West Park has been the home to Whitley Bay Cricket Club since the early 1960’s.

When originally developed from a landfill site the aim was to provide Whitley Bay with a facility that was able to host First class cricket.

Originally the ground had a perimeter fence in place (supports can still be seen on the top of the banks), a hard base net area (over beside the Ice rink), a Score box (situated near the Young people’s centre) and perimeter seating at set points around the ground.

We have been offered the chance to take on the ground as part of our lease and we have said that the one condition we would want is that we can fence the playing area off to make a safe environment for all players (we currently run 2 Saturday XI's, a Sunday Team, 2 Midweek teams, a Under 11 Team, Under 13 Team and All star/ Dynamo sessions) and to further develop the club.

We are seeking approval to erect a fence at West Park to provide some separation between the formal sports facilities (the area at the bottom of the bank) and the more informal areas of the ground (the upper parts of the bank).

The proposal is that upper areas of the banks would be open to the public, providing a right of way between the Young People’s centre and the Ice rink whilst maintaining the official right of way around the back of the ground between Rockcliffe RFC and West Park.

The aim is to protect the facility from damage (both pavilion and ground) and provide a safe environment for all cricketers but more importantly the younger people who access the club (this could be expanded with out of season use being made by the younger teams from Rockcliffe RFC).

The fence would provide security for the sports ground, the chance for further developments such as dedicated permanent practice facilities, covers for the cricket square, removal of the protective fencing around the pavilion therefore improving the experience for all participants.

It would mean that we would not have to check pitches for dog faeces, glass, needles and rubbish before sessions and would be protected from antisocial behaviour such as trial bikes going across the ground whilst in use.

The fence would be situated at a level of 3m from the base of the banks in order to provide an adequate run off for players. The height would be 2.0 m high to restrict access, it would incorporate 4 gates to allow access on match days and would go someway to reinstating the original purpose of the ground and link with North Tyneside's pitch playing strategy to have a further high class ground within the borough.

We believe sporting spaces need to be safe for all of its users.

Once again please sign this petition and forward it to any other like minded people.