Save Bedlington

[debrad65]

We have set up a Save Bedlington Facebook group as we are sick of Bedlington having nothing - no shops, nowhere for the kids to go etc..Pubs, banks, building societies - all deserting Bedlington. It's going to become a ghost town if we don't do something about it. We have a lovely community. A safe place to live. We deserve facilities to meet our needs.

All that money spent on the Market Place and for what? It's surrounded by empty buildings for a start.The Market being on there isn't happening (well, let's face it, no stalls come anyway)...and what's happening with Tesco's? Is it still going to expand?

When the Christmas light's were switched on, what a turn-out! The community got together and had a great time(probably as it's been the only event to happen, but never mind).The teens had a good night listening to the school's bands (and I think live bands should be a regular thing!). There was no trouble. It just proved how Bedlington has great community spirit!

Lots of people have opinions on why they are unhappy about Bedlington, what they want for Bedlington etc.. That's why we need to get together and make sure our voices are heard.If you care about Bedlington, please support us. Either join our Facebook group and leave your comments/opinions/ideas etc.., or have your say by e-mailing us at savebedlington@hotmail.co.uk.We can't make our MP's/councillors/council listen unless we bombard them with our opinions! THANKS

[sizsells]

We have set up a Save Bedlington Facebook group as we are sick of Bedlington having nothing - no shops, nowhere for the kids to go etc..Pubs, banks, building societies - all deserting Bedlington. It's going to become a ghost town if we don't do something about it. We have a lovely community. A safe place to live. We deserve facilities to meet our needs.

All that money spent on the Market Place and for what? It's surrounded by empty buildings for a start.The Market being on there isn't happening (well, let's face it, no stalls come anyway)...and what's happening with Tesco's? Is it still going to expand?

When the Christmas light's were switched on, what a turn-out! The community got together and had a great time(probably as it's been the only event to happen, but never mind).The teens had a good night listening to the school's bands (and I think live bands should be a regular thing!). There was no trouble. It just proved how Bedlington has great community spirit!

Lots of people have opinions on why they are unhappy about Bedlington, what they want for Bedlington etc.. That's why we need to get together and make sure our voices are heard.If you care about Bedlington, please support us. Either join our Facebook group and leave your comments/opinions/ideas etc.., or have your say by e-mailing us at savebedlington@hotmail.co.uk.We can't make our MP's/councillors/council listen unless we bombard them with our opinions! THANKS

You are to be applauded for making an effort however we can write all we want to on here or facebook or anywhere for that matter but the fact is out local councilors are yes men and women and have been since we got taken over by those buggers down the road, they give you all the right answers when they require your votes but when the chips are down and you need action they are full of wind and water oh yes they will accept praise when our senior councilors at Ashington give them permission to do a few things. And as for out local MP who is about to retire, nothing to do with the recent scandle I hope? well what has he EVER done for Bedlington

With out wanting folks to say here we go again They have ALL stood by and watched this town turn it to the place it is now a DORMATORY town and as I said earlier because they are ALL yes men and women.

My local EX councilor who shall remain nameless stated on his vote for me leaflet that he was stuffing through letter boxes at the last local elections that he wanted LOCAL JOBS FOR LOCAL PEOPLE...great idea however on closer inspection his office was in Blyth and the printing of his leaflet was done in bloody NORTH TYNESIDE. He was,nt around when I queried it with another councilor SHE said it must have been a misprint now thats the caliber of our councilors.

I,m not trying to put a dampner on your actions and as I did say you should be applauded there is a lot of sense written on this site and some great ideas also there are some very intelliget folks on here (me not included) and if you can get them onboard to help you I,m sure you can make a difference if you want my humble opinion for what its worth. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS.. There is an election coming up so why not organise a get together along the lines of the xmas lights big switch on but don,t invite those who consider themselves councilors.

[debrad65]

A mega fast reply as I've so much to do!!I know where you are coming from and agree with all you say but we can't sit back and do nowt. I know they all say they'll do this n that to get our votes but hey, they work for us and if we don't make a stand and keep on their backs then Bedlington will continue to go to the dogs! We have only been going a few weeks and haven't much time spare but we will make sure we are heard! there's a bit before the elections so we'll see what we can do before then!

[Andy Millne]

Someone else here that wishes to applaud your spirit, but I'm curious, what are your plans beyond the actual facebook group? Once again this sounds like a case of "let's form a facebook group to get peoples attention" without any real thought beyond that. There are now several of these groups and the more often people are invited to them (with no follow through) the more diluted the potential effectiveness becomes. Another group isn't really necessary as between this website with it's strong links to community groups and town councillors, the Xmas lights group and a couple of the smaller ones the vast majority of people are already contactable. So my question is what do you want to do with this audience? You have people waiting to flick the switch if there's a meaningful plan? Otherwise I'd urge you not to unwittingly demoralise people further.

There needs to be some substance in any proposal. It's no good saying "we want this" we need to be saying "we want this, this is how we think we can make it happen, what are you going to do to help us?"

