Mal

Didn't even post these ones..............but no one is saying I haven't been doing things anymore!

Now it is all just fluff........so..........

After having another go I put up some more!

Seems this stuff caused quite a commotion after I said this was some of the stuff I've been doing over the last few years Then being told I was dreaming...............

Seems everyday there is a different attack..........and I am not attacking any other candidates but I am going to defend myself! I don’t normally respond to overtly ‘aggressive’ posts, that’s a one way route, but somehow I’m being accused of ‘hiding’ something about this Members Local Improvement Scheme funding? Not quite sure how seeing as I posted the FULL details of the scheme three weeks ago on 1st April on this page, a page that’s open to public access. I do try and keep my residents informed! So the funding is there, the list of things I’ve supported with it is there along with the costings. Even the cancelled projects are listed so I’m not quite sure what’s been hidden? Members get an allowance of up to £15K PA to ‘spend’ on small projects in their wards. I make sure every penny of mine is spent in the ward or very close to it, if there are things which benefit my residents. Just some very recent examples: First the small path I had been asked to get done opposite Hartford Hall. I had it priced up off NCC and it came back at over £30K. I put in the last of my MLIS funding, just over £10K, and Christine, Bedlington Central, agreed to put in £4K to make it happen. So for the £10K in my pot we got over £30k’s worth of work done. Second one, the QE11 Memorial Path and Garden of Remembrance at West Lea Cemetery. We weren’t getting anything so I badgered the Leader of NCC until he told me to design a scheme and they would consider it for funding out of the QE11 funding NCC had already agreed. I did and eventually got £24K out of them. Along with £1K donation from the Friends of West Lea Cemetery group I put in the rest out of this MLIS funding. So we got over £50Ks worth of work done there. I’ve also put in £5K into the café and toilets upgrades at Plessey Woods which is costing about £300K! So nothing hidden it’s all there in black and white but given the associated funding it unlocks I’m happy to use it for projects which can be ramped up with clear community benefits, some smaller projects like dropped kerbs and bollards to larger projects like the QE11 stuff. Even sharing costs with neighbouring ward councillors on projects with joint benefits makes sense to me.

Like I said it getting unbelievable out there............ Well it seems the Labour candidate is now going around telling people I can’t get anything done because I’m not at the ‘Top Table’ because I’m not in the Labour party. I’m wondering which ‘Top Table’ that might be? Might be the MP’s ‘Top Table’, or the North East Mayor’s ‘Top Table’ or even the Crime and Police Commissioners ‘Top Table’? These are ALL positions which once elected should be ‘A’ Political and not be used to gain influence and promote individual devotees. They are supposed to be there to serve their respective communities in their positions without favour! Just goes to show the ‘locked doors and smoke filled rooms’ are very much still in play even today. And we thought we had seen the last of that sort of thing! Absolutely shocking but from a party that’s reneged on its promises to our elderly population, WASPI women, farmers, veterans and the sick and disabled, etc., etc. and seems intent on taxing us more and more so it can fritter cash away on building the PM’s international reputation, I’m not too sure its unexpected!

My latest offering........... Been told off several residents today they have received their postal voting papers today and they have filled them in, ticking my name, and reposted straightaway. Thanks very much I really do appreciate the trust you have shown! I have tried to steer well clear of the shenanigans going on at the minute with political posts in Bedlington, preferring to illustrate lessons from recent Bedlington history we should all be aware of. Failure to learn from the past is a recipe for continued failure and I think we have had enough of that! As all the main political parties played roles in what I see as snubbing the needs of this Town I cannot understand how anyone can trust them again. Time and time again we have seen decisions based purely on political party benefit and that’s why I think the political parties are part of the problem not the solution! It’s also one of the main reasons I get reprimanded so much by chairs in meetings because I call it out every time I encounter it. There are excellent Independent choices at these elections, people with real experience and knowledge, people who have leant how the system works and where the failures are, so they know what to look out for and how to get around them. That takes years to learn, not 5 minutes! I said at the very beginning of this election this is about trust, I don’t think we can trust any of the political parties given how they have screwed us over every time they have been in power. Even at national level we can see how much political manifestos are worth and if they can get away with it what chance do we have at this level of government? In the last 8 years of being a county Councillor I’d like to think I have never broken the trust and faith people gave me when they elected me, from day one! It’s your choice, please use it wisely.

