaders say they 'remain confident' in the scheme's future and that they expect to have new funding in place before the end of this year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reports. The vision for the vast £450m complex was originally led by FulwellCain, a joint venture between global entertainment company Fulwell 73 and Cain International, who had hoped to build 19 sound stages at the riverside site. Sunderland City Council said on Monday (30 June) that Fulwell Entertainment 'remains a committed champion of the scheme', but that the proposals were now 'being presented to the investment market, with the aim to put in place a final funder and developer later this year'. Council leader Michael Mordey said: 'These studios represent a game-changing opportunity for the city and we cannot wait to see them progress. "There's an absolute commitment to secure the best possible delivery partner to move this forward and we expect that we will have funding confirmed and be ready to progress the first phase of the studios by the time remediation works complete later this year.' Preparatory works on land next to the Northern Spire Bridge are already under way, paid for through public money, but building work on the studios has yet to begin. Planning permission for the development was secured last year, but detailed approval has only been granted for a first phase of building that would include four sound stages, production offices, workshop buildings, and a multi-storey car park. The Government has provided an initial £25m cash injection, via the devolution deal which established the North East mayor, while Sunderland City Council and the North East mayoral authority have committed to ultimately invest up to £120m. A specialist agent is being appointed by the council to engage with investors, which the authority said would still include the likes of Fulwell Entertainment – who were behind the Sunderland 'Til I Die Netflix series. North East mayor Kim McGuinness added: 'We're supporting Sunderland City Council in the job of preparing the site, which can eventually be the largest film and TV production complex in the UK outside of London and the South East. 'In the process we'll create thousands of new jobs for local people and end the days where people have to leave the North East to pursue a career in creative industries. "This is why the project has to date secured a public sector funding package worth £120m including £25m which we have put in to begin preparation of the site at Pallion on Sunderland Riverside. We remain confident that this will be a flagship site in a thriving industry for years to come.' Former Tory Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and ex-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited Wearside in March 2024, when Mr Hunt described the Crown Works as 'totally and utterly transformational' for the city and the wider region. Current chancellor Rachel Reeves later confirmed the £25m funding in her Budget last October, while Labour culture secretary Lisa Nandy told the Local Democracy Reporting Service this year that the Government was 'working very closely to make sure that moves at pace and that, [with] the investment we have put in, people start to see results very quickly'. The Crown Works was named just last week by the Government this week as one of the key areas of the North East's economic growth, as Labour announced its new industrial strategy for the nation. "The Government rejected plans to build one of the UK's biggest film and TV production studios near Maidenhead, in Berkshire, last month and said that there was 'likely to be sufficient capacity within existing studio space' for the industry 'for the immediate future'. North East Screen chief executive Alison Gwynn said: 'The region is 100% committed to studio development as part of their support for the wider creative industry. "Production in the North East is up 131% in our region in the last three years and we recently saw the most eagerly awaited blockbuster 28 Years Later, which was shot almost entirely in our region, showcase not only some outstanding locations, but also some epic scenes created here in our alternative studio space. 'We are now excited to be looking for the right investor for the next stage of our region's growth. The North East has never been in a better position to make the most of these exciting opportunities.'
