Councillors in Northumberland have agreed to pump more than £4million into the Berwick Maltings Theatre regeneration project.

The money will be used to address cashflow for the scheme and will be reimbursed from Borderlands funding once the business case is approved.

The Maltings is being revamped as part of a major £28.34million project primarily funded through the Borderlands deal. The funding has already been agreed, but money is needed now to ensure the business case can be submitted.

Once this is done, the full £25million will be released by the Borderlands and the council’s £4.04million spend will be reimbursed. The money will be taken from projects in this year’s capital programme, but where it will not be spent this year.

A CGI image of what the new Berwick Maltings venue could look like.

placeholder image — A CGI image of what the new Berwick Maltings venue could look like.

This includes £1.9million towards the Ashington Town Centre Infrastructure upgrades. At a meeting of the county council, Reform UK councillors raised concerns that Ashington would miss out at the expense of Berwick.

Opposition leader Coun Mark Peart said: “This isn’t about opposing the Maltings. We all want to see it done the right way – but let’s be straight about this, it is pulling money from Ashington again.

“Once the money is gone, it rarely comes back. If the Borderlands funding is late or cut, something else will take the hit – it’s how councils work.”

However, council leader Glen Sanderson insisted this was not the case.

He said: “This is money being moved into this year to be available to carry out the cash flow. It will be returned within the next 12 months – nothing will stop in Ashington.

“We have found over £10million for Ashington. There is more money coming into Northumberland than at any time in the history of this council – Ashington will not lose out.

“I don’t want you to think for a moment that you can say Ashington has lost out, because it would not be true. You’re not losing a single penny.

“We are simply moving money around to address this project to keep it running.”

Labour leader Coun Scott Dickinson also backed the move. He said: “We’re fully in support of this.

“The report made quite clear the internal management of the money. There shouldn’t be any misinformation that goes out into the Ashington area that this is depriving them of anything.

“The officers have made it every clear how this will be repaid.”

The £28million project for the Berwick Maltings includes a theatre, two full-time cinemas, a rehearsal space and an expanded café and bar. While The Maltings is redeveloped, the venue is temporarily relocating to the Berwick Barracks site, using the Mob Store and Gymnasium buildings.

The Barracks are undergoing improvement works to bring them into a “more productive” use, with work on the Mob Store already completed and the site in use as a temporary cinema.

The Gymnasium Gallery is currently used by The Maltings Trust as a gallery space during the summer, but work is set to be carried out to make the building warmer and suitable for year-round use.

Once The Maltings itself is completed, the Mob Store will become the new permanent home of the Northumberland Archives.