Its getting pretty acrimonious this election period. First rebuttal, "It seems the Labour canvassers going around today are saying the schemes and projects I’ve listed in my ‘CV’ post are only what I’m claiming to have been part of or done, in other words a figment of my imagination? Well the lists are there if you want to challenge them, Im quite happy to justify each and every one! In fact if you want some more………. Ill just say this in response, we had a Labour councillor for the four years before I got in and he picked up the nickname……..”The Invisible Man!” Lets not go back to those dark days! We have lost trust in the national government in record time, God forbid the same happens to our county!" Second one, "Just by way of a post script to my last ‘political’ post another claim by the Labour canvassers was that I always vote with the Conservatives. Doesn’t take too much effort to show that’s not true either! As part of the last NCC pre Budget presentations all councillors were given a large number of papers to read through. As I said at the time the financials alone were 467 pages. It would seem I was the only one to pick up on the Advance proposals they contained. You might think with tens of millions of pounds at stake it would be a stand alone item but I could only find three quite curtailed references to it. As usual I asked about it because I didn’t understand completely what was intended. Once I had the explanations my words were……….”That’s a deal breaker for me, if I went along with it I couldn’t look my residents in the eyes ever again!” Now I’ve put that in inverted commas because that’s exactly what I said at the time in the faces of the main political and professional players at County Hall and that why I voted against the conservative proposed budget. Fast forward to the recent vote on the restructure of Advance, only a month or so ago, and we see the whole Labour group vote with the conservatives on this issue with only Independents voting against. These days I only believe half of what I see and nothing of what I hear, that might be good advice for residents in what is fast becoming a pretty acrimonious election period. I’m trying to remain positive and not descend to levels others are crawling around in, but it’s hard!"

Just to keep everyone updated.......here is my 'application' for County Councillor. So we have a full list of candidates for the NCC Bedlington West Ward seat and it looks like an election has had its starter gate opened with claims, counter claims, spin and misdirection already! As I have said the only promise I give is to continue to do my best for the ward, so more of the same if you like! Like any job applicant a CV would seem an obvious starting option. So here are the main points in mine: As a resident I wasn’t happy with the way our Town’s needs had been ignored for decades so as a private individual I decided to try and do something about that. You don’t really need a position but you do need a commitment and some level of understanding as to how the system works. Set up the Bedlingtonshire Development Trust. Worked with NCC to get the sports pavilion at Gallagher Park. Ran a Fields in Trust campaign after getting Gallagher Park qualified as a QE11 Park and won a national award! Did the training in counselling skills so I could interact confidentially with people on a one to one basis. Completed training in procurement, project management, VCS development, planning training and others which I thought would be beneficial. Got the funding for and ran a Heritage themed event with Leading Link, which we had to go to Manchester and receive a commendation for. I had to go to Blyth Sports Centre and push in to argue with the Olympic Torch Committee for Bedlington to be included in their processional route so our kids could see it pass too. This after NCC said no! With Richard from Salvation Army and Lyn from Leading Link we had over 5000 people lining a very wet Front Street that day! Bedlington Terrier seats……..my design and my project with the money made paying for Xmas lunches for our seniors and support for our food banks. In May 2013 I was elected as a Town Councillor. The chevron parking on Glebe Road, my idea to stop the double parking there so others could pass. My project through the Town Council. New footpath down to Attlee Park, to stop the need for pedestrians having to step out on the main road. Again my project through the Town Council. After lacklustre and aimless two years under Labour control, which was more about claiming the council to be a Labour one instead of actually doing things, I was elected to the chair of the Town Council. What happened in the next two years was more than had happened at any time before! New Bus shelters throughout. Street furniture painted gold and green. Two new play parks at West Lea and Meadowdale. New Town Gateway features, which I designed and oversaw the project. Started on the discussions with a local resident who made sun dials internationally, but who couldn’t get one in their home town. Now in the Market Place! We bought the two new commemorative seats which now sit behind the War Memorial after I did the research and costing. Restarted the Town Fair and held it on the street. First to put on a show for the Xmas Lights switch on. Put in the original three defibrillators onto the street after the existing NCC Councillors refused to back them. Brought in a REDUCTION to the Town Council tax charge, the only one to ever manage that and do everything (plus) listed above. No wonder we got phone calls from all over asking how on earth we had done it. Then in 2017 I was elected to County Council. I said “I’m drawing a line in the sand…….we don’t go backwards from here!” First job get a light controlled crossing next to the COOP because it was gravely needed! All main roads into my ward area resurfaced. I recorded every pot hole in the ward and sent in the lists. I also had to stand up to what had happened at Arch and Active Northumberland to try and bring some resolution after unbelievably bad independent audits. Covid hit and while everyone else hid under the blankets I was running around dropping food parcels off because the government essentially locked up elderly people for 12 weeks! I made sure the ones I knew in my ward had something at least once a week. I got the 100’s of food parcels from the Salvation Army so I raised money for our food banks to make sure I wasn’t taking out more than I put it! West Lea Cemetery needs a special mention: First try and sort out the flooding issues which saw flooding on the children’s graves. Cleaned out the main culvert pipe which runs alongside the western side of the cemetery. Next the road inside the Cemetery needed resurfacing. Helped set up the Friends of West Lea Cemetery group. Did the D Day commemorative plaque at the side of the entrance. Renovated the old derelict hut which stands in there for a base for the Friends of West Lea Cemetery. Flooding reoccurred so I had to fight for new field drains fitted at the lowest bit on the South side. Did the Covid plaque at the other side of the entrance. Garden of Remembrance needed sorting out. The path between the cemetery and St Bennies needed sorting out too so QE11 Memorial Path, again after Bedlington not planned to get one. Now we have the best! New railings along the Front. Worked with Cemeteries management to turn the look of this cemetery around. It’s a popular place to visit these days and the Garden of Remembrance is now filled with flowers on tended plots. Plessey Woods needs a mention too. Went down 8 years ago and spoke to the staff there and saw it was only been used by a few dog walkers. Lobbied for the money to get the new playground done as well as path repairs etc. I got the funding on the proviso that I increased visitor numbers Put on events (children’s and adults) to get people there so they could see what was on offer. Argued for the extra parking area because it was proving that popular now. Had to get double yellow lines outside to stop the indiscriminate parking along Shields Road. Set up a Friends of Plessy Woods group. Continually argued for café and toilets upgrades which are now planned for end of this summer. Came up with the idea of Climbing Boulders as a way of attracting more people down there. Worked on the design, costs and siting with manufacturers and park managers. Should see them soon! More events in the pipeline for this park! Road speeds are an issue in several places, first one to tackle, Hazelmere. The internal roads have now gone to 20 MPH. Also the B1331 as it passes four school entrances……now 20 MPH after being told it wasn’t going to happen! New path opposite Hartford Hall, again after being told it wouldn’t happen. Had to fight to get Bedlington into the mix for a PlayZone but we were eventually. Then loads of fences and hoops to jump to get it actually built. Now being built at West Lea. The first new build leisure facility in Bedlington I can remember! I’ve also had to tackle house builders on behalf of residents and we have residents meetings with them (I’d like to say regularly but………) so problems can be worked out and residents made aware of what’s going to happen. Sensible communications is very often the key! I have documented just about every aspect to this ‘job’ over the last 8 years even to the point of being referred to solicitors when it doesn’t suit one party’s narrative! I’ve told everyone what’s going on, what’s about to happen and the reasons behind the way I’ve voted on most issues. I can’t think of any resident who has been in touch and who I’ve not responded to. We might not get the answer we wanted but all concerns have been forwarded to the right place. In short this is the sort of stuff I’ve been doing for the last 8 years, a lot of which aren’t really the remit of a councillor but hey it’s Bedlington, someone has to do something! This isn’t an exhaustive list by any means, and for more examples in much greater detail take a look at the Historical Factoids I posted on my Facebook page: “Malcolm Robinson Bedlington West Ward.” If you vote for me it’s not difficult to work out what you will get! Trying to inject some common sense into the county council instead of the political spin and gyrations of the Political Party’s! ‘Residents First’ because I don’t have a political party to promote and gain benefit for, so the only people who tell me what to say and do are my residents. We don’t go backwards and we don’t leave anyone behind! It’s that simple really!

