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We're working on a grants policy for the town council in Bedlington. The aim of this is to help people who want to organise their own activities, i.e. clubs, teams, groups etc who have ideas for things to do in town but need a bit of help to get started, or expand. We're talking about small grants for things like kit, equipment, materials, venue hire etc There's already another thread about a leisure centre and Bedlington Forum has been working on that, so we're looking at what can be done to bring Bedlington back to life in the meantime. Things that will encourage people to spend time in town, hopefully helping the local economy too. So while this policy is still being written you have a chance to influence the kind of activities we should be trying to help - what would everyone here like to be able to do in Bedlington?

19 flats eh! Could be interesting. They must use sandstone (coservation area) yes/no? Parking underneath for at least 19 cars.Will 19 Range Rovers fit on this plot? Then there is access to said parking. Then they will have 38 bins, where do these go? Seeing as the bin men don't seek them will there be 19 bins up church lane or causing an obstruction to the crossing? Or is there to be waste chutes down to a skip,how will this be emptied,who pays and who will empty it? There will have to be two skips!(recycling/non recycling) Then there is the privacy factor for funerals and weddings at the church, and again parking! Then there is the actual building of said flats but I'll leave that till later.

the place you have to start is getting the people who live in the town to want to come in to it and surely the only way to do that is to get rid of the 'inbreds' and the village mentality that surrounds the town . have a walk down the main street day time or night time and what do you see what sort of people are walking around the streets make it safe and comfortable then it will change

We are talking serious capital spending here; which isn't too easily confused with the logistics of a few boxes of hamburgers. Heretical though this may sound we don't need a Tesco or an Asda. We need specialist traders who re-spend money in the town, and don't put it in a security van straight out. If you or Monsta or anyone else believe that Tesco is going to "give" us anything you are deluded. These predatory operators will always take more than they give. They also destroy existing businesses, play off smaller suppliers against each other until doing business with them becomes barely economic. All this whilst putting up the illusion that they are providing a valuable public service. Sometimes it is necessary to sup with the devil, but in doing so we need an extension to the customary long spoon. Fortunately I think most of our representatives are a little more worldly-wise than the younger element in the town, who would be easy converts to a "cargo cult" religion.

Yes, they "the trailer" probably got the news from this strange website: http://www.bedlingto...peal-decisions/ ...where it was published nine days ago. Some people might say that that's a loaded question. i.e. they do care, are sad to see the school go, but realise that there is no alternative to having the site redeveloped as residential. And - as there are no viable alternatives proposed - it's better to have nineteen decent flats and carefully dictated landscaping, than an eyesore, public hazard, and somewhere where sooner or later some young kid will get badly hurt. Which "radio button" do they select to express that opinion?