Councillors and staff outside the refurbished visitor centre

Visitor centre refurbishment complete

Work is complete on the transformation of one of the county’s top country park visitor centres.

Around £300,000 has been spent completely modernising the visitor centre at Druridge Bay Country Park, installing a new roof, refitting and expanding the cafe and putting in bi-fold doors to give visitors fantastic views across the surrounding countryside.

And while the cafe won’t yet be open for sit down guests - from July 4th it will re-open with a limited takeaway menu - meaning visitors can get drinks and snacks while at the park.

Around £130,000 had already been invested in a new play park at Druridge Bay, while work is also ongoing to create camping and caravan facilities on site.

The work is all part of the County Council’s £1m investment in improving facilities in its country parks - the main improvements being made at Druridge Bay, Plessey Woods and Bolam Lake.

Improvements at the country parks have included new paths and parking facilities, play areas and enhancements to visitor centres, with further works planned this year to improve car parking at Plessey Woods and QEII Country Park in Ashington.

Councillor Glen Sanderson, cabinet member for the environment and local services said:  “Our Country Parks are wonderful places with something for everyone to enjoy and over recent months in particular have been the source of enjoyment of nature, open space, and simple fresh air at a difficult time.

“We have invested in recent years to bring much needed improvements and we are going to continue - improving the car parks at QE2 Country Park and at Plessey Woods are our next projects.

“We’ve made a significant investment to ensure they remain attractive places to visit and spend time in for many years to come.”

Druridge Bay County Councillor Scott Dickinson added: ”I welcome this investment at the Country Parks.

“The county council has worked over a number of years to bring this investment that will benefit locals and tourists alike. The new café investment along with the park will make a lovely area for local families and tourists to enjoy while experiencing our wonderful park.”
 
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