I had it confirmed this week that West Lea in Bedlington will get its new Playzone. This is something I've been fighting for since they were first considered for Northumberland! Originally 12 were projected, none for Bedlington but I managed to get that decision changed! It represents a substantial investment not just in terms of finance but in leisure activities as well! So for anyone who doesn't know what a PlayZone is, and they are not just for football, here is a taster...........

Thought you guys might like a look........... 2083ad64-7e6f-47a0-b230-f3b96e429de7 (1).mp4

At a recent meeting I was asking about current business health in Northumberland and was directed to a certain report. I had to point out that was done in 2011 and there is very little commonality between businesses then and now! It’s staggering sometimes!

I really think we missed as trick here but I had left the Town Council by then and the new councillors wouldn't back it.

When the new black arched entrance turns into a golden one............

Well we have finally got the upgrades to the Garden of Remembrance at West Lea Cemetery done and the new QE11 Memorial Path. It’s taken some time but finally we have something we can all be proud of. It’s about tackling a problem by bringing in the right team, trusting them and letting them do what they do best! This new QE11 Memorial Arch has some underlying significance to Bedlington. Firstly I make all my ‘stuff’ in metal as homage to the world famous Bedlington Iron Works 1736-1867. Secondly if you look you will see the arch is outlined by two tubular bars or rails across its length. These pay tribute to John Birkenshaw who invented the malleable steel rails the world came to use for rail tracks. Previously they were made from wrought iron which was too small and too fragile for that use being only 3 feet long Birkenshaw’s were 19 feet long by comparison and incidentally the first rail lines laid in Russia! Next we come to the steam train. Not just any steam train but a scaled version of the De Arned which was the first steam train exported to Holland built in Bedlington. It’s the one I used for the gateway feature at Attlee Park, after getting permission from the national Dutch railway museum to use their full sized replica as a template . We also built the Bayard steam train which went to Italy as well as a host of other steam trains. Interestingly a Bedlington steam train boiler is reputedly in the Smithsonian in America. Of course we couldn’t miss out the world famous Bedlington Terrier which originated here. Originally bred to hunt badgers and game. Again that’s what I used to develop the seats we make which are scattered around the Town and the large one which is the southern gateway feature coming into the Town. When I did that one it caused a bit of consternation amongst some locals but I said people will come from all over to have their picture taken next to it and they have, as far away as Australia and Canada! Lastly we see a rose and it’s not just attributed to Queen Elizabeth as the quintessential English rose. This also represents the Bedlington Rose, a variety specifically developed for Wansbeck District Council but which has now all but disappeared. In fact the last bed I know of is in Bedlington so I’m calling it the Bedlington Rose! The pathway itself which we can walk on to see the rest of the installation was actually quite overgrown with weeds and vegetation along both sides. You couldn’t even see the stone wall for large stretches and the single track was just what walkers had flattened down. It was scraped back, treated, hard-core laid and then fine gravel so we now have a much wider usable path. All in all a fitting tribute to our late Queen. The Garden of Remembrance was somewhere I have wanted to sort out for some time. Previously it was encompassed with overgrown hedging, broken paving, burnt out litter bin and a broken seat. A dark and dingy place which was really just used for nefarious activities. We now have an open aspect, new hooped metal fencing, new entrance arch (which by the way transforms at certain times of the day from the black arch we see into a shining golden arch!), new bespoke seats, new tarmacked surface, new retaining walls, a bust of Queen Elizabeth mounted on a sandstone memorial plinth and fantastic new planting at the back end. Thanks go to: Firstly thanks have to go to the Leader of NCC who must have become that sick of my constant arguing for a QE11 Memorial scheme for Bedlington that he told me to go away and come up with a scheme and he would consider it. So I did just that! After coming up with some designs and ideas I went and saw Chris and Mike at Barrington Metal Works because they turn my very rough drafts and ideas into workable and deliverable products. Not only that they also took on the installation works for much of it. Next I had to get permission off the cemetery management officers. Tony and Stephen agreed and Stephen even suggested expanding on my initial ideas for the Garden of Remembrance so we might get the back path done at the same time. He also sorted out the planting and the main preparation works so huge thanks to him and the lads who did the work. Also thanks to the Friends of West Lea Cemetery group who made a significant contribution to the planting scheme. Of course things don’t go smoothly but with a sustained effort and everyone pulling together we managed to pull the whole project off. https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/restoration-bedlingtons-garden-remembrance-hailed-30705914?fbclid=IwY2xjawHl3MRleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHZ81xblU3F1xe3CqBHdvb2mB3-pLqjYk-MffOsMbtONDKW9x3z4MAL8SrA_aem_chW2-l6eCHTfTri_-CTn3w

