Northumberland County Council facing £4 million 'funding gap' for Northumberland Line

And as a result, Northumberland County Council’s cabinet committee has agreed an “urgent” report agreeing a new funding package for the planned passenger railway line.

It comes after the Department for Transport declined to provide funding to close the existing crossing and divert the A1061 across a new bridge over the railway, meaning the council would need to meet the cost of this “critical infrastructure.”

The anticipated cost for the bridge at Newsham now stands at £30.6 million – an increase in excess of £19 million since the original cost estimate in August 2021.

The North of Tyne Combined Authority has agreed, in principle, to provide £5 million to help finance the road bridge, while a further £7.5 million is to be released from the Northumberland Line Reserves, to be recouped via land value captures.

This is where funding is recovered from the increase in value of private land generated by public infrastructure investment.

This leaves a funding gap of £4.08 million. Papers presented to the cabinet proposed plugging the gap with money from the council’s capital contract price inflation budget and the strategic regeneration reserve.

Speaking at the meeting of the council’s cabinet, council leader Glen Sanderson explained that a decision needed to be taken quickly in order for the project to meet its targeted opening of August 2024.

He said: “We need to press the button on a number of parts of this scheme to reach the opening. We need to just get this decision into the system today.

“I have spoken to the relevant scrutiny chairman and he has agreed this is urgent. We know all about the Northumberland Line – this is the most fantastic project, one that has been talked about for a long time but nothing much has happened until now.

“It’s hugely important for those who have to battle their way through Gosforth, which is not a lot of fun. This is why we’re taking this today.”

The council unanimously agreed to the new funding package.