_pauls

Sounds good to me

54 minutes ago, Darren Smith said:

Im 58 this year and i think i will be lucky to see this completed !!

And all of those millions of pounds from levelling up funds and town centre development programmes amounts to a carbon copy supermarket, four shops and 6 flats. Oh and a footpath.

Not exactly what I'd call a "comprehensive redevelopment"

The website was up and running for at least three years, run by Advance Northumberland. It used to get updated about once every nine months with exciting developments such as "we're really starting now, honestly. Will be finished by January" kind of thing. It's a shame it has gone - was a perfect record of the years of broken promises and missed opportunities. I can see how they eventually realised that it was an embarrassment to them and took it down though.

I think that nicely encapsulates the situation. Seems like nobody much cares so no point flogging a dead horse. www.investinginbedlington.co.uk. Thank you so much Northumberland County Council.

Happy Christmas and lets hope 2023 brings good things to all!

I don't disagree about shops. In general the only shops with a future in town centres are those where shopping or services in-person is essential or advantageous, hence why we have a plethora of hairdressers, tattoo shops and dog grooming parlours.

Thats why I'd much rather see a leisure offering than shops.

I don't think that Bedlington needs more dwelling places... the country probably does, the county may even need them but not so sure about Bedlington. If you keep building homes in places with no amenities then all you do is create logistical problems as people exit their homes en-masse to go to work, to school, to shop, for leisure etc. 

3 minutes ago, Alan Edgar (Eggy1948) said:

Never seen any comments to say anyone who lives in the area attended. 

I wonder if @Malcolm Robinson has any www links he could post to online sites that hold any info

 

Ah thanks Eggy - that was the article that I saw initially and I thought that I'd missed both the West and East Bedlington sessions - I will be able to make the one next Saturday so I will go along.

Was anyone able to attend either of the sessions from last weekend? I was out of the country so I couldn't go but I would be interested to know what was presented or asked.

4 hours ago, Canny lass said:

Worked fine just 5 minutes ago. I recieved a "Thank you for contacting us" reply immediately. Did you complete the  11+1, 22+5 correctly?

I used the email address that appears at the foot of each page rather than the webform on the contact us page.

It is perhaps symbolic that emailing the "contact us" address on Investing in Bedlington results in a bounce with a "No Such User Here" 

9 months since the last update on there. I wonder why they don't take the site down and save themselves the embarrassment of a monument to 7 years of broken promises.

I wonder how many of the benefits of the scheme can now be safely ticked off the list?

"Further investment of just over £2 million to ensure the project is completed."

Part of the problem is nobody seems to know what the project is any more. I'm assuming that what is referred to here is the four new retail units and associated flats, rather than any of the other plans.

Good to see it looking so smart. I haven't been in the cemetery for a while as my fitness regime lapsed but when I walked through the other day it looked great.

6 minutes ago, lilbill15 said:

Has Aldi opened yet, please? x

Not yet - 25th I think.

I really don't want to get dragged into what is clearly an emotive subject about whether parents were better or worse in the 1950s to the 2020s. I have some sympathy with the argument but its not really relevant.

What we are talking about here is the facilities offered to residents of Bedlington today compared to towns of similar sizes (and presumably making similar inputs into the council's coffers).

I agree a full blown leisure centre is not necessarily what we need, I was just pointing out that some leisure facilities including a swimming pool seemed to be promised/announced by Advance Northumberland 14 months ago and has now seemingly disappeared. I'm just looking for something other than another small budget supermarket and a row of shops and flats which is all that has been confirmed. No sign of any update on plans to "boost the scale of leisure facilities in the town centre"

I'd like to think that the millions from the various national regeneration/levelling up schemes that have been announced will land us something more than an Aldi.

I appreciate Malcolm's comments here and in the video clip that suggests that there are plans well underway that haven't been announced to the public yet and his request that there can be an update. I am just pointing out again that its more then 6 years since the council took control of the Tesco site and so far there is is still no confirmed leisure offering. In that time I think we've lost half a library and a swimming pool.

1 hour ago, Canny lass said:

No disrespect taken, Pauls and no disrespect intended in what I am about to say. I grew up in Netherton, in the 50s, which also had no 'council provided', leisure facilities and had only ONE playing field. It didn't have a library, butcher's, baker's, supermarket, hairdressers, clothing outlet or health centre either. For all of those amenities my caring parents had to take me on a bus-ride to the nearest town - Bedlington. It didn't have any leisure facilities then  either, other than a cinema, Humford Baths and the Hapenny Woods. Humford Baths, nearest thing to a leisure centre then, was a luxury my parents couldn't afford but there was, and still is, a river on its doorstep. That's where I learned to swim. There was no gym either but the Hapenny Woods was a good substitute on a family day out with a picnic thrown in for good measure. The lack of 'council provided' facilities didn't do me, or any of my schoolmates, any harm. On the contrary I think we were fitter, more social, and perhaps better prepared for adulthood than today's children.

I returned to Bedlington in the late 80s and lo and behold there were 'Leisure Centres' in Blyth and Cramlington. There was also a good bus service so it wasn't as though I needed to travel to the ends of the earth if I wanted chlorinated water to swim in, a wall to climb on or a place to meet friends.

