The council has approved £1.42m for a new square at Manor Walks, parking signs, a park and a community centre, plus 16 homes at Lanercost Park at 70% of market rent.
Cramlington is to get a new town square outside Manor Walks, live signs showing drivers where the parking spaces are, and 16 new council homes. Northumberland County Council’s Cabinet approved the spending on Tuesday 10 November (Cabinet decisions, 10 November 2026).
There are two separate decisions. One is a £1.42m package of five town projects. The other is up to £4.154m to build homes on a cleared site at Lanercost Park.
Five projects for the town centre and estates
The council says more than 500 people took part in the “Cramlington Conversation”, which shaped the list. The projects are due to move into delivery gradually from the New Year (Northumberland County Council).
The Cabinet report gives the cost of each one (Summary of New Capital Proposals):
| Project | Cost | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Manor Walks town square | £674,000 | A paved events space between Manor Walks, Asda and Concordia Leisure Centre |
| Mayfield Community Centre | £250,000 | Structural repairs and modernisation |
| Active travel corridor, phase 2 | £230,000 | Safer crossings and about 400 metres of shared path and cycleway |
| Manor Walks traffic and parking signs | £161,000 | A Forum Way junction change and 13 live parking signs |
| Coronation Park, phase 2 | £104,000 | Accessible paths, growing spaces and a community orchard |
Most of the money, £1.3m, comes from the council’s £3.5m Cramlington Regeneration Programme. The other £119,000 comes from contributions including Cramlington Town Council and Advance Northumberland, according to the council. Advance Northumberland will lead the Manor Walks square and parking projects.
The town square
The soft landscaped square between Manor Walks, Asda and Concordia is “not sufficiently used”, the report says. It would be paved, with seating and planters, and used for markets, seasonal events, outdoor performances and screenings.
It still needs planning permission. The report expects that to take about 13 weeks.
Parking and the Forum Way junction
Thirteen signs will show drivers which of the three main car parks around Manor Walks has spaces. The aim is to stop cars queueing for full car parks.
At Forum Way, traffic from the western entrance and West Moorland Retail Park will get priority over traffic coming from the Southern Mall. The report says a temporary traffic order will be needed for that work, likely for 12 weeks once it starts. No start date has been set.
Mayfield Community Centre and Coronation Park
The council will transfer the Mayfield Community Centre building and its grassed land to Cramlington Town Council. The Mayfield Community Association would then run it under a new lease, expected by winter 2026. The report expects bookings to rise by a fifth in the first year.
Coronation Park’s second phase follows its Dementia Garden, which opened in summer 2025.
Walking and cycling
The second phase of the active travel corridor covers the B1505, Crow Hall Lane and Nelson Drive. The council’s own highways team will build it.
Sixteen homes at Lanercost Park
The homes will go on the site of an old apartment block in the middle of the Lanercost estate. Planning permission was granted in May (Northumberland County Council).
The Cabinet report sets out the mix:
- eight one-bedroom flats
- four two-bedroom flats
- two two-bedroom houses
- two four-bedroom houses
The flats are Tyneside-style, so every home has its own front door rather than a shared hallway. Each home gets off-street parking, a rear garden, an air source heat pump, solar panels and an electric car charging point, the council says.
The rent. The homes were independently valued at £138.90 a week, which is 80% of the market rent. The council decided that was still too much for many tenants. It agreed a rent of £121.45 a week, 70% of the market rent, charged over 49 weeks of the year.
The cost. Cabinet approved up to £4.154m, made up of:
- £2.345m from the council’s housing revenue account reserves
- £1.32m from developer contributions
- £489,000 from the Brownfield Housing Fund
The council’s press release gives the total as £4.145m. We have used the figure in the decision record and the report. A further £743,000 was spent earlier on demolition and preparing the site.
The report includes a 10% contingency. It says the conflict in the Middle East is pushing up fuel and material prices, and costs could rise above those stated.
What it means for you
- If you shop or park at Manor Walks: nothing changes yet. The square needs planning permission first, and the Forum Way junction work will need its own traffic order.
- If you want a council home in Cramlington: the Lanercost homes will be let at affordable rent. Most of the building money is set for 2027-28, so they are not expected before then.
- If you use Mayfield Community Centre: the building passes to the town council, and the community association will run it after the work.
Across Northumberland, 2,044 affordable homes were built between 2017 and the end of 2025, according to the council. Another 1,121 have planning permission.
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