In my ‘historical factoids’ series, I mentioned being told Bedlington doesn’t warrant any major investment. I’ve been trying to figure out where I saw that being justified and I’ve just been reminded of this beauty! So a deep dive and analysis into Northumberland High Streets up and down the County and we see this as an assessment for Bedlington. This was 2011 and while times have changed, indeed high streets up and down the country have changed dramatically; we can see one of the things being used to justify our continued lack of investment from one administration after another over the years. I’ll leave readers to draw their own conclusions………

Local Area Councils (LACs) Had our LAC last night and I raised questions about Fix My Street, the impending NCC budget and what exactly are the “‘innovative solutions for library facilities in Bedlington?” Back in 2016 when the current administration took over at NCC they decided they wanted LAC meetings instead of the old Area Meetings. The old Area meetings were held once a month at different venues with the North, West and South/East each having their own version. We were in with Ashington, Blyth Cramlington etc. and I recall even going to Lynmouth a few times for meetings. As a member of the public I attended just about all of these along with a couple of friends and we were able to speak directly to high ranking NCC officers as well as the main local political players. The new administration decided they wanted Local Area Councils instead and we were put in with Cramlington and Seaton Valley. The Sleekburn ward was put in with Ashington/ Blyth and that caused some consternation at the time. These new constructs were to have decision making powers and budgets over localised issues as well as some regeneration issues and budgets. Given that and the fact that for once we weren’t going to be under Ashington meant I was all for them! I was called out for ‘allowing Bedlington to be broken up’ but in reality that had already happened with the creation of the 3 parish councils and Area meetings were just talking shops anyway with very limited relevance, as anyone who attended them would know! What has transpired was what I said last night. Basically we were sold a pup and the LAC’s have never had any decision making powers, other than a few planning applications, and they have never had budgets! As well as those little matters to think about they don’t really have any democratic legitimacy so what we get are endless presentations to note! I get wrong for saying ours is more akin to a Cramlington Town Council meeting give their never-ending presentations and even though I do make myself heard at these meetings I haven’t changed my mind! When rebuked for what I was saying last night I pointed out the public gallery…….not a single person had sat through the whole meeting, and quite a few councillors had joined them too, heading for the door! So as they are, I consider them basically irrelevant, apart from some local interest presentations and I have suggested they become much more public friendly and forward facing and embrace that as a way forward. No doubt we will see a public consultation about them soon enough…………

I have always believed we need to allow our youngsters to have a voice and we should listen to what they have to say. That means they need to be aware of what’s going on so they can make informed decisions. Back in the 90’s I asked the ones hanging around the market place what they wanted and they told me just somewhere safe, warm and somewhere they could call their own. Didn’t sound unreasonable to me so I took that message to the District Council through the then Town Forum meetings. Like so many other Bedlington orientated requests it fell on deaf ears! When I became a town councillor and eventually chair of the Town Council I wanted to include our youngsters and even tried to set up a youth council as part of the Town Council so their voice could be heard. I also did sessions with some of youngsters trying to explain how the various councils work and which one did which service delivery. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hKIe2Z19V8 When I became a County Councillor I took some up to County Hall as part of Democracy week so they could have first-hand experience of what went on up there. I have always tried to include our youngsters and get something for them. Now they, as well as others, have had a huge toll taken during Covid so it’s even more essential to do right by them! The first battle on that front I won and we will soon see the new PlayZone soon at West Lea. Lots more needed in that particular war of course!

