Bus shelter for Medburn

Medburn village is now to have a bus shelter.  This will be placed at the bus stop near to The Avenue and will replace the Parish Council Notice board which will now be incorporated into the shelter. Councillor Veronica Jones has been able to find the funding for the shelter via the Council's Small scheme's allowance.
By Councillor Veronica Jones

Ponteland Will Oppose Parking Charges

Bringing in car parking charges for public spaces in Ponteland would do much more harm than good claims its Town councillors.
A number of members said charges would be inappropriate for the area when discussing Northumberland County Council's questionnaire on the subject.

People can currently stop in Ponteland's public car parks without paying and this is also the case with towns in Blyth Valley and Wansbeck.

But motorists are faced with charges when they park in other towns such as Morpeth, Alnwick, Hexham and Berwick.

Coun Irene Brumwell said: "If parking charges are brought in, Ponteland will bleed out as people will ignore it and do all their shopping in other places such as Kingston Park.

"If there are any moves to make people pay here, we must do all we can to oppose them."

Fellow member Joyce Butcher said that paying to park would mean fewer people going to shop at the proposed new Merton Way shopping centre.

The questionnaire is the first step in the County Council's review of car parking across Northumberland that aims to establish a single framework for all parking facilities it owns or manages, with local conditions in each area to be considered objectively.

Coun Alan Chilton expressed his hope that charges will not be the same throughout the County.

"Each place that has public car parks should be valued on its own merits," he said.

"Other towns may need charges to reduce congestion but that is not needed here, so forcing people to pay would be done purely to bring in money."

Ponteland Mayor Robin Ramsay said the response will need to be carefully thought through as the questionnaire deals with issues — including ways to free up public spaces that are used by business owners and workers who don't have their own spaces such as short-term stay car parks — which it may want to support.

But he added: "Whilst it talks about a consistent approach when it comes to car parking management, we can still say to the County Council that charging in Ponteland would be inappropriate."
The response to the questionnaire will be discussed by its Highways Working Group.

A second phase of public consultation across Northumberland will take place once a County-wide policy has been drafted.

Source: Morpeth Herald

Ponteland to give Community Forum a go

DESPITE a claim that the County Council's community forums plan is 'rubbish', Ponteland councillors will look into setting one up.
After reading documents detailing the new local structure when a Northumberland unitary authority replaces the existing County Council and six district councils, Ponteland Town Council Chairman Robin Ramsay presented his thoughts to members.

A community forum, which can be made up of local residents and members of businesses and organisations as well as Council representatives, will have a remit to come up with ideas and action plans for its area.

But Coun John Worth said: "We are a big town council and we should say to the County Council that these plans are a load of rubbish, they are too rushed and the Council should go back and re-think them. "We must stand up for ourselves and not let the unitary Council ride roughshod over us. "He also said he was not happy that non-elected people could be making decisions for Ponteland, when they can approach the Town Council to put forward their views.

Coun Ramsay said any forum set-up would only make suggestions that would need the approval of the Town Council, but he spoke of his concerns about how they will work, as they will be tied in with the Northumberland Strategic Partnership and area committees as well. "How this system will not produce chaos early on I don't know," he said. "But to be fair, I think the County Council is going to 'suck it and see' to start with and then decide if any changes are needed. "We have options to choose from in terms of forum membership and meetings, as they won't be the same everywhere, so we need to hold meetings with interested parties to discuss these issues and a way forward. "The other members agreed to this and Coun Peter Charleton said there were positive aspects of having a community forum. "The forum would have more public involvement and this would benefit Ponteland as these people have more expertise than we have in some areas, " he said.

Source: Morpeth Herald