Coastal Conservation Centre

The proposal is to build a new centre within the Whitburn Coastal Park, creating a local gateway to the coast which will showcase the area’s cultural and natural heritage. It has a strong focus on marine life and seeks to facilitate wildlife conservation, community engagement with the coast and support learning activities about the significance of this coastal location.

The site is located within the 45 hectares Whitburn Coastal Park, there are no other similar facilities along this coast and the building and the activities it would provide to allow people to engage with the outdoors will be unique to this coastal area and indeed unique for the North East.

The sites’ location and summary of the proposal

The application site is located off the A183 coast road between South Shields and Whitburn, lying some 130 m south of Souter Lighthouse at the eastern fringe of the existing car park that serves the Lighthouse and visitors to the Whitburn coastal park. The proposed coastal conservation centre building would be 100m2 and contain the following components;

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It is proposed that the multi –use learning space would also be available for community groups to book and that this space could support a number of community activities. The existing bird ringing container in situ [8 sqm] at the site would be removed as part of this proposal.

The general construction of the building will be as follows: