Yahoo News Application to demolish Wet 'n' Wild submitted to North Tyneside Council
A planning application has been made to demolish the Wet 'n' Wild waterpark, which continues to hold fond memories for thousands of North East families.
Once the UK's biggest waterpark, the indoor attraction at Royal Quays, North Shields, was a popular choice for children's birthday parties and family days out in the 90s and 00s, featuring a wide range of pools and slides, including the Kamikaze, Abyss and the Lazy River.
But since closing its doors in 2019, Wet 'n' Wild's future has remained unclear and the building is said to have attracted "increasing anti-social behaviour".
Now a planning application has been submitted to North Tyneside Council to demolish the building. The application, submitted by Bloom Developments LTD, seeks permission to demolish "the building formally known as Wet 'n' Wild, including external slides".
Giving reason for why the building needs to be demolished, the application added: "Property has recurrent breaking and entering with increasing anti-social behaviour. Demolition will enable future development."
Wet 'n' Wild opened in 1993 and was originally home to Britain’s biggest water slide, the 165 metre long Black Hole. However, many people in the region were left shocked in October 2013 when it was announced the attraction was closing.
It was re-opened following refurbishment but later closed its doors again and has remained closed since 2019 and it's future has remained unclear.
Earlier this year, ChronicleLive reported how it emerged had that owners Serco had placed the waterpark on the market, some four years after buying the attraction. The group’s subsidiary Serco Leisure – had been tenants for six years before snapping it up in a £3.2m in 2020.
After buying the site, Serco said its future remained “under review”, citing how it had incurred substantial financial losses in each year of operation. The company’s statement that it was looking for a buyer raised hopes that the facility could re-open.
But an update from the business revealed that Wet ‘n’ Wild had been sold to a developer, though the identity of the new owner and its plans for the site had not been revealed.