It’s not been all doom and gloom of course there are some enjoyable things to mention. I worked with the group that put on the Bedlington Street Fair back in the 1990’s and that was really successful with everyone saying how much they enjoyed it. For whatever reason that stopped in the early 2000’s and when I became chair of the Town Council it was something I wanted to bring back into the annual calendar for the Town. I think I got a budget of around d £15K and promised to get it sorted. Again working with some great people we managed not only to bring it in under budget but the income it produced by selling space to the venders meant I could put on other events like an enhanced Xmas light switch on, dog show and support the revamped Bedlington Picnic. 2015 was the first year we did it and it was a huge success. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ubqxpn9AZY The following year we wanted to enlarge it and made it a two day event 2015 had been a great event, 2016 was going to be even better! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRRuL85jzDM The new Bedlington Picnic was held at Attlee Park and the kiddies especially enjoyed that one. We held the dog show at one end of the 20 Acres and we had dogs from all over being entered into the competitions. After being elected to the County Council I wanted to use Plessey Woods Country Park for some events, just to get people down there and show them what a great facility we have on our doorstep. The first one was a classical…… https://www.facebook.com/100057586923534/videos/594982757700108 https://www.facebook.com/100057586923534/videos/430688474219411 Then it was a Superhero’s one for the Kids……… https://www.facebook.com/100057586923534/videos/808093089689613 I even pulled one off for the Queens Platinum Jubilee Day, this was a part of it……..even raffling Pooh Bear to give to our foodbanks. https://www.facebook.com/100057586923534/videos/313350500979595 https://www.facebook.com/100057586923534/videos/1202791570523818 https://www.facebook.com/100057586923534/videos/2045314589000041 Even the little ones got in on the act…………. https://www.facebook.com/100057586923534/videos/713038763272309 We even did a Santa Tour just before Xmas… https://www.facebook.com/100057586923534/videos/3985970814767804 So some of the stuff we have seen over the last few years.

The sorry saga of the Hartford Hall gates. These Grade 11* listed gates were made by the world leading makers Coalbrookdale for the Vienna Exhibition in 1873 to demonstrate their craftsmanship. Anecdotally I was told you can even see the fingerprints on the cast hands included in the design of these gates, a feat which cannot be reproduced even today! It was agreed as part of the renovations to Hartford Hall that these gates would be renovated and English Heritage became involved. They even gave a grant towards the renovations and insisted there was only one place in England that could be trusted with this significant renovation project. The gates were dismantled and shipped off to the specialist down in Yorkshire. Things now take a turn for the worse! During the renovation project the developer went bust and the Administrator was called in. The Administrator sequestered all monies in the account including the grant funding for these gates and paid out debtors of the company. So the money disappeared and the gates which had been started were now left languishing somewhere in Yorkshire. There were many calls for their reinstatement and I decided to do a bit of digging myself. I found out where they had been shipped off to and rang the company up to find out what was going on. I was told there was an outstanding bill for work done, about 1/3rd, and until that was paid the gates remained, never mind about getting them finished. After making more ‘noises’ about them over the next few years and a BBC Inside Blog about them I found out they had been moved and were actually in the old fire station at Morpeth. So I presumed that part bill had been paid and moves were afoot to get them sorted? Asking about them now and I was told they had been moved again, where I wasn’t allowed to know, but moves were afoot to get something done with them. I persisted and eventually I received a phone call to tell me they were in the possession of NCC (good) they would be renovated (great) they would probably be encased in glass or plastic to stop any further degeneration (great) and would be on public display (great!). There was even a cost estimate of around £500K and I was asked to help find that money. I agreed but then asked where exactly would they be displayed, even suggesting several places in Bedlington where I thought they might work. I was told they had to be displayed in…….Ashington? Ehhh! Why was never explained and after a lengthy heated argument I said I wouldn’t be helping them to see them end up in Ashington, which I felt would be yet another slap in the face for Bedlington! So that’s the tale of woe yet again but as far as I know NCC have them stashed somewhere and that £500K estimate could well be in excess of £750K now, never mind where they might end up! (As an addendum to this one.........The Gates are now in safe storage in a NCC depot where they are being kept as dry and moisture proof as possible. )

Back in the early 1990’s Northumberland County Council came up with an idea to regenerate the dilapidate Hartford Hall. This was well before it became a residential area. The idea was to turn some of it into the clubhouse for the Wansbeck District Council owned Golf Club (at that time it was 100% owned by WDC), build some into a hotel complex and the main part into a Regional sporting rehabilitation centre. It was previously used by the Coal Board as a recuperation centre. I went along to one of the meetings to hear what the plans were and asked a question that had been bothering me for some time. “Will this mean we get a sign post on the A1, the main vehicular arterial route through the county, to Bedlington?” The answer, NO Bedlington isn’t seen as a destination Town. I asked what on earth was it seen as then? “It’s seen as just somewhere you pass through to get to somewhere else.” I don’t think that thought process has changed to this day! Hartford Hall was to be a £20M investment by NCC and they even wanted to give themselves planning permission to do it. That fell foul of the planning Laws and they were told they couldn’t do that! The ill thought out plan fell to bits after that in pretty short order, especially when the Golf Club members said they were against it and wanted their clubhouse to remain where it is. So NCC, who were in for about £1.5M at that time, not including any officer time, sold to to a developer for about £2M and claimed they had made a profit on the whole transaction! What happened next robbed us of one of the most important bits of Bedlington Heritage namely the Hartford Hall gates!

