Bamburgh seating proposals deemed a 'non-starter'

Management at The Victoria Hotel had proposed the installation of six bench-style seats at The Grove to help cater for the large numbers of visitors the village receives.

However, members of Bamburgh Parish Council were told the proposal had met with a ‘negative’ response from the landowner, Bamburgh Castle Estates.

"It looks like it’s out of our hands because the castle has been pretty negative in its reply,” said Coun John Mackey.

The Victoria Hotel was keen to increase the amount of public seating in the core of the village, especially given coronavirus restrictions on the hospitality trade.

General manager, Alex Lorraine, said: “The idea was to donate the benches to help other businesses as well as ourselves, but it seems we’re not putting them in The Grove.

"Obviously it’s their final decision so that’s basically it. I can’t think of anywhere else to put them that would benefit the main shops.

"It was a thought we had before we found out we were allowed to put tables and chairs out the front of ours.

"It would have been somewhere for families to sit and have a picnic in the centre of the village and it might have helped other businesses but it is what it is.”

Parish council chairman, Coun Barbara Brook, said: “It was a tremendously generous offer and I am sorry it has been a bit of a non-starter.”

Meanwhile, the council is keen to get ideas from the community on how the coronavirus pandemic can be marked.

The purchase of a village seat has been mooted but councillors were unhappy with an initial rainbow-themed suggestion.

Coun Kirsty Dobson said: “It would be quite nice to have something saying ‘thank you’ to the community because it has been amazing.

"I didn’t like the garish design that was put forward but certainly there are lots of people who have done lots of things to help people get through it.”

Coun Andy Bardgett agreed: “I didn’t like the design but we could have a think and see if we can come up with something else.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you