Council agrees further £1.1 million for Hexham high street

The funding approved for the Hexham High Street Heritage Action Zone (HHSHAZ) by Northumberland County Council’s ruling cabinet is to deal with extra costs due to inflationary pressures.

The project aims to revitalise the town centre and make it a “more attractive, engaging and vibrant place” with many town centre buildings currently standing empty and have a “run down” appearance.

Of this £300,000 will be allocated to the refurbishment of The Shambles, a prominent grade II listed structure within the Market Place.

Cllr Wojciech Ploszaj, cabinet member for business, said: “It’s great news that we are now able to support further High Street improvements in Hexham through the HHSAZ scheme and our plan to restore The Shambles as a key asset in the town.

"This investment will help to protect and enhance the rich base of heritage assets in the town centre.

“Significant progress has been made over the last 18 months with a variety of activities such as the awarding of building renovation grants including the recently reopened Coach and Horses, the launch of a varied community engagement programme, and the installation of heritage lighting.

“This decision means that working together with Historic England and our partners in the town we can continue to make a real and positive difference to the town centre.”

The scheme was established as a £2.4m scheme in October 2020 as part of a national programme and funded by Historic England, Northumberland County Council and private sector match funding contributions.

Speaking at Tuesday’s cabinet meeting, deputy leader Cllr Richard Wearmouth said: “This is a fantastic project. I got the opportunity to go up to Hexham and see some of the work done on the Hertiage Action Zone at the Coach and Horses.

“It’s a great project that is leveraging in loads of money from the private sector – that one there was many thousands of pounds from the private sector. This will help enormously to continue this work to really get some shine back into Hexham. It’s great news.

“It’s something that the local MP, Guy Opperman, has been pushing for and I’m glad to see it go from strength to strength.”