Newbiggin by the Sea a Priority in Borderlands Place Plan
Newbiggin by the Sea Town Council was briefed on Borderlands Place Plans in a meeting with the Northumberland County Council regeneration team on Wednesday 22nd September along side County Councillors Jim Lang and Elizabeth Simpson. Together we were set the task of identifying potential stakeholders to form the Newbiggin Borderland Place Plan Board. The governance elements of establishing the board will take place throughout the remainder of 2021 with community consultation commencing in 2022.
The Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal (BIGD) was formally signed on 18th March 2021. This represents up to £452million of fresh investment to the Borderlands area which consists of Carlisle, Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway, Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. .
The Deal is described as truly distinctive, covering the largest geographical area of any regional growth Deal negotiated with the UK and Scottish Governments. It is also the first cross-border deal.
The Deal commits £50 million (£30m in England and £20m in Scotland) to the delivery of a Borderlands Place Programme. In order to draw down funding from the BIGD, Northumberland County Council has identified and approved seven priority towns that have a clear need for intervention and the greatest potential for funding eligibility. Newbiggin by the Sea is one of the seven towns identified. Others are: Alnwick, Bedlington, Haltwhistle, Prudhoe, Rothbury and Bellingham.
Each town prioritised will be supported to develop a Place Plan. The journey necessary to produce an effective Place Plan is lengthy an it could take up to 10 years to deliver.
Five core principles underpin the design and delivery of the Place Programme:
● Place-based: Assessing investment needs and solutions for each place on its own terms: what the
place wants to be in the future, what it needs, and what it offers.
● Collective: Looking at the contribution of each part to the whole: the added value to the place, the
area, the region, and the country.
● Systemic: Bringing public, private, third sector, and community assets together as part of a single,
integrated system supporting communities, services and the economy.
● Community-led: Putting communities at the heart of decisions about the solutions that the Place
Programme brings to the challenges facing their towns and town centres.
● Prevention and future proofing: Investment and action directed towards preventing further
deterioration in our towns and town centres.
