Northumberland County Council cabinet members hail investments for Berwick area

The £440,000, which is externally funded by the North of Tyne Combined Authority and was approved by Northumberland County Council’s cabinet, will be spent on the town’s culture and creative zone known as Create Berwick.

The pilot project is one of three across the North of Tyne area, aimed at creating “meaningful growth” in the cultural sector and boosting the town’s economy.

A report presented to the cabinet on Tuesday outlined how the project would dovetail with ongoing investments in the town, including the regeneration of the Maltings Theatre, Cinema and Arts Centre as well as at Berwick Barracks, and the on-going work at Berwick Old Bridge.

Speaking at the cabinet meeting, council leader Glen Sanderson said: “On this particular project, I again need to thank officers and colleagues and just with this particularly the people on the ground in Berwick. With the literary festival is a small event held each year and volunteers very much make it an extraordinary event.

“Culture is alive, it’s a most incredible place in terms of its history and culture. This is hopefully going to help.”

Portfolio holder for leisure Coun Jeff Watson explained how the new funding would work with the council’s other investments in the town.

He said: “The Culture and Creative Zone for Berwick is an opportunity to co-ordinate and scale up the town’s many cultural and creative assets and activities.

“It also improves the opportunity to build on and amplify the impacts of planned strategic investments in the town. This is part of the whole regeneration of Berwick and ties in beautifully with all the things we have done so far.

“We have already spent loads of money with the new leisure centre, which is already proving its worth. The number of children learning to swim has doubled in the last year.”

The Maltings project aims to create an “iconic multi-purpose cultural and entertainment complex” when complete in 2027, as well as delivering a “major transformation” of the current venue. The scheme is mostly being funded by the Borderlands initiative, with a level of funding provided by the council.

Coun Wendy Pattison, the council’s cabinet member for adult social care, also praised the town’s new hospital being built by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust that is on track to open in the middle of 2025.

She said: “I went up to see the new hospital and it is absolutely fantastic. This building is going to serve the people of Berwick so well – but not just the people of Berwick, but the surrounding area as well.

“There are lots of extra services they don’t currently have and it is going to be absolutely wonderful. I was absolutely blown away, it is marvellous for Berwick.”

Despite the positivity, there was no mention of additional funding for the Maltings Theatre Project. It comes after fears were raised of an £8million budget shortfall.

At the end of March, cabinet member for business Wojciech Ploszaj confirmed the council was “working hard” to find another solution to expand funding and deliver the project, promising an update “soon”.