Councillors voted down a two-year plan to test whether Tynemouth Outdoor Pool can reopen. The 2016 planning application is still awaiting a decision.
North Tyneside councillors have rejected a plan to give Tynemouth Outdoor Pool one last, time-limited chance of reopening. The motion was defeated at full Council on Thursday 24 September, and so was an amendment that tried to keep the planning permission alive.
The pool sits at the southern end of Longsands, about three miles south of Whitley Bay. It opened in 1925 and has been derelict for decades. The chair’s declaration of both results is on the council’s own recording of the meeting. The vote figures will appear in the minutes, which have not been published yet.
What the motion asked for
The motion was proposed by Conservative councillor Lewis Bartoli and seconded by Councillor Jay Bartoli, both of whom represent Tynemouth ward. Its full text is in the council’s supplementary agenda for the meeting.
It asked the Mayor and Cabinet to:
- set up a two-year Tynemouth Outdoor Pool programme, ending in a final decision on the site
- name a senior officer to coordinate planning, regeneration, leisure, estates, finance and funding help
- agree a project plan with the Friends of Tynemouth Outdoor Pool within three months
- clarify what is still needed before the 2016 planning application can be decided
- look at every credible option, including a cheaper or phased scheme or a partner operator
- report to scrutiny councillors at least every six months
- bring forward a definite alternative use for the site if no workable pool scheme emerged
The council’s legal note said the motion had no direct legal implications. Its financial note said any extra work would have to come from existing budgets.
What was said in the chamber
Councillor Lewis Bartoli said the Friends estimate they have received about £1 million of professional work over the years, much of it given free. He said the group has detailed plans, drawings and business plans, and around 16,000 followers on Facebook. He told the meeting the missing piece had been “meaningful coordinated support” from the council.
Labour councillor Charlie Gray (Wallsend Central) set out his group’s opposition. He said the council had supported the Friends for more than ten years without a financially sustainable scheme emerging. He said information requested from the group during 2025 was not provided, and that the council wrote to the group in 2026 formally ending the relationship.
He said no further council money should go on pursuing proposals for the site. The council’s focus, he said, must be keeping it safe and secure and maintaining its sea defences. Any fully funded proposal would be considered on its merits, but must not need further council money.
The amendment that also fell
Independent councillor Tom Bailey, the third Tynemouth ward member, moved an amendment. He said he also had reservations about another two years. His worry was that the Friends’ work would go to waste in one of two ways: the planning application is never granted, or it is granted and then lapses unused.
His amendment would have asked the Mayor to consider allowing a small amount of building work, so the permission could be partly implemented and kept alive. It also sought an income-earning “meanwhile” use for the site in the meantime.
Councillor Lewis Bartoli said the amendment reduced his motion to “a meaningless four paragraph motion”. The amendment was defeated, and then the original motion was defeated too.
Where the planning application stands
The Friends’ application, 16/01710/FUL, proposes a heated 25 metre open-air pool with a splash pad and temporary changing, refreshment and toilet facilities. The council received it on 21 October 2016. The planning register still lists it as awaiting decision today, almost ten years on.
The motion recorded that the Planning Committee resolved in July 2023 that it was minded to approve the scheme, once outstanding planning and technical matters were dealt with. Councillor Bailey told the meeting one of the last barriers is the need for a section 106 legal agreement.
Background
According to the motion, the site was substantially altered in the 1990s to create an artificial rock pool. The Friends of Tynemouth Outdoor Pool, a registered charity, say the council demolished the pool’s buildings, pushed the rubble into the pool and filled it with concrete and imported boulders.
The motion also noted an earlier Conservative motion, in March 2025, that asked for dedicated officer support to help the Friends find funding.
What it means for you
- Nothing changes on Longsands for now. The pool stays fenced off.
- The council’s stated position is that it will keep the site safe and maintain its sea defences, and will consider only a scheme that needs no further council money.
- The planning application remains live but undecided. Anyone can read its 98 documents on the council’s planning register.
- The minutes of the meeting, with the recorded votes, will be published on the meeting page. Your ward councillors are listed on the council’s councillors page.
For other planning decisions around the coast, see our Whitley Bay planning news page.
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