Wooler Parish Council: Streetscape, neighbourhood plan and pavements

Plans are in the offing to brighten up a vacant shop-front in Wooler.
Wooler High Street with the old Co-op on the left.Wooler High Street with the old Co-op on the left.
Wooler High Street with the old Co-op on the left.

Coun Alfreda Hindmarsh reported that the Glendale Gateway Trust has been working with the Co-op to try to improve the frontage of its former building.

The plan is for the Northumberland National Park Authority to provide a display to go in the window of the shop, which has been vacant since the Co-op moved up the street.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

• Decent progress is being made on the Wooler neighbourhood plan, it was reported by Coun Alfreda Hindmarsh.

At a meeting earlier this month, the plan’s steering group received an excellent presentation from Clive Coyne, from the planning team at Northumberland National Park and who has worked on other neighbourhood plans.

In other positive steps, the terms of reference have been discussed, a grant of almost £2,000 has been received for initial works and a website has been set up using some of this funding.

Lynne Pringle was appointed chairman, because they wanted to have someone who wasn’t on the parish council.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However, Coun Hindmarsh reminded her fellow councillors that neighbourhood plans have to be town or parish council-led in Northumberland.

Therefore, she said, other members needed to attend the steering group meetings, particularly as some councillors may not still be there after the elections in May.

A public drop-in takes place in the Cheviot Centre, from 3.30pm to 6.30pm, on Monday, February 27.

• Parish councillors are pleased with the progress on the ongoing works to relay pavements on Wooler’s High Street, with one describing it as ‘a marvellous job’. What was intended to be the first phase of the overhaul, pictured above, started in October, but after complaints, the second phase was moved forward so the job could be completed in one stint.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

• The Glendale Festival is to be expanded to two days across a weekend this year. A community event is set to take part in Scott’s Park on the Saturday, while the traditional street festival will take place on the Sunday. Questions have been asked about use of the park and the parish council’s public liability insurance.

• Chairman, Coun Robert Donkin, thanked all those that had helped to take down the Christmas lights, reporting that there was one to repair before they are put back into storage. He added that while taking them down, residents said that there had been a real improvement this year.

• The parish council has agreed to continue paying for the county council to cut the grass and carry out the required weekly safety inspections at the play parks.