Memorandum by South Tyneside Council (CT
38)
INTRODUCTION
The Borough of South Tyneside is located in
northeast England and is bounded to the north by the River Tyne
and to the east by the North Sea. South Tyneside Council is a
metropolitan local authority undertaking a comprehensive range
of local governance and community leadership functions; a number
of which are directly relevant to and/or influenced by the coastal
nature of the Borough.
This short submission to the Coastal Towns Inquiry
is intended to exemplify some of the issues that are faced by
coastal communities.
CONTEXT
The Borough has a rich industrial heritage,
intrinsically linked to its coastal location, and most significantly
to shipbuilding. The administrative centre of the Borough is South
Shields which is itself located at the mouth of the River Tyne,
while the Borough's other main population centres such as Jarrow
and Hebburn owe much to the past success and world dominance of
the shipyards that adjoined the Tyne.
EMPLOYMENT
The decline of local industries such as manufacturing,
shipbuilding, coalmining and fishing in the latter part of the
twentieth century has left a legacy that continues to present
challenges for the Borough.
Employment opportunities remain limited and
those in service sectors such as leisure and tourism tend to be
of a casual, seasonal and transient nature. Consequently, average
household income in the Borough falls below the national average
and a number of the Borough's neighbourhoods are amongst some
of the most deprived in England. Clearly such neighbourhoods face
challenges in terms of social exclusion and dis-engagement, which
might be observed particularly amongst young people.
TOURISM AND
THE LOCAL
ECONOMY
The Borough's coastline is spectacular comprising
a mix of cliffs, beaches and dunes and provides a significant
regional/sub-regional tourist attraction as well as being host
to the Great North Run. South Shields also has an active night-time
economy. As such tourism makes a vital contribution to the local
economy and the viability of the Town Centre. Visitors to the
area appear, however, to come from the northeast region and stay
for only a short duration and this tends to be reflected in a
relatively low level of visitor expenditure.
HOUSING
Much of the Borough's housing was developed
as part of the industrialisation of the area and is now therefore
ageing and in need of significant investment to achieve the decent
homes standard. Poor housing conditions coupled with other factors
such as deprivation and social exclusion are likely to significantly
impact on the health and well-being of residents.
Associated with its coastal location, South
Shields has a concentration of guesthouses, bed and breakfast
accommodation and houses in multiple occupation and these present
some challenges in terms of ensuring appropriate housing standards
are maintained.
ENVIRONMENT
The Borough's coastal environment faces a number
of particular challenges arising from coastal erosion, potential
loss of assets and coastal flooding. One specific high profile
problem currently being dealt with in the Borough is a former
landfill site that is subject to coastal erosion. Unfortunately,
because of the particular nature of the site its remediation is
likely to fall outside of both Defra's contaminated land and coastal
protection funding regimes, but Government funding is still desperately
needed.
Future challenges include the potential loss
of highway infrastructure and designated wildlife habitats as
a consequence of coastal erosion. At the same time, however, there
is a real opportunity to develop and regenerate the Borough's
foreshore area in an attempt to increase tourism. Clearly any
such development if permitted would carry with it the cost of
implementing any necessary coastal defence work; such costs are
likely to deter private investment. Again this is an area where
Government funding would prove to be invaluable.
CONCLUSION
Coastal Towns face a range of social, economic
and environmental challenges some of which will be common to all
such communities, others to a given region and others specific
to a particular locality. This inquiry is very much welcomed and
it is hoped that the Committee will recognise and make recommendation
in relation to these significant issues. The Committee may possibly
consider whether the problems faced by coastal towns should be
specifically recognised in the FSS and through capital funding.
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