Major overhaul planned for Northumberand coast holiday park

Parkdean Resorts, the owners and operators of Sandy Bay Holiday Park, on the coast to the east of Ashington and south of Newbiggin, has submitted an application to Northumberland County Council.

The plans are for the improvement of existing facilities to include toddler and junior play areas; an adventure golf course; a high ropes course; a tanks course; an activity shelter; a canopy for a covered seating area; an arts and crafts den; and three containers, to be used as a briefing room, a tanks course garage and a catering unit.

The proposal also includes the relocation of the existing multi-use games area (MUGA) from the leisure area on the east of the complex to ‘the more appropriate activity hub’ located on the west.

It does not feature any additional guest holiday accommodation and there are no proposed changes to the access or parking at the site.

A planning statement submitted as part of the bid says: ‘Improving the park facilities encourages visitors to the area. Tourism supports local economies through direct spending on local goods and services by holidaymakers and through the provision of goods and services by the owner of accommodation in implementing and maintaining the development. This in turn may lead to the creation (or retention) of jobs both directly and indirectly.’

The document concludes that the enhanced facilities ‘would satisfy the aims of council and national policies and meet the future needs of visitors to the holiday park’.

‘It is evident that the proposals will not cause any detrimental visual impact to the surrounding areas or to the visual appearance of the countryside.’

A response from Newbiggin Town Council, within whose parish the resort sits, says that it ‘welcomes the significant investment to improve facilities within the caravan park, which we hope includes elements of inclusive and accessible play’.

It also calls for ‘more to be done to promote the easy access to local facilities within Newbiggin-by-the-Sea to the customers of the park’.

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