Malcolm Robinson

I quite agree Swalnalla and the fact that Bedlington is in the middle of Ash,Mor,Bly and Cram is something the Home Office(cop shop) didn't miss! In the end every little helps and having a Front Street which everyone can see is a conservation area for its own worth will only help attract the type of business you describe. It is now up to the people who want to see Bedlington develop to make sure that money is spent wisely, at least question and hold to account every decision made!

Must have heard all the disenfranchised voices on this board, about the town, in the ivory tower across the water as 1.5 million squid coming Bedlington's way.........wow! Of course seeing might be believing.

I watched the show and while I was happy to see anything on national TV about the old homestead why do they always equate pits and pitmen with brass bands when there is and was so much more. I know they followed a theme in the original but it does reinforce the "cloth cap and whippet" image the rest of the country if not world has of the area. What happened to those days Joe, someone decided to initiate a system of greed and avarice into society for political gains and thereby destroyed community cultures!

Joe, Don't know if I would agree with that. I was just back in Bedlington last month after a number of years away and there still looks to be a lot to do. Of course it is a subjective view as I am really comparing with what I am used to now. Still looks like the forgotton backwater of Wansbeck to me which is a shame as Front Street is the only conservation area of its type in the whole of WDC! I know there are moves afoot to change its appearance but there were when I lived there over 5 years ago.

Last week the PO was fined 11 million squid but who pays? Not only that who gets paid and what happens to the money. If it is the as yet unprivatised section of the PO will the Gov be fining itself and then giving the cash back in grant form?

A few years ago some Bedlington Forum members and others tried to get something done for the youngsters in the town. Our idea was a purpose built unit, sort of youth club, but with some sporting facilities thrown in. (Tried to kill two birds with one stone!) We identified several parcels of council owned land in the town and also found funding. The snag was that WDC would not countenance a new build. The reason, they had to cover any shortfall in running expenses, not withstanding construction costs, and with a limited budget I could see their point. Another snag was that we wanted the land for a quid or equal partnership. Council have to, by law, get best value for any land sales etc and our argument was that our idea represented best value for the land even with no money changing hands as pure financial gain was never mentioned as being the criteria. Of course the resulting stalemate was plain for anyone to see! It was also suggested at the time, by WDC, Bedlington might be getting a small multi use sports facility which we could adopt into and possibly have a section for youth use. I guess that never got off the ground reading current comments! So if anyone expects WDC to build a dedicated facility you are dreaming, the only way to do it is to do it yourselves. A good starting point would be to go along to a Forum meeting and get it back on the agenda. It isn’t easy but it isn’t impossible!

That might not be quite as simple as it sounds. When I lived in Bedlignton if you took the old Bedlingtonshire area there was enough political muscle in councillor numbers to get things changed. The fact that they never did may well be another thread! It seemed to me towing a single party line was much more important than representing their electorate! Something to ask about next time there is a knock at the door off anyone begging votes!