[Vic Patterson]

I too applaud your effort but be careful what you ask for! as long as you have the basic services how much do you really want? most people appear to have some mode of transport (I could be wrong) and Blyth, Ashington, Cramlinton and Newcastle all have the mega stores, fast food outlets and all the garbage that goes with them!5-10 miles is close enough for industry and all the pollution and waist it often produces.

I'd be pressing them to clean and tidy what you have and fill up the closed or run down buildings and provide recreation and leisure facilities.

Respectfully submitted

[Andy Millne]

I'd be pressing them to clean and tidy what you have and fill up the closed or run down buildings and provide recreation and leisure facilities.

And pressing them NOT to put obstacles in the way of those people attempting to do this

[Malcolm Robinson]

I too wish to applaud the initiative shown but as GGGG says to what outcome?

There are a couple of people trying to get a new project off the ground at the moment which should start to address ALL the concerns wrote about on this topic. This is a community owned project which should be able to focus 100% of it's attention on what the people who make up our community want to see happen. There are a few more't's to cross and 'i's to dot then we will be asking YOU for your concerns, hopes and aspirations for the town and surrounding area. We would certainly be asking everyone who signs up to your face book campaign to at least support the idea.

It would be a whole lot easier if a few more people went to the community meetings where this stuff is talked about. In fact your face book initiative was mentioned at the last meeting!

BTW, there will be a presentation on 25th March at the community centre by the people commissioned to do a feasibility study on possible new community/sports facilities in Bedlington. Again this is independent of council, a community group commissioned the report. I hope everyone can see with a bit of combined effort we can start to make a difference.

[mercuryg]

BTW, there will be a presentation on 25th March at the community centre by the people commissioned to do a feasibility study on possible new community/sports facilities in Bedlington.

a date in my diary. Thanks Malcolm.

[debrad65]

Thanks for all your comments so far! We didn't know about other groups when we started our's, but we are keen to join forces with Friend's of Gallagher park and Save Bedlington's venue's (who've contacted us to do so) as well as expand the group outside the internet so everyone can partake.There's been lots of ideas about poster's,petitions, attaining people's opinion's etc.., but hey, we only started the group a few weeks ago! Give us time! We are just two hard working busy mum's who are sick of Bedlington having nothing and want a future for our kid's in Bedlington because we love the community we live in. We just got off our arses to do something. We are not clever on computers, nor wise to the ins and outs of politics etc.. - we just wanted to DO SOMETHING! We know people these days lead such busy lives and can't attend meetings etc.. but we thought the more comments we could attain, the more we could show our MP's, councillors,council etc.. how we feel. Maybe we do have our head in the clouds, but we are trying to do SOMETHING! Surely it's better to try and do something rather than do nothing at all??

[Monsta®]

We have set up a Save Bedlington Facebook group as we are sick of Bedlington having nothing - no shops, nowhere for the kids to go etc..Pubs, banks, building societies - all deserting Bedlington. It's going to become a ghost town if we don't do something about it.

becoming a ghost town!

becoming a ghost town!!

its been a ghost town for the last twenty years,

the council dont have a budget for out but there holidays and new cars.

[debrad65]

Just to let you know - got my first reply from the councillors I e-mailed:- Arthur Pegg said "You have raised several issues. I shall consult my fellow councillors and follow up your concerns and get back to you" It's a start!!!!!!!!!!!! Least I got a reply !

[threegee]

...Least I got a reply !

http://www.bedlingto...id=1&m=5&y=2010

After Things can only get worse Thursday - whoever gets in, we'll probably need to start a campaign to keep the street lights on!

Any reply you get before then will be pure electioneering and not worth the paper it's written on. Any reply after will likely cite the (Tory?) cuts. Neither reply will mention who's incompetence got us into the worst economic mess of all time - the real reason why even the status quo here is no longer an option.

Every Labour Government in history has ended in an economic disaster; this time they've surpassed themselves! In an area where one third of the workforce works for HM Government the cuts will be harder felt than elsewhere.

Sorry to be so negative, but that's the hard reality. Save yourself and your own family, and our town will muddle through - as it always has.

[Malcolm Robinson]

In an area where one third of the workforce works for HM Government the cuts will be harder felt than elsewhere.

Actually GGG the figure is 40% not 33% and I have questioned the sustainably of that.

You could be wrong in your prognosis about the town muddling though, I think it is far more serious than that! I think we should all be getting together and supporting each of the various efforts people are coming up with. If debrade65 thinks carpet bombing the politicians is the way to go then so be it. It is a perfectly legitimate strategy in a democracy. Other people are going down different routes and good luck to them too but we should all be supporting each other because at the end of the day we are all fighting for the same cause.

Taking the possible library closure as an example, if every man, woman and child in the town went and took membership out at the library the county would be hard pressed to make a case for closure! They are using usage figures as justification for closures. That would be a community acting to protect its communal assets. I would urge everyone to do that anyway because there are two words which have become synonymous with council pronouncements regarding anything controversial at the moment, 'decision deferred!'

[threegee]

Just trying to prepare her for the inevitable disillusion Malc. As she's already worked out let's all hold hands and make the world a better place isn't a viable strategy, but neither is writing to a "big-party" politician in the run-up to a general election!

