Malcolm Robinson Bedlington West Ward.

12/10/2026

If anyone wants to look through here and see the proposed land availability for Housing and Employment as well as policies towards those here it is.

https://www.northumberland.gov.uk/planning-and-building/planning/planning-policy-and-local-plan/studies-evidence-reports-and-guidance?fbclid=IwY2xjawU5ogBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABwZG9mAWJyaWQRMExFS3dNSW1Qa2dKVTlpTVBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeP92aQtTb3ezvqndIgnju4hzEz5rgxe8J4XsT9FbSTB-f8fM3xuQ2tY9aCnI_aem_TceZ60lRUqHY13-8uvKCgA

The buff colouring is the proposed housing land availability.

This is not to say that’s what happens only that these areas are the suggestions.

This is why I keep asking people to get on board with the new Local Plan and Neighbourhood plan consultations!

10/10/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19cCqGEAdt/?mibextid=wwXIfr

09/10/2026

If anyone wants to wach the SPC earlier this week about the new school for Berwick...........

Don't take any notice of the oaf chairing it! 🤣

Meeting of Strategic Planning Committee on Tuesday 6 October at 4pm...

08/10/2026

One thing that did come up but couldn’t be answered were the proposals for all the new housing.

I haven’t been told officially yet but the Town Council were notified about the 1250 proposed for around the Longridge Farm development and Broadoaks and there was supposed to be a presentation yesterday off Taylor Wimpy about their proposal for around 300 around Red House Farm and West Lea.

That presentation was postponed until the end of the month I believe.

The ‘settlement boundary’ around the Town used to protect all that ‘green space’ but the Government have changed the rules.

In the deliberations I am involved in about the upcoming NCC Local Plan refresh, where the likes of new housing sites are identified, I keep insisting any major housing developments have to take into account increased social infrastructure, such as doctors, dentists etc. and even recreational facilities!

If the Government have decided we can’t stop a massive influx of new housing then we have to be canny and get as much as we can by way of community infrastructure payback!

As far as I can see services are being stretched to breaking point trying to accommodate what we have now never mind up to 2000 new houses, and that’s just in my West Bedlington ward!

If some places are crying out for new houses, and there are some, lets look at those first to make a dent in the 34,000+ new housing sites the Government have dictated Northumberland to find.

08/10/2026

Good to see so many people at the community partnership meeting last night and great to finally put faces to names!

Some formalities to go through but then being able to introduce residents to the various officers who they needed to speak to and explain what was what, was the order of the night.

At previous meetings I was pretty cynical because they had prescribed agendas which bore little relationship to what people wanted to know about. At the last one, which as usual I called an extension of Cramlington Town Council, I was challenged to hold the next one in Bedlington and make it relevant!

Normally these meetings attract about 3 members of the public, and two of them are friends of mine, last night we had probably over 150 members of the public and there was standing room only in the large upstairs room in the community centre.

Hopefully most people had their concerns aired and some were taken away for written answers. Others have promises of further action.

I hope everyone got to see the plans for Bedlington which are included in the Borderlands programme, what’s being built by Advance, plans for the Library service, talking to NCC Highways and the Police.

Lots of work has come out of it but isn’t that what listening to the public is all about?

07/10/2026

Hi all ,we have available places in our younger group due to a few of our children moving up to the older group 1 .
Group 2 is for younger children and it’s not all about football it’s somewhere they can just be themselves without any judgement and being part of a team and have a fun time .
So if your child or someone you know could benefit from our group please get in touch .

07/10/2026

Not sure what to say about this one!

As some people know I was an advocate for rolling the Mobile Response teams out across the whole county but it would seem they are little used and it’s unfair for one small area to have this service while other areas don’t?

That’s quite different to what I am being told off my residents who use this service!

I do understand NCC need to save money, primarily because central government have taken away so much funding, but its where and how we save it that defines our tenure.

I stood for election to NCC because I wanted to improve things for residents not see, what some would say essential services, taken away! I think most members do.
I would also question ‘it’s unfair for one part of the county to have something other parts of the county don’t’, if that’s the case when are the leisure centres getting closed because last time I looked we didn’t have one in Bedlington, the 4th largest market town in the county!

I feel there are so many inaccuracies with this that it actually underplays the essential part of the Telecare service, i.e. the mobile response part.
Basically what was have now is a ‘telephone’ only service.

06/10/2026