Leaders set out visions for Northumberland's post-covid recovery

The Northumberland Covid-19 route map 2021 sets out the challenges the county faces from a health and business perspective, as well as detailing what services and support people can expect now and into the future.

It goes on to outline the council’s package of public health measures along with a five-point plan for economic recovery.

The Prime Minister is anticipated to lay out the next steps nationally on Monday, February 22, and the council’s plan will ‘flex’ in response.

As previously reported, following a meeting of the authority’s corporate services committee in January 2021, the economic strategy has five key areas – investing in the transition to a future economy; investing in our places, culture and tourism; investing in transport and digital connectivity; investing in our people, jobs, skills and livelihoods; investing in a green recovery.

These are set out in more detail below.

Council leader Glen Sanderson said: “This has undoubtedly been a year like no other, but there’s a lot going on at the national level that really means we are in a strong position to come out of this crisis.

“We know that rural and coastal areas have been hit harder by the Covid-19 pandemic due to reliance on tourism, as have more deprived communities, but there are significant opportunities here to drive growth in areas of strategic importance to the UK and support recovery and growth, particularly in clean and green energy, manufacturing and life sciences, building on our cultural and environmental strengths, renewal of our towns and investment in our places.

“Unlike traditional council and government plans, this route map will not be static or long-term. The fast-changing nature of Covid and its impacts demands a different approach. Instead, we will be regularly updating this plan and adapting our response to changing circumstances.

“It’s going to be challenging, but what won’t change is our commitment to ensuring a long-lasting recovery from Covid-19 from which all our communities benefit.”

Looking ahead to the May elections, the leader of the political opposition says a Labour-led council will bring economic recovery to the county.

“The UK has suffered more Covid deaths and the worst recession of many major economies and is on course for a slow recovery, said Cllr Susan Dungworth, leader of the Northumberland Labour group.

“However, Labour is pledging more home building and retrofitting council properties to make them able to cope with climate change as well as cutting people’s fuel bills.

“We want to use this recovery time to do the things that people really need, warm, safe homes that they can afford to run. In doing this we will work with colleges to create training opportunities to equip people to carry out this work. We want this work to be done by local people and we want those jobs to be well paid.

“We also want to make sure our large employers recruit, train and develop local people so that local people can have a rewarding career in the county.

“We want to move away from zero hour contracts, temporary jobs and we want to make sure that people are appropriately paid for the work they do. We also want to support new businesses.

“We’re convinced that the skills we need to make Northumberland the most fantastic place to live and work are in the county. We need to create the conditions for people to thrive and that’s what we pledge to do.

“The challenges are great, but Northumberland Labour are up for that challenge. We want Northumberland to be the envy of the country and we are committed to making sure that everything we do supports that aim.”

The details of the five ‘pillars’ of the recently published economic strategy are as follows:

Invest in the transition to a future economy

This focuses on existing economic strengths which also have growth potential – clean energy and green growth; manufacturing; and life sciences and pharmaceuticals.

Much of this is focused on Energy Central in the Blyth estuary area – where BritishVolt has announced plans for a gigaplant to produce batteries for electric vehicles on the former Blyth Power Station site – but there are also plans for a £15million investment at Ashington’s Ashwood Business Park to construct high-quality industrial space to support growth of the advanced manufacturing cluster as well as developing Berwick Ramparts Business Park and Fairmoor Business Park in Morpeth, which are both Enterprise Zones.

Investing in our places, culture and tourism

This is crucial, as it is a key sector in Northumberland’s economy, but one that has been hit harder by Covid-19, which in turn means rural and coastal areas have been hit harder, alongside more deprived communities.

It also covers the regeneration of town centres and rural growth in areas such as agri-tech and forestry.

Proposed investments include the long-awaited Northumberland Line rail link between south-east Northumberland and Newcastle, a £19million programme at Hadrian’s Wall, a £10million Supercharged Rural Scale Up scheme to provide bespoke support to countryside firms which are looking to grow, and a £20million project to establish a Rural Design Centre in partnership with the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise.

Invest in transport and digital connectivity

This too covers the Northumberland Line, as well as other key strategic transport upgrades such as the dualling of the A1, the Blyth relief road, increasing capacity at the A19 Moor Farm roundabout, and a walking and cycling investment package.

A Freeport around the Port of Blyth would play a role in supporting a number of other ambitions, while perhaps the key factor in rural areas is digital infrastructure – addressing the residual gaps in 4G through a Borderlands programme, extending delivery of the existing £12million Local Full Fibre programme, and working with the North of Tyne Combined Authority on 5G investment.

Invest in our people, jobs, skills and livelihoods

The county will not fully benefit from green growth unless it can provide the workforce to power it, with a £15million ‘sectoral change programme’ planned to reach 6,000 people, focusing on transitioning to emerging green jobs.

Maximising apprenticeships, using the devolved adult education budget to ensure provision can more than ever before reflect what businesses need, and £10million per year over a decade for an Education Challenge, are other goals.

Invest in a green recovery

The council has declared a climate emergency and has pledged to halve the council’s carbon footprint by 2025 and to work with others to make the county carbon-neutral by 2030.

Therefore, investments in environmental improvements are a core part of the economic recovery plan.

Projects at various stages of development so far include low-carbon heat networks using flooded mine water in Blyth and biomass in Cramlington; the creation of the Great Northumberland Forest; renewable energy schemes, for example, a potential hydro-electric scheme in the Tyne Valley; expanding the electric vehicle charging point network; and making homes more energy-efficient, reducing fuel bills as well as carbon emissions.

To read the full document, visit https://nland.uk/routemap

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