Blyth Town Square Is it a ‘village grey’?

 

Have you walked across Blyth’s Town Square and Market Place over the last twenty years?

Have you attended events and entertainment put on by the former Blyth Borough Council, Blyth Town Council possibly the civic switch on of the xmas lights or the Town summer carnival, or Northumberland County Council such as the military Freedom of the County or either of the Tour of Britain cycle events etc.,

If you have, you may know and begin to realise that this Town and market square is currently ‘public open space’ which is about to be built over, a decision taken by Northumberland Conservatives to develop a 3 mini cinema rooms and two training rooms building in Northumberland’s most deprived town, according to a recently released report from Northumberland County Council. 

This development is scheduled to take place at a historical time period when even Children in Need couldn’t raise anywhere near their target income this year and cinemas are crying out for help from Government as the nation enters an expected long term recession and income reduction period with stealth taxes and higher Council tax filling the headlines of the mainstream media.

The town square and market place in its current form was sponsored by ONE NORTH EAST and was bought out from two private owners at great expense using European Regeneration cash during financial year 2004-5, and altered to suit their ONE NE’s plans during 2006 and may have covenants embedded into the sales by the well heeled families of the former owners.

The laws to alter and build on areas which have used Euro funding normally don’t allow land to be developed further for a minimum of a 10 year period after the funding date. Even though we have had Brexit and a promise of removal of Euro laws by Prime Minister Sunak the law covering public open spaces and rights of way may be very difficult to alter as they appear to include village greens and historical rights of access and Tory backbench MP’s and Councillors will be quaking in their boots knowing that they could be facing time claiming Universal Credit if the wheels come off these changes and either are affected by our prime ministers wish to appease his parties right wingers.

The realisation of this development and its access minimisation may bring ramblers and walkers who register these things to pay a visit to Blyth and as its being developed to build a business that doesn’t seem to have a profitable future and which may force a volunteer run cinema at the Phoenix theatre a few hundred yards away out of business we all need to know what Conservative levelling up is all about?

https://www.bedeacademy.org.uk/public-consultation-24-november-2022/