You've identified one positive thing an individual can do. Why not take this further and prepare a checklist of things a caring Bedlingtonian can do that will make a difference?

BTW for those "big-party politicians" reading this I'd like to add that I'm not against them and their efforts. What I'm against is their putting party politics before community. Not having the guts to debate the real issues with the community - an ever-increasing number of whom are not as dumb as their party bosses suppose. That's not true of all local politicians of course, and I don't need to elaborate on this.

Times they are a changin, and those that keep their heads down and don't directly engage and take to the new electronic hustings are going to go the way of the dinosaurs. They'd actualy get a much easier ride - and probably pick up quite a lot of votes - if they came clean and explained their own frustrations earlier rather than later.

[Vic Patterson]

In an area where one third of the workforce works for HM Government the cuts will be harder felt than elsewhere.

Actually GGG the figure is 40% not 33% and I have questioned the sustainably of that.

You could be wrong in your prognosis about the town muddling though, I think it is far more serious than that! I think we should all be getting together and supporting each of the various efforts people are coming up with. If debrade65 thinks carpet bombing the politicians is the way to go then so be it. It is a perfectly legitimate strategy in a democracy. Other people are going down different routes and good luck to them too but we should all be supporting each other because at the end of the day we are all fighting for the same cause.

Taking the possible library closure as an example, if every man, woman and child in the town went and took membership out at the library the county would be hard pressed to make a case for closure! They are using usage figures as justification for closures. That would be a community acting to protect its communal assets. I would urge everyone to do that anyway because there are two words which have become synonymous with council pronouncements regarding anything controversial at the moment, 'decision deferred!'

A little bit off topic.... If the library were to move with the times it should "go electronic" Who reads paper books these days? the digitized books should be made available, I know quite a few people who go the library before going on vacation or just traveling on business. I also know several people who don't have computers who go to the library to check their e-mail etc. I think this concept has to be adopted into all ways of life, things have always changed with the times so we need to think how to keep up with technology!

[Mr Darn]

something worth thinking about:

If there is not the numbers currently using the Library, then what good is it going to do, to go there to boost numbers, if people are not going to keep going once it's decided to keep it?

Its something I've never used since school, and personally wouldn't miss if it was to go.

(well there was once when I was waiting on someone at the doctors, and 'popped in' to look at the reference section. There was nothing there that I was looking for, so I left.)

I do appreciate there are people who do use and need it, but it would need something a little more attractive for me to go there.

What that would be, I don't know.

[Malcolm Robinson]

I think you have hit the nail on the head Vic and it encompasses far more than just a library! We need to embrace the change technological advances gives us and have a development strategy for the town which takes all of that into account. Maybe then we can start looking to the future instead of gazing longingly at some long past version of Bedlington.

BTW, I think a library is about far more then just what books it keeps on the shelf and in some ways gives the towns where they are situated intellectual credibility.

GGG, I would argue that it is a viable strategy but only to invigorate local people with enthusiasm. The problem is without an end game you could quickly become part of the problem and not the solution, which I think is what GGGG was alluding to. As for prospective MP's, I can't really see any of the candidates paying much attention over here they are too preoccupied with happenings yon side of the dyke!

[sizsells]

[i can't really see any of the candidates paying much attention over here they are too preoccupied with happenings yon side of the dyke!

The mans a genius thats the ANSWER we should be ower that side and causing grief ower there then the buggers won,t be ruining things ower here

Just a thought

[Malcolm Robinson]

something worth thinking about:

If there is not the numbers currently using the Library, then what good is it going to do, to go there to boost numbers, if people are not going to keep going once it's decided to keep it?

Its something I've never used since school, and personally wouldn't miss if it was to go.

(well there was once when I was waiting on someone at the doctors, and 'popped in' to look at the reference section. There was nothing there that I was looking for, so I left.)

I do appreciate there are people who do use and need it, but it would need something a little more attractive for me to go there.

What that would be, I don't know.

Mr D, any single library has been the 'Google' for their community since they originated. Each one offers almost unfettered access to just about any publication worldwide. They are certainly egalitarian and as such should be endorsed by everyone. The fact that their message has been somewhat 'lost' in recent times is probably down to their PR (and the Web) than any intrinsic failings. I would like to see them expand and offer more to the communities they serve not close because of lack of use. They are far too important a tool to loose.

[Mr Darn]

If only the town had somewhere to advertise such things for places like the library to take advantage of, so what they offer could be shown for free.

Apart from lending a book, i dont know of any other service the local library caters for.

[Andy Millne]

Apart from lending a book, i dont know of any other service the local library caters for.

Certainly not helping to promote other local community services. I can vouch for that!

[Malcolm Robinson]

It would seem more of a problem of modernising the business model and effective PR rather than a failure of intrinsic worth?

[Monsta®]

Apart from lending a book, i dont know of any other service the local library caters for.

they've got free internet (limited to 1 hour and very limited as to what sites aren't banned!) scratched dvds and cds not to mention drawn on books!

[Mr Darn]

An internet based area would be an obvious way to go i would have thought.

Where better for an Internet Café than a Library?

Does the place supply coffee?

[Malcolm Robinson]

Now your cooking Mr D!