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The Northumberland Labour leader has responded to the recent airing of concerns about council-owned Arch , again describing it as a "witch-hunt". Coun Grant Davey, who will be standing down as the group's leader in May , also said that he has answered questions on these matters and "the ratepayers have already covered the huge costs of having me interviewed on three occasions". It followed Friday's two-hour meeting of Northumberland County Council's audit committee to discuss a 98-page report into arrangements at the wholly council-owned development company under the previous Labour administration. Arch has since been replaced by Advance Northumberland. This report was commissioned after the Conservatives took over at County Hall in May 2017 and completed in October that year, but has not been released until now at the request of Northumbria Police . The force has since confirmed to the council that it would not object to the report's disclosure and have now said "no criminal offences have been identified". However, having discussed a number of the issues in the report, which raised concerns around nepotism, collusion and a "culture of entitlement", as jobs and perks were handed out to "the chaps", the committee members still had questions.

Cemetery-walking dog owners who allow their animals to foul graves and headstones are to be targeted by enforcement officers. Northumberland County Council is stepping up patrols to combat an increase in reported incidents of dog fouling and owners failing to keep dogs on leads in cemeteries. Enforcement Officers will be on patrol in cemeteries where dog owners have been sighted allowing their dogs to roam around cemetery grounds. Council cemeteries are subject to dog control orders which require dogs to be kept on a short lead, not more than 1.5 metres in length, at all times and must be under control. An extendable lead is not permitted. As in all other public places, it is an offence to allow a dog to foul and not clean up. Signs at all the entrances to the cemetery instruct dog owners to keep their dogs on leads. The council has received an increasing number of complaints of dogs fouling in cemeteries, especially in the Bedlington and Blyth area and say this is particularly distressing for those visiting the graves of loved ones.

Angry and disappointed residents remain unconvinced about the future of Bedlington town centre, after its redevelopment stalled earlier this year. The latest time-scale for the regeneration project focused around the town's former Tesco site, which is being led by the county council-owned company Advance Northumberland, is aiming for the 12-month construction of the new shops to start in the autumn. But this would still mean the scheme would not be completed until the back end of 2020 at the earliest. And, as Advance's managing director Ken Dunbar told a lively Cramlington, Bedlington and Seaton Valley Local Area Council meeting last night (Wednesday, March 20), this all hinges on getting the anchor tenant - a major supermarket - to sign on the dotted line. This key store was lined up, but chose to review its options around the time the enabling works to prepare the site got under way, meaning the project stalled when these preparations were completed in January. Mr Dunbar said that nine other retailers - eight of which would be new to the town - are 'very interested' in taking on some of the other units, but that they needed the anchor store in place to guarantee the footfall.

A new home at Cambois has been given the go-ahead after councillors rejected the planners' view that the site was in the open countryside. Plans for the construction of a two-storey house and detached garage, between Berristock and Debdon House, were recommended for refusal at Wednesday night's (March 13) Ashington and Blyth Local Area Council. But members unanimously backed the scheme, as they did not consider it was in the open countryside, that it was on previously developed brownfield land and that a refusal - saying development was unsuitable in this area - would essentially split Cambois in two. The ward councillor, Jeff Gobin, and East Bedlington Parish Council had both supported the application as well. Coun Brian Gallacher said: "If this applicant didn't build his house there, what else is going to go there? You are going to end up with a patch of wasteland." Coun Grant Davey added: "I would like to see Cambois rebuilt as a very lively village."

Two men have made their first appearance in court charged with attempted murder after a gun was allegedly fired at a van. Mark Exley and Christopher Embleton were arrested following an incident in Kingston Park. At about 7.45am on February 22, police received a report that a gun had been shot at a white van as it waited at traffic lights on Windsor Way. Nobody was injured and the driver of the van was able to flee the scene before later contacting police. Officers launched an investigation and a number of people were arrested in connection with the incident. On Tuesday, Exley and Embleton were brought into the dock at South East Northumberland Magistrates' Court in Bedlington, both charged with attempted murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.

Two men have been charged with attempted murder after a gun was allegedly fired in Newcastle. At about 7.45am on Friday, February 22, police received a report that a gun had shot at a white van as it waited at traffic lights on Windsor Way in Kingston Park. Nobody was injured and the driver of the van was able to run off before later contacting police. The alleged shooter was also seen by witnesses getting into the passenger side of a blue Rover 75 Saloon and being driven away. This vehicle was quickly abandoned and burnt out on South Benwell Road. A police investigation was launched immediately and extensive inquiries have taken place to identify those responsible.

Assurances have been given that the proposed phased approach to a new passenger rail line in south-east Northumberland will not leave any towns out. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling recently visited the county to take a ride along part of the route and hear more about the £190million plans for what's now being called the Northumberland line, linking Ashington to Newcastle Central via Bedlington and Blyth. It came as county councillors signed off on approximately £3.46m of spending to develop the next steps, with the aim of submitting an outline business case and proposal for the detailed design by the end of the year, and services planned to start in 2022. During Mr Grayling's visit, council leader Peter Jackson said that while the total cost of the project is estimated to be £190m, it can be broken down into phases with a £90m first phase being 'perfectly achievable' given the 'billions being spent on HS2 and other projects in the south of England'. This sparked questions from Labour councillors, who were concerned that the line will only be part-opened, but the Conservative leadership has now offered assurances that the phasing would simply hold back some of the infrastructure work and trains would still run all the way to Ashington. Coun Deirdre Campbell, the Labour member for the Newsham ward through which the line will run, had described it as 'extremely concerning news', suggesting that perhaps the reason behind the dropping of the long-established Ashington, Blyth & Tyne name was 'because the supposed phasing the council leader refers to means it will not reach Blyth, never mind Bedlington or Ashington'.

Labour has continued its attack on cuts to council-tax support in Northumberland, as figures show how the reductions will disproportionately impact wards it represents. From April, all households in the county will have to pay a minimum of eight per cent of their council-tax bill, following approval for changes to save £1million a year. At Northumberland County Council's full meeting in January, members agreed a reduction in the level of council-tax support for working-age claimants from 100 to 92 per cent. The change attracted some fervent criticism, but was passed by 31 votes to 26, with six abstentions, while an amendment to drop the cut as part of last week's budget debate was not put to the vote as it had already been passed the previous month. Now, Labour has released information obtained under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, in which, they say, 'the unfair nature of balancing the county's books is laid bare'. A breakdown of the number of people to be affected in each of the 66 council wards shows that there is a large discrepancy between different areas, much of it along party-political lines.