Calls to halt National Glass Centre closure
Sunderland Labour Group is requesting that the University of Sunderland, UK, reviews its decision.
The Sunderland Labour Group has called for the planned closure and demolition of the National Glass Centre in Sunderland, UK, to be halted.
Councillors from the group are urging the University of Sunderland, UK, Sunderland City Council and its partners, and the North East Combined Authority and Government, to consider whether closure is the only option for the building and whether there are other viable options.
These might include transferring the building to a public body, commercial partner, or existing charitable trust, or forming a new charitable trust to strengthen the centre’s aims and objectives.
This follows new information from the university and campaigners. An ongoing ‘Save the National Glass Centre’ campaign issued An Open Letter to the Board of Governors of the University of Sunderland, published in March 2024.
Chairman of Sunderland Labour Group, Councillor Phil Tye, says, ‘We have limited powers as a council to prevent a private landowner from closing this building, but as a group, we have been pressing the university for answers behind the scenes.’
He continues, ‘We have done all we can to ensure that glassmaking is not lost in the city, working to secure a new Glassworks that is able to carry on our city’s rich heritage should [the centre] be lost…But this really is the final step we can now take to reverse the university’s decision to close and demolish this building and we urge them to listen and act.’
The group is asking the university to do all it can to identify other potential funders to secure short-term funding for emergency capital works and revenue, while an independent review into the centre’s future viability is carried out.
It is also calling on the university to work openly and transparently with any interested party wishing to take over ownership of the centre, with open-book access to enable full due diligence.