One enduring question, and I’ve asked it many many times myself, why has the needs of Bedlington been ignored for so long? First under Wansbeck District Council and then latterly under Northumberland County Council. I don’t know the answer and I’ve never had that question answered, but we can delve a little under various blankets. Back in the day we had Bedlingtonshire Urban District Council. A council many look back on fondly for one reason or another but principally because we were in charge of our own affairs. We then had the Local government Act 1972 and in 1974 Ashington, Bedlington and Newbiggin became Wansbeck District Council. I was told that BUDC was given a choice to go that way or form one with Cramlington, an emerging newish Town at the time with huge commercial infrastructure. I know which way I would have gone! So again by word of mouth by people there at the time, one of the first decisions made by WDC was to make Ashington the ceremonial and commercial head of this new entity. By that very act I would argue it relegated Bedlington into at best second place if not third place in the pecking order of WDC! As far as I could see that continued throughout the life of WDC, the council that was once described as “making decisions in smoke filled rooms behind closed doors!” We then again had the structural changes to local government in 2009 which saw the creation of Northumberland County Council as a Unitary Authority and I’ve already written a piece about that. As I said at the time, playing third fiddle under Wansbeck District Council would seem a pipe dream now as so many other towns and villages were added to the list to compete with. I now have to delve into the heady world of politics in search of the answer. We saw WDC 100% controlled by a single political party. As I have already written about some of the decisions they made were unbelievable to me! I think out of 42 councillors there 19 were from Bedlingtonshire. I even said to one or two if you get your act together you could force WDC to invest this side of the Stakeford Bridge, you have nearly 50% of the votes so it wouldn’t take much to push something through. I was laughed at and told it didn’t work like that. Took some time to find out how it did work and as far as I could see it was about furthering the interests of a political party not the people who they were supposed to be working for. That is the same across all political parties BTW and anyone can see it time and time again when their ethereal Whips impose control on voting. The voting patterns in Bedlington were taken for granted and so why give yourself work when the elections were a forgone conclusion. Ramping that up to a county level and we saw the same and I see it at just about every full council meeting to this day. That’s a cycle we have to break and we made a good start by electing some independent councillors which believe me sent ripples throughout the political establishment! Just to demonstrate, and it’s plain to see, at most if not all major NCC meetings it’s the independent councillors asking the really ‘difficult’ questions. As far as I can see the only way to get decisions based on merit instead of political expediency is to elect more independent councillors, at least we can vote with our conscience instead of being told how to vote on certain issues! I now want to look at budgets and how they work. The council has, by law, to pass an annual balanced budget so if we see schemes included, like for the sake of argument the Bedlington Regeneration funding, which fail to get started in a year that funding is basically lost. There are options to keep it but essentially 99% of funding which falls into this category is lost. So we saw funding allocated to Bedlington of between £6-£12M over about 3 budgets. Each time failure to realise that project meant the funding was lost, that’s why it had to be reinserted into the next year’s budget. Covid finally stopped any major funding for Bedlington being included and by major I mean 10’s of millions. Bearing in mind that something approaching 90% of the NCC budget goes into the social side of things like adult and young people’s services, and with a large county like ours where towns up and down are equally screaming for investment it’s not hard to see pressures building up. It is easy to see why external funding for various projects is so necessary for NCC, like Levelling up funding, High Street funding, Borderlands etc. Whilst I understand the constraints I still cannot excuse the fact that Bedlington is only included in the smallest pot! That’s seems to me to be a mixture of political pressure and easy options. There are a few of my thoughts, if anyone can give me a definitive answer please do!

