(24 May 2014, 8:35 pm)Dan wrote In doing so, Sunderland would be left with non-DDA compliant buses.

I know it's been suggested in the past that Stagecoach will 'spread the benefits' of new buses, but with South Shields being a fully DDA-compliant depot (although not presently, with the arrival of 22734) as well as Walkergate (can't remember off the top of my head), it would seem each depot is being worked on one by one and that Sunderland would be next.

The depot that, on paper, are DDA are:

Hartlepool (33101 reserve)
Walkergate (21155 and 22735 reserve)
South Shields (22734 reserve)

Of the rest:

Sunderland have just 15 active non-DDA MANs to replace
Slatyford have just 12 active non-DDA MANs to replace (2 additional examples currently VOR)
Stockton have 37 active non-DDA MANs to replace (then the reserve examples)

So, I think we'll see the benefits spread between depots - in a way Sunderland will lose some of 22021/72-82 regardless as they are gaining 23 Gas Buses with only 15 non-DDA MANs to replace.