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Why am I unsurprised? https://www.newspostleader.co.uk/news/bedlington-regeneration-scheme-stalls-awaiting-tenant-approval-1-9568164

According to the "Investing in Bedlington" website : "Subject to there being no challenges to the tender process we should be able to award a contract in August or the first week in September with mobilisation on site in the weeks that follow" That's a wonderful non-statement which effectively means "not before the 2nd week in September", so it could be next week or it could be in 2 years or any time in the future. Fingers crossed it is imminent as now more than 3 years since Arch acquired the land.

I see that the Chronicle are reporting that the "shared" facilities at the High School are under threat of closure. Of course it looks like this is a party political argument but I recently tried to find out if it was possible to book badminton courts there so I went to their website and the timetable for bookable facilities was entirely empty. I e-mailed the contact address about 2 weeks ago and a few days later got an e-mail back saying they were looking into it. Then about three days ago I got a further e-mail saying they would get back to me when someone knew what was happening. I notice that the Investing In Bedlington website formerly had a link to the page for the sports centre but that's since been dropped from the site - presumably after I pointed out to them that it was out of date. So it seems that we had a facility that had virtually no publicity about its opening, no way of finding out about how and when we could actually use it, and now we might be losing it. Surely as local tax payers we deserve better.

Sure eggs are associated with Easter - but when I was a kid in the 70s it was more about decorating and rolling real eggs - my point is that chocolate eggs are just a modern marketing gimmick.

To be fair chocolate eggs have b*gger all to do with Easter really.

Pleased to hear there will be an update tomorrow - I e-mailed the admins of InvestingInBedlington requesting an update last week.

It may save the council some money on their lighting bill and reduce light pollution but the new lights are awful and if I was a vulnerable person I'd be extremely nervous walking on my own on Alnwick Drive/Dunstanburgh. The lights brightly illuminate the area directly beneath them but they only cover a small circle of ground making tiny islands of light in the dark rather than lighting the street as the name implies. On Dunstanburgh one of the lights near us is effectively in a tree and thus illuminates the top of the tree and virtually none of the street. It means that effectively there is a very long stretch with no lighting at all. Not great considering the number of schoolkids using the street.

OK I get the justification for two lanes but why have two different surfaces? If it was just tarmac for the whole road surface it would be obvious that you could use it all. The new roundabout also (if I recall correctly) has a solid white line around the bricked area which would suggest to me that the bricked area is not part of the road surface. Just seems unnecessarily confusing, although I have heard of road schemes in town centres (on the continent) that are deliberately vague with the intention of making people think more about what they are doing and take more care rather than using autopilot and paying less attention.

Can anyone explain to me the logic behind the design of the roundabouts such as the one by the police station on Schalksmuhle Rd, and particularly the new installation at the entrance to the new estate being build on the way out to Nedderton? They are clearly meant to have a single lane but the surface of the roundabout is wide enough for two, with the inner park block paved but flat to the road, and the outer part tarmac. Is the inner part for decoration or for traffic use? I genuinely don't know what bit I'm supposed to drive on outside the police station. My observation so far is that its roughly 50/50 on the latest roundabout despite the white lines which presumably indicate that you should keep off the block paving. If you aren't meant to go over the middle surely it should be built up - as it stands it will end up with the middle part sinking unevenly into ruts as traffic goes over it and it will look awful in a few years like the one near Woodhorn off the end of the spine road. Just one of the many ridiculous roundabout designs cropping up in Northumberland in the last few years (such as the one on the new estate between Laverock Farm and Blyth South Beach).

Much as I hope you're right, I interpreted the comments about amending the plans as fine tuning rather than a total rethink, and given that Ashington's new leisure centre cost double what the whole project for Bedlington is costing I doubt that Arch/the council will be able to squeeze it in.

I disagree... as a family we eat out once or twice a week and if we're bored of the Red Lion we go to somewhere like the Comissioners Quay in Blyth or the Snowy Owl in Cramlington, so our money goes out of Bedlington. If we had another decent family friendly pub in town we'd be less likely to head out of the town and boost the economy of another part of the area. Also on a number of occasions recently we've either not gone to the Red Lion, or have gone and then walked out because its too busy and I couldn't get a table, so I'm not sure you can say there's "just enough turnover for one". Personally I agree I'd rather have a leisure centre but we aren't getting one, but I'm happy to have more choice in terms of pubs/restaurants rather than just more houses or small retail units.