I’ve been asked about the Bedlingtonshire Development Trust and how it came about……so here goes. (Sorry this is going to be a long one…….) As a member of the public I had started to take an interest in local politics, even just to see why the needs of Bedlington had been ignored for so many years, and had been told to look at forming a Development Trust if I wanted to be proactive. I went around each of the 3 local councils in Bedlingtonshire asking if they would be supportive, thinking a partnership approach would be the best way to go. Each said NO, not interested! That didn’t put me off. I was doing the research when NCC closed our community centre in, as they claimed, a cost cutting exercise. I knew a vehicle like a Development Trust could apply through the council’s asset transfer policy to take it over as other trusts had done with many other redundant buildings up and down the county. I was given the criteria for such a bid and went about putting a Trust board together. The main crux of what we needed to do was to submit a fully costed business plan so that’s what I did. The Trust was the only group who held an inspection of the building to ascertain the cost of repairs it needed. There had been no money spent of maintenance for years under Wansbeck District Council and even less under NCC, and when I saw the books they were even worse! I used this to negotiate a sum of money that would come with the building to see to its much needed repairs. Even the main electrical conduit into the building needed to be replaced, that should give some indication just how badly neglected it was. After quite some weeks of intense collaborative work I eventually produced a professional 21 page business plan which was submitted on the day all these bids had to be in. There were 3 interested parties and I had meetings with them asking if we could do this as a partnership. One said no way, that was the Lib Dem controlled Town Council, and the other said yes because they just wanted a very limited use which I was happy to agree. The bids were in and judged by the Lib Dem NCC Administration at County Hall. The Lib Dem controlled Town Council were awarded the community centre. Fair enough but as some of the details came out I was stunned! They had settled on considerably less than what I had negotiated for, regarding repairs to the building and hadn’t even submitted a business plan? It seems the Lib Dem Administration at County Hall, where the chair of our Town Council was secretary and so included in this meeting, had somehow judged the bids even though there had only been one joint one and awarded the centre to a group that hadn’t even taken part in the process? I was then summoned to a meeting with the Mayor and his deputy. I asked a colleague to come along as a witness because by now I was weary to say the least! The Mayor told me to hand over the business plan I had done because he had been told it was excellent. I couldn’t believe my ears I could only look at my colleague as he looked at me aghast. I quickly realised these people just didn’t have a clue; they had done no prep work, no research and had no costings for things like new heating systems etc. We walked away shaking our heads after replying, “No, you roll your plans out now!” So we had a fully functioning Trust with nothing to do might as well put it to work! As I’ve already reported we worked with an NCC officer to get the sports pavilion down at Gallagher Park. Next up was some self-promotion and this one was entered into an award by a large European Bank and made the last 10 before I had to cut it for exceptional reasons! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqecpk6LpFk We were also working on a sports hall at Meadowdale School area with Bedlington Forum. We even got the feasibility money for it off a part of NCC, but just as we were about to pull the trigger and commission a national group to come in and pull it together we were told NCC would double to money but it had to include the whole of Bedlington, not just the Top End. We agreed and that was commissioned, little did we know what effect the proposed new school at Bedlington Station would have. A full professional report was produced after interviewing local sports groups, potential sports groups, councillors, NCC etc. and the conclusion……..”Whilst new sporting provision is needed in Bedlington we can’t ignore a £20M new school at Bedlington Station which will have a full range of up to date sporting provision. The best outcome would be to make sure these facilities are available for the community to use”. Course that £20M actually turned into nearly £10M and one of the first things to get the chop…….the big new multi-use sports centre and pitches! A much reduced offer was eventually built which spectacularly failed to meet any of our expectations. The Trust worked closely with Leading Link and again the first thing was sporting facilities: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8qunOuVvCQ We also successfully applied for a Heritage grant to demonstrate our rich history. The project attracted a lot of praise off the Heritage people and we had to go down to Manchester and were applauded as one of the best projects of this kind in the country. We built an interactive trailer which was then ‘decorated’ with images of Bedlington history as well as thigs to do and Leading Link took it around the local schools explaining what each bit was about. We held a ‘junior’ Bedlington Picnic Day as well as producing some excellent videos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz6A9NLArEI What Bedlington’s about and where might it go………(We can dream!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtUAN4UKRhU Bedlington’s mining heritage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EZf2LS_vlc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6i461yrGFA The Development Trust was asked to intervene time and time again in various issues. The Olympic Torch was coming to the county as part of the London 2012 Olympic games and guess where wasn’t listed as one of the Towns for it to go through, as per! Some pretty heated exchanges followed! I was eventually allowed to make a presentation, at Blyth, to the UK Sports Association guys overseeing this and set to work with Lyn Horton from Leading Link and Richard Wearmouth from the Salvation Army putting together the necessary event/safety plans etc. These national agency guys couldn’t have been more supportive and even squashed some of the stuff our local council raised! The day wasn’t the best as far as the weather went but over 5000 people lined our Front Street to watch the Torch pass through our Town! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF9ZP8jOcy4 I was then asked to help with a little project for some of our disabled seniors. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S46ShD4M2wM The Trust also put on some entertainment for our seniors in the Salvation Army as well as getting the funding to help Mind Active purchased a bit of expensive equipment they had been after for some time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka-fhVgjXTs The Trust was by now working closely with several local charitable groups in fact the only ones that wouldn’t work with us were the ones with some councillor members! Several more projects followed but then I decided to stand for council and as I could see a clear prejudicial interest I resigned my Trust board membership. I would like to thank past and serving officers of the Trust for the support they always give to our Town. I was especially grateful when they gave so much to our struggling foodbanks, way before any group thought about doing that. Here is a radio snippet where I try and explain what the Development Trust is about. https://bedlington.uk/.../malcolm-robinson.../ Funnily enough, just as a post script, East Bedlington Parish Council have formed their own Development Trust very recently. Seems the circle has come right around…………….

