Full Council agreed the £7.5m council share of the £36m Maltings rebuild on 4 November. Work starts at the end of November and the venue is due in spring 2029.

The money is now in place to rebuild the Maltings in Berwick. Work on Eastern Lane is due to start at the end of November, and the new venue should open in spring 2029.

Northumberland County Council’s Full Council agreed a revised contribution of £7.5m on Wednesday 4 November. That covers the council’s share of the £36m scheme. The Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal board had already agreed a revised grant of £28.5m.

The council announced the decision the same day (Funding finalised for Berwick’s Maltings as work set to start). The formal decision notice for the meeting had not been published when we checked on 8 November.

We reported in October how the cost rose from £28.3m to £36.0m, and why (Berwick Maltings £36m rebuild). Full Council’s vote was the last step. The £7.5m includes the £2.625m of extra borrowing that Cabinet recommended in October.

What happens and when

  • Before Christmas: preliminary construction work. The council says the contractor will keep disruption down in the run-up to Christmas.
  • New Year: the main building work starts.
  • Spring 2029: the venue is due to open, on a two-year build.

The council says only a limited number of spaces in the Eastern Lane car park will be lost during the early work. It has not said how many.

What the new building will have

According to the council:

  • the main theatre, cafe bar and dining spaces together on one floor, with views over the Tweed
  • public space, a rehearsal space and a meeting room on the floor above
  • one large main cinema and a smaller boutique cinema on the lower floors
  • cinema access straight from Shoe Lane, or by lift or stairs from the car park level

The money also pays for work at the Barracks. That gives the Maltings somewhere to run activities while the building is closed, and supports English Heritage’s Living Barracks project.

The council forecasts 115,000 visitors a year by 2032.

What they said

Council leader Glen Sanderson called it “a hugely significant milestone”. He said: “Now all the funding is in place for The Maltings we can look forward to works on this new building getting underway in the coming weeks.”

Scott Sherrard, chair of the Maltings (Berwick) Trust, said the decisions mean “a start can be made on site”. He said the two-year schedule “at last gives us some confidence that we can plan to open this exciting new venue for Berwick and the surrounding regions in Spring 2029.”

What it means for you

If you park on Eastern Lane, expect to lose some spaces once the early work starts. The main works, and any bigger changes around the site, follow in the New Year. We will add the details when the council or the contractor publishes them.

Parking options across the county are on our parking in Northumberland page.