Councillor Crosby - Northumberland Live

[Bill Crosby]

On Friday 14 July, together with other Town and County Councillors, I met with representatives from Arch regarding the TESCO site. We all gave an undertaking not to disclose what was said during that meeting, as there are still on-going negotiations, but I for one left the room feeling very positive about the project and it was encouraging to learn that everything didn’t come to a grinding halt with a change in administration.

On Thursday 20 July, I met with Mike Jeffrey, the Green Spaces and Countryside Manager for Northumberland County Council. We met in Gallagher Park and, together with his team, we walked some of the trails through the park marking out where the signs needed to be placed in order for walkers to follow the various routes. To be honest, I’ve walked some of these routes in various other places following the signs and have never appreciated just how much work goes into planning a route through woodland, so I think that Mike and his team deserve some recognition for the effort they’re putting in.

During my time with Mike and his team we discussed many things, to include why the toilets at the Pavilion are never open; the reason for this is apparently because the light sensors in the outside toilets don’t work and it would therefore be a health and safety issue if the public were allowed to enter whilst these are inoperable. Mike has assured me that he is chasing up the contractor to try and get this situation rectified as soon as possible, but we all know how hard it is to get a builder to come back and fix something once he’s been paid …! He is also keen to re-activate the Gallagher Park Steering Group so that we can get ideas flowing as to how to make the best use of this incredible space that we have on our doorstep.

Following on from this, I have organised an informal meeting at the Pavilion for Monday 14 August at 6.30pm so that those interested in the long-term future of Gallagher Park can come along and have their say as to what they would like to see happen in the park; we’ve already had some good ideas via social media so please come along and get involved.

Finally, it was a great day to be in the park for the Northumberland Live event on Saturday 29 July. It was good to see families there enjoying the day, sitting listening to good music and availing themselves of the various types of food and entertainment on offer. Some of you may not be aware that, although this is a free event for the community, there is a considerable cost involved and it would not have taken place without my predecessors making a financial contribution from their local improvement schemes together with other contributions from West Bedlington Town Council and East Bedlington Parish Council. Wherever your political allegiances lie, I hope you will agree that all parties who took part in helping finance this event deserve recognition and our gratitude and I would like to think that the current Councillors and the respective Town and Parish Councils can work together again in order that this event can take place next year.