You are abviously a caring parent too and clearly have the best interests of your child at heart. Has it really been more of a struggle for you than for my parents, to provide meaningful leisure activities for your daughter simply because what you want doesn't exist in Bedlington? I know from my visits that the bus service is infinitely better than when I was a child and maybe you have the luxury of a car?

Like you, I'm not hoping for more retail and apartments but there again, anything would be better than it is today. What I'm hoping for is something that attracts visitors and their hard earned money to Bedlington which may initiate even furthr development.  Unfortunately I don't think a leisure centre is going to do that. Most towns in the immediate vicinity already have one and I get the impression that parents don't seem to want to  take a bus/car journey away from their home town today.

 

 

 

I appreciate what you are saying that not every town will have every facility, and small villages will always rely on nearby towns for some things, but Bedlington is not a small village. Bedlington is larger than Morpeth, Alnwick, Hexham, Berwick or Amble. Think about the facilities these places have and think about what Bedlington has. Think about how much council tax we are paying in to the coffers of the council and think about what we are getting in return.

The fact is that towns the size of Bedlington across the county (and the country as a whole) do have local facilities like leisure centres, cinemas, theatres, museums etc in fact I suspect that each of the towns I listed above has most or all of these facilities while we have none of them.

Comparing the 1950s to the 2020s is a little misleading. I grew up in the 1970s and that was a different world with a fraction of the traffic and less petty crime and violence so as a 10-12 yr old I'd think nothing of cycling 5 miles to the nearest "bigger" towns for the cinema or the amusement arcades, with little fear of getting knocked off my bike or having it nicked. Plus few kids in those days grew up in households where both parents worked full time so there was more scope for parents to take them to facilities that were further afield. You can argue that life was simpler, happier and fitter back then but the world is a very different place and it is far more relevant to compare Bedlington of 2021 to Morpeth or Blyth of 2021 than to Netherton of 1950.

The key for me is independence - as a kid I had access to facilities that were further afield because it was easier and safer to get around than it is today. The same applies to people of all ages for who transport is not affordable or easy.

If the argument is "why can't people travel to use facilities?" then I'm not quite sure why this argument only applies to Bedlington and not Blyth, Morpeth, Cramlington and Ashington when it comes to swimming baths for example.

As I say I don't mean to be disrespectful of other opinions but this is of material impact on the lives and livelihoods of the people of Bedlington and while it may be of interest to those who may once of lived here but now reside elsewhere it will have little or no impact on their lives.

It is a little like the fable of the chicken and the pig

1 hour ago, Canny lass said:

Everything comes to those who wait!

No disrespect intended but that is very easy to say if you don't live in the town.

We moved to the town 12 years ago with a 3 year old daughter. She is now taking her GCSEs, A levels next year and then hopefully away for University. She has grown up in a town with virtually no leisure facilities other than a couple of playing fields. I really do hope we will get something other than retail and apartments - something like the announcement last year for example - but she will have her bags packed and will have left the town before the ribbon is cut to open it.

That is a crying shame for a generation to grow up and leave the area having never had a fraction of the opportunities afforded to the kids of Blyth, Cramlington, Morpeth, Ashington etc.

I'm sorry but a whole generation of kids shouldn't have had to wait.

Thanks Malcolm - appreciate you keeping up the good fight

So a year and a bit on and Aldi is nearing completion - its nice to see something in place of the wastelands.

In August 2020 we were promised :

Quote

"The economic impact of Covid-19 on the high street retail market will though result in some changes on the scheme but a new design will reflect the long held ambition of Bedlington residents for improved leisure facilities in the town centre including a swimming pool.
Funding previously set aside for a leisure scheme on the edge of the town will be added to the town centre budget, and alongside the additional government funding will boost the scale of leisure facilities in the town centre.
Further information on the scheme will be released in due course with the design work already underway."

Wonder what happened to that?

I went for a walk last night and was horrified to see the trees recently planted along the path from the corner of the cemetery towards Hartlands have all been systematically snapped. I was heading in the direction of 20 acres and those trees were untouched thankfully but I don't know if any others were damaged.

I have no appropriate words for whoever was behind this mindless vandalism

Sounds good - can I just check though... when you say you want volunteers to plant their own trees - I assume you mean plant a specific tree rather than their own tree. I assume you aren't suggesting people should decide what to plant and where?

EE here as well and no problems

Thanks for the update Malcolm - some good stuff in there. I noticed the new grit bin on Dunstanburgh the other day, and just this morning I was walking through West Lea Cemetary with my daughter for what seems like the millionth time since lockdown, and she asked me what the building was. Now I can give her a real answer!

3 hours ago, Symptoms said:

...If the allowed area is a radius of 45km my suggestion above would work....

Sadly its not a radius its a diameter - its not far off mind, I am surprised its only about 60km from Blyth to Redcar as the crow flies.

As for the Tory distribution of wealth that neither surprises or bothers me. It is politics, this kind of thing has been done for centuries and its been done by both sides of the political divide. I can't say I would have complained if our seat had gone from red to blue and we were being showered with cash as a reward.