“I’m so pleased health improvements are on the move for North Northumberland”

 The news that the plans for Berwick’s brand new hospital on the Infirmary site are going before the Councils strategic Planning Committee is excellent for those who dwell in North Northumberland, and that the new facility should be up and running in 2023/24 financial year.

By that time the promise of a new hospital at Berwick upon Tweed will have been a financially viable project for a decade, ever since in June 2014 when Northumberland County Council’s Labour Group organised an extremely cheap rate loan of £25M to make Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trusts dreams a reality. The power behind the throne at Northumberland County Council at that time was Councillor Scott Dickinson who held the post of Business Chairperson on the Councils Cabinet.

We caught up with Councillor Dickinson the current deputy leader of the County labour group, who was busily organising much needed meals on wheels deliveries for the elderly from his base in Hadston, part of the Berwick Constituency. He told us “I’m so pleased that health improvements are on the move for residents in North Northumberland. It seems like a lifetime since I persuaded the Labour Group to financially support health improvements through the building of a new hospital facility in Berwick upon Tweed and now that its moving on to the final planning stage I’m pleased I did”.

“Many of our (Labour) group members at the time hadn’t realised how many tourists come to North Northumberland from April to October each year and how that places immense pressure on the current facilities sited at Berwick’s aging Infirmary, I was so pleased that they accepted my arguments and that the Leader of Council Grant Davey immediately granted the loan facility to develop and improve matters for local residents and visitors”. “I have been keeping an eye on progress ever since and I’m very glad and extremely hopeful that the new designs which are going before a planning committee in the near future will get over this final hurdle.”

History shows that the only disenter to the granting of this loan at the Councils Cabinet was the Tory Leader, Councillor Peter Jackson.

 

https://www.northumbria.nhs.uk/new-25-million-berwick-hospital-better-patient-care/

 

River Blyth Labour Councillors Fully Support Jamie’s ‘Freeport Plan’

 

The news that the North of Tyne Mayor, Jamie Driscoll has a team working on a multisite freeport plan which includes the River Blyth and its surrounding industrial estates is fully supported by Labour’s Northumberland County and Town Councillors from Blyth and East Bedlington representing wards which surround the river basin.

Freeports expected to help traditional ports and surrounding Towns attract International and domestic manufacturing, transport and storage industries post Brexit brings hope to an area which has been missed over the last decade by Government and has had its hopes dashed further by the Conservative County Council who have recently pulled the plug on financing transport improvements designed to grow the areas GDP from their budget book.  

But its the news that the Mayor’s offices and the Port of Blyth are showing confidence in the quality of their bid to include Blyth in the North’s multisite freeport plan which has been hailed as ‘manna from heaven’ in the Wards surrounding the River Blyth which need a major boost as unemployment, child and family poverty is rising rapidly across the riverside communities which have suffered more than most from post industrial offshoring, a process begun by the Thatcher Government which reduced its manufacturing skilled workforce down to the bare bones and damaged the prospects for its young people.

We caught up with one of the River Blyth Labour Councillors, Kitty Brewster’s Councillor Grant Davey, the former Labour leader of Northumberland County Council 2013-2017 who said to us: “Labour Councillors from both sides of the River have been following North of Tyne Labour Mayor Jamie Driscolls interest in hosting through his offices a strong bid to Government to include the Port of Blyth in his multisite Freeport bid.” “During the last Labour administration at County Hall we Labour Councillors worked closely with the Port of Blyth to bring Energy Central to the North banks of the river Blyth importing power from Norway to satisfy what we hoped would be a growing North-East manufacturing base, last weeks Government spending review dashed those hopes as the Tories decided to retain regional funds in their deep pockets with complete central control over spend. Jamie’s (Mayor Driscol) plan has given us some hope that we have a growing future for our children and that the poverty we see all around the River Blyth basin is driven out by the creation of good quality and well paid jobs that a Freeport will bring.”