I’ve been asked how the Gateway features came about? I’ll answer that along with the other things of the same ilk. I had started the Development Trust, as a private individual, when we tried to take over the Community Centre when the Lib Dem Administration at County Hall said they wanted rid of it. That tale in itself might be worth its own Factoid! Anyway we had a Development Trust and I thought why not put it to good use, even after not been able to take on the Community Centre. Like it or not Bedlington is world famous for its dogs so there seemed to me to be a USP at our disposal. Looking at Terrier designs I thought these would make great seats so I set about a design and a model to make sure they would work. Then I had to find the funding to make a prototype and did a Dragons Den type thing to get that. Its actually the 10 year anniversary for these seats! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1ahZtXCx6o Then the unveiling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXBiT_B6OKc So I then had a seat and set about selling them to make money for the Development Trust. The seats we made had to be of a commercial quality so I could sell them to the likes of NCC etc. All the monies that we raised were handed over to the Salvation Army to pay for Xmas lunches for our seniors. In fact during Covid the Trust handed over most of any funding they had left for the foodbanks! I was then elected to the Town Council and at a meeting I had proposed doing some Gateway Features for the town because one of the main responsibilities for a Town Council is promotion. The ruling Labour group came up with an idea to have a pile of bricks and tiles as a feature while I proposed using our long history to find 4 features which identified with the town and install them at each of the four main roads into Bedlington. Again I was given that project to run to shut me up probably! Anyway I came up with our Coat of Arms, a Bedlington Terrier, St Cuthbert’s cross and the De Arnaud steam train, made in Bedlington and shipped out to Holland as their first locomotive. Lots of hassle but eventually I got these as the project. I even spoke to the director of the national train museum in Holland because they have a working replica of the De Arnaud and I wanted the exact dimensions so I could replicate it at scale. Also I had to do some detective work to find our ‘lost’ coat of arms but eventually speaking to the old BUDC engineer he had the plates! Now having the four designs I enlisted the help of the metal work guys to make them and fit them in place and what an excellent job they made! I use iron (Steel) as a nod to the famous Bedlington Iron Works of the past. I also wrote up brief histories on each to put in lecterns at each site so everyone would be aware of why these are there. There are some interesting stories attached to each really, especially the coat of arms. My tenure at the Town Council ended and these were never done. So we have the Terrier seats and now the Gateway Features you see around the Town. The large Terrier down at the bottom of Hartford Road is, as I predicted at the time, a famous stop off point for Terrier owners from all over the world so they can get their picture taken. With West Lea Cemetery being a Commonwealth War Graves site and as I was now the local councillor for it, I commissioned the anniversary commemorative plaque for the right-hand side of the entrance gate. After Covid I commissioned the ‘Thank You’ plaque at the other side. Both in metal and each quite obviously telling their own story. There are more designs coming but I’ll leave that for another day!

Good to see the new PlayZone at West Lea getting a mention and still shenanigans behind that! I was contacted by a friend who told me about these PlayZones and the fact that Northumberland were to get 12. No one seemed to know about this Sport England project. When I looked into it I was dismayed but not entirely shocked to see Bedlington wasn’t down to get one. I found out who was in charge and got on the phone! I was told I would need to satisfy a load of conditions to get us included. I got a list of those conditions and went through them one by one bringing in user groups, management group, community consultation and land ownership. The next phone call was met with stunned silence for a while but eventually we were taken seriously and not only did we become included in the Playzone project, because of the work I had done, we became the leading site for the first of these PlayZones. Have to say I couldn’t have done this myself without the help of people who were as fired up as I was about it and could see the potential, so many thinks for all the help. I think the officers were pleasantly surprised too with all this community buy in and the fact that whatever problems they threw our way were overcome. We have had to do specific interviews and eventually held a public consultation at Netherton Club. Next I was told the other Bedlington Councillors would have to back it, why Im not really sure because until that point no one else had been involved. Anyway a meeting was pulled together and other officers who were in charge of the likes of playing fields and green spaces attended. I sat at that meeting and said nothing for about 15 minutes while others said they wanted this in their wards, must have thought it was an early Xmas present. The suggestions were Gallagher Park, Dr Pit Park and the Town Centre. I was a bit taken aback given all the work I and others had put in, but hey ho. I was eventually ask what my feelings were as I had played no part in this meeting so far. I said I will explain why West Lea is the only place its going! Gallagher Park, I asked the officers who oversee it if they were going to do the work and put up the finance needed, they said no they couldn’t, strike one! Dr Pit Park, I said we all know the problems down there and this wouldn’t last 5 minutes, strike two! Town Centre, I said if this does go to the Town Centre Im walking away because this will be seen as the NCC contribution to the whole of Bedlington as far as leisure provision goes and while other Towns around see £20 odd million new sports centres we get £200K. It will be a PR disaster, strike three! The only one that stacks up and has done any work on the project, by the way, is my proposal for West Lea! One of the councillors said he would back my proposal if I backed his call for him getting the next one. I replied saying that is the difference between us, if this was your proposal I would be backing you unequivocally for the simple reason that it’s a substantial amount of funding coming into leisure provision in Bedlington! So West Lea it is! Now I have to say this is around £250K’s worth of investment into a fairly small scale leisure project but welcomed none the less. Should be getting started early in the New Year and hopefully opened for Easter. The planning permission has gone in. I’m even happier to see the likes of Ladies Netball getting behind it as future users. It’s about getting a bit of provision for the likes of new and underrepresented groups to use and enjoy so if anyone wants to start up a sporting group, say tennis, basketball etc. please get in touch. There is football provision already and I hope to see ladies soccer as well as youth soccer development working there and I’m sure there will be given the people behind that. (If anyone wants to start an over 50’s walking football club I’m up for it!)