Plans submitted for a beach-friendly wheelchair unit in a North Tyneside seaside town
Plans have been submitted to install a beach-friendly wheelchair storage unit on Whitley Bay’s famous seaside promenade.
Disability charity Beach Access North Tyneside has applied for permission to erect a container on the promenade, opposite East Parade, to store around six wheelchairs for use on the beach.
According to the application, the charity provides its service of loaning out wheelchairs on 12 other beaches.
It also states that until two years ago, Beach Access also provided chairs in Whitley Bay and loaned our chairs on around 140 occasions in 2022.
The application reads: “We accept that the container and equipment would be entirely the responsibility of Beach Access North East and that NTC [North Tyneside Council] would not be responsible for any upkeep, maintenance or damage which may occur.
It continued: “The work carried out by NTC [North Tyneside Council] on the promenade and the installation of a new Changing Place facility at the park, make the seafront more disability friendly than ever so we really want to be able to provide that extra facility to allow more people to access the beach itself.”
If granted permission, the charity would offer use of the chairs through pre-booking. During holiday seasons or local events, the charity would “operate ad hoc loans”, having volunteers open the unit for half or full days.
The plans have received support on the council’s digital planning portal.
One commentator wrote: “I fully support this application. I’ve made use of a beach wheelchair for my Mam, she loved every moment on the beach and feeling the sea on her feet. It was magical!”
Another contributed: “Fantastic idea to support more people to use the beach who are prevented by wheelchair dependency.
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