Cresswell Toilets in Newbiggin now to be Demolished.
Overview
Last week Newbiggin by the Sea Town Council received notice that the toilet block adjacent to the Church Point Car Park is to be demolished and the decision is non-negotiable. No one knows who is behind this?
If the toilets are to be demolished and replaced with State of the Art 21st Century toilets, then that would be good. But – no other plans are afoot?
Where can another site with all of the necessary services be found?
Last year for the first time in decades Newbiggin by the Sea was included in the County Council’s list of coastal tourist destinations along with Seahouses, Bamburgh, Craster and Amble. The County Council have a policy of ensuring that coastal tourist destinations must have adequate Parking and Toilet facilities. Parking with toilet facilities is a basic requirement.
It is too easy to destroy something. Making mischief is easy, making progress takes competence and commitment.
On New Years day we had 576 runners on the Parkrun and hundreds of watchers. The Boxing Day dip attracted huge numbers. The last Triathlon attracted over 450 entrants and thousands of spectators.
If we do not have the right facilities will they come back?
Just over a year ago the plan to upgrade these toilets was declined at a crowded Town Council meeting. Not one of the people who were opposed to the plan took the trouble to examine the plans and drawings. That is the politics of failure that has bedevilled our progress in the past.
Future prosperity depends upon our community making Newbiggin by the Sea a destination with quality facilities for visitors. The heavy industries that drove the economy in the 20th Century are gone and recreational industries will play a major part in driving the economy in the 21st Century.
Cllr. Alan Thompson
Chair and Mayor
Newbiggin by the Sea Town Council
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Each year we attract ever more people. The success of the ‘Parkrun’ is remarkable. Even in very bad weather, we have over 50 runners. On New Year’s day we had 476 and the following Saturday over 200 people took part. Newbiggin by the Sea is included in the UK’s ‘Coastal Route’ and we can anticipate walkers from the North and the South. The ‘Kite Festival’ brings visitors and the events organised by the Traders attract thousands of people.
The Cresswell toilet site is located next to the Church Point Car Park.
Other visitor centres such as Seahouses, Beadnell, Amble, Morpeth and Whitley Bay all have toilet facilities adjacent to their Car Park.
If we offer first-class facilities, we will work towards a first-class economy by attracting comparable disposable income. Too many potential visitors bye-pass Newbiggin by the Sea to spend their time and money in these other places.
The Church Point Car Park has provision for coaches, but we currently get very few. Appropriate facilities next to the Car Park should attract coach parties from around the region and beyond.
Newbiggin by the Sea Town Council was established in 2009 and the first administration conducted a comprehensive survey asking what the residents wanted. The first priority was for Toilets, the second was for more Car Parking and the third was for Events. The Council has worked hard to deliver these aspirations.
Many older people remembered that when Newbiggin by the Sea was busy in the last century there were five Public Toilet blocks.
Whilst recognising public toilets was a County Council responsibility, in 2017 the Town Council approved a plan to upgrade the Cresswell Arms public Toilets and we are now able to proceed after much activity to obtain the necessary approvals and quotations.
The Town Council was obliged to pay £100,000.00 to the County Council for the Town Centre Toilets. A previous attempt to deliver toilets costing £55,000.00 was abandoned after unacceptable intimidation by a small band of objectors. The Rocket House cost £170,000.00 so whilst the cost of the present proposal to accept a tender of £71,000.00 seems big; it looks reasonable in context.
We have a choice; we can throw our hands in the air and do nothing, or we can take action!