I think we could do with a family friendly pub - I live within about 200 yards of the old Ridge Farm - went in maybe twice in the 5 years between us moving here and it closing. Never liked it - sterile atmosphere and very old-school food. Personally the only place we go with our daughter is the Red Lion - some competition to that would be most welcome. I wouldn't take my 10 yr old in any of the other pubs in town. As for a food retailer - the Tesco store was too small to be of any real interest to Tesco management. Now we have Lidl which is a little better in terms of size but with the drawback that most people will find it too lacking in high street brands, Morrisons which is (and always has been) hell on earth, and the Co-Op in the old Ridge Farm site which is great as an off-licence but not of any value for real food shopping. If the new food retail site is a sensible size there will be room for it to thrive - certainly alongside Lidl and the likes of the Co-Op and Londis - might spell the end for Morrisons though. I'd love a leisure centre, especially given the ridiculous prices for the "Sporting Club Bedlington" but it won't happen - I think the current proposals are as good as we're going to get - not devoted to housing and with a reasonable balance between large and small retail units and leisure.

Ah yes - I left the a message on the contact us page requesting an update.

Any word on whats happening at the Tesco site - last I heard there was a planning application in which was due to be heard in March but I've seen nothing since. Arch set up http://www.investinginbedlington.co.uk/ to keep us all informed about their wonderful work but the last update on the Tesco redevelopment (aside from a piece about naming the place) was back in February. I noticed when driving past the other day there are building materials stacked up in the compound - any idea whats going to be complete by when?

Good to hear - I think they look great. Just as I say at the moment the effect of the train is a little diminished by the bins!

I can't help wondering about the placement of the train in Attlee Park - from the road it is slap bang behind a bin, a road salt bin and a dog waste bin. Unless those are going to be moved at some point it kind of spoils the effect as you drive into the town.

Any word on where this has all got to? According to the brief put forward by Arch via Northern Architecture suggested that timelines are thus : We should have a shortlist of practices based on initial submissions by now... would be nice to know what those qualifying for phase 2 are proposing

My missus and a few of her friends have visited the Craft Hive five or six times. Great that people are trying new things but my only doubt is how often will people visit - if its once per month is that sustainable?

I'm not sure how its unfair.. if the purpose of the event is to consult with the public then it should be held at a time when the majority of the public can actually attend rather than what's most convenient for NCC staff. If it is really believed to be important and not just seen as lip service I would expect to see A) more than one session, B ) timing that makes it accessible to the majority of people and C) more publicity. I hope its going to be worthwhile - I've had to cancel two events to be able to come along, but I can imagine seeing statements in 6 months time saying "we gave the people of Bedlington chance to have their say on proposals and barely anyone turned up". Slightly harsh but it reminds me of a book I once read...

So we're going to have a midweek event the majority of which is during the day so that those that work won't be able to attend. It's almost like they don't actually want to hear anyone's opinion.

In that case I hope the Co-Op take the rest of the space... its great to have it there but its too small - especially as there's no space to queue for tills leading to confusion about whos next for which till. It certainly seems busy enough to sustain a slightly bigger store.

Sorry - it may be that I misinterpreted that comment.. I'm aware of the Make A Noise campaign but I was thinking more of the council/Arch etc consulting with local people. I read all the stories about great strides forward in terms of buying the site and that they were going to consult with local people to determine the way forward. I've not had anything drop through my letter box or seen anything in the local paper or online from the people actually in charge asking for people's opinions. I was kind of hoping by now to have seen some options for developing the site from the owners, or even a request for suggestions. Maybe I've missed it, but nobody from Bedlington that I know has heard of any consultation exercises. Maybe I just move in the wrong circles.

Which people of Bedlington?

"Bedlington has always been a priority for the council" - did someone miss out the words "very low" in that sentence?