Council's deputy leader says 2026 is 'make or break' for long-awaited Moor Farm roundabout upgrades

But pessimism earlier in 2025 has given way to optimism, with hope that the Government may now give the green light to the long-awaited scheme to upgrade Moor Farm roundabout.

The deputy leader of Northumberland County Council has warned that 2026 is a “make or break” year for the project. It comes after suggestions that the project would be included in the next phase of the Government’s Road Investment Strategy.

Coun Wearmouth said: “The story regarding Moor Farm upgrade works is complicated, but one thing is clear, 2026 will be a make or break year for this urgently needed investment.

“Northumberland County Council understands that a government decision will be made sometime in spring 2026 on whether the project will get funding. However, even if that happens it would only see the project put into a national programme starting in 2031 called RIS4. That’s far too late for us.

“What are we doing? The last Conservative government was backing upgrades to Moor Farm and Seaton Burn roundabouts. We are engaged with the Government urging them to do the same and confirm the projects inclusion in RIS4 ASAP.

“If we secure a positive decision we will push for faster progress through a novel, creative approach. We doubt the government will allocate funding for planning and design works before 2031, leaving us waiting many years for diggers to get to work.

“In that case, subject to securing regional support, we want the government to work with us and the Mayor to use regional funds to speed up works with later reimbursement. Meanwhile, I will personally urge our planning committee to back projects that create jobs against objections from National Highways.

“We won’t sit by in a time of rising unemployment and see our residents disadvantaged by inaction.”

National Highways has issued four “holding objections” for schemes in the area as a result of traffic on the roundabout, claiming it cannot cope with more traffic. Despite this, it previously described the scheme as “poor value for money” following assessments.

Cramlington and Killingworth MP Emma Foody has branded Moor Farm a “blocker to growth and a blocker to opportunity”. However, the MP has said that reforms to the government’s Green Book test have made the project’s approval more likely.

The test is used to calculate the financial viability of infrastructure projects. Labour has since committed to reforming the so-called “green book test” amid fears it unfairly favours infrastructure projects in the south east.

The changes include less of a focus on benefit-cost ratios, instead looking at how projects will help to achieve local goals and better assessments of “transformative impacts” on areas rather than just “incremental changes”.

A Freedom of Information Request submitted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service earlier this year found that the cost of upgrading both Moor Farm and nearby Seaton Burn would be between £300million and £775million.

The most expensive option would have seen Seaton Burn replace with a grade-separated junction – where traffic is kept at different heights – to the east of the existing roundabout and then a “dumbbell” arrangement of two smaller roundabouts to the north and south.

At Moor Farm, the existing roundabout would be made larger and the A19 would pass over the roundabout to allow the free flow of traffic, while the existing road to Dudley Lane would be removed.