PETITIONS
TO
NORTHUMBERLAND
COUNTY COUNCIL
Please return to:
Petitions Officer
Democratic Services
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
MORPETH
Northumberland, NE61 2EF
(or submit to
your local
For further information about petitioning Northumberland
County Council please contact Democratic Services on 01670 622616.
● Name and address of lead
petitioner:
Bryn Owen,
Chair of Craster Parish Council,
5, Smithy
Court,
Dunstan
Alnwick, NE66
3TY
● What
is the issue you would like to petition about?
The County Council has a strategy to increase the number of
visitors and tourists in order to bring income and employment to the
county. In recent years the County Council has passed on capital
equipment to the Parish Council without any associated budget.
Much of this equipment is for the benefit of tourists and visitors to Craster.
Craster Parish Council and other Community bodies now face capital costs far in
excess of their financial resources to maintain and replace this equipment in
order to avoid adverse impacts on the visitors encouraged by the County Council
strategy. Our community cannot sustain a situation where 240 residents
are the only source of income to update capital equipment for the benefit of
240,000 visitors per year.
● What
do you think the Council should do?
Create a ring fenced fund for the provision of tourist
facilities and to finance measures to cater for and manage tourists visiting
Craster by a levy to be added to the existing car park charges. This fund
should be divided with 10% going to the County Council for administration, 20%
to the Ward Councillor to increase the allowance to cater for tourists in the
adjacent parishes and the remaining 70% to the Parish Council. It is
proposed that the levy is 50p on the hourly rates and £1.00 on the daily
rate taking the charges to £1.00 for one hour, £1.50 for two hours, £2.00 for three hours and £3.00 for all day.