Northumberland News
The latest Northumberland news: planning decisions, council and crime updates, business and community stories, each linked back to its official source.
Top story
Northumberland Alcohol PSPO: County-Wide Order, Say by 9 Oct
A county-wide alcohol order would replace the 13-town rules on 21 October. The draft goes wider than the council says; comments close noon Friday 9 October.
More stories
Blyth
Blyth Energy Central Institute: Work Starts on £25m Build
Work has begun on Blyth's £25m Energy Central Institute on the old Keel Row site. Costs rose £5.7m, part covered by money once set aside for a town hotel.
Berwick-upon-Tweed
Berwick Maltings Rebuild Now £36m, Reopening April 2029
The Maltings rebuild in Berwick now costs £36m, up £7.7m, and the council's share rises from £2.8m to £7.5m. Cabinet decides on 6 October; reopening April 2029.
Social care
Northumberland Telecare Alarm Fees to Rise, Wardens to Go
Council alarm users face full-cost charges, consulted at £8.51 a week against about £6 now, and 1,200 in the Blyth Valley area would lose warden call-outs.
Rothbury
Rothbury Estate Appeal: £2.6m to Go, Loan to Cover Any Gap
The Rothbury Estate appeal stands at £27.4m of £30m with pledges. Completion is now the end of October, and trustees have agreed a loan for any shortfall.
Alnwick
Alnwick Cobbles Works Start 28 Sept, Market Place Parking Shut
Work on the Cobbles starts Monday and runs to autumn 2027. Market Place parking is suspended from October 2026 to January 2028. What changes, and when.
Amble
Coquet Island Pilot Whales: All Six Stranded Whales Died
Six pilot whales from a pod of about 40 seen off Warkworth died on the rocks of Coquet Island. What rescuers tried, and who to call if you see one.
Business
New Northumberland Businesses: 65 Firms in Two Weeks
65 new companies registered in Northumberland from 11 to 25 September, from a Thai restaurant in Alnwick to a Berwick bakehouse. Plus the closures on record.
Council
Northumberland Council This Week: Fire Service Scrutinised
Councillors question the fire service on Monday after inspectors put it into enhanced monitoring. Also: leisure centres, SEND places, a Berwick licence.
Amble
Coquet Community School Opens: Amble's £35.5m Rebuild
Amble's secondary opened on 23 September in a £35.5m building with 567 pupils on roll. The James Calvert Spence name has gone, and so has the middle school.
Holy Island
St Cuthbert's Way Named in Lonely Planet Best in Travel
The 62-mile route from Melrose to Holy Island is one of Lonely Planet's 50 picks for 2027. Its last stage into Northumberland is walkable only at low tide.
Northumberland
Northumberland Council Overspend Hits £7.9m: Savings Are Why
Two unachieved savings lines come to £8.645m, more than the whole overspend. Adult care adds £4.62m. A separate schools deficit reaches £33.162m by March 2027.
Blyth
Blyth Veterans Housing: Nordale House Picked for 8 Flats
Northumberland's first dedicated veterans housing goes into Nordale House on Cowpen Hall Road: eight flats, £604,000 in grant and £355,653 from the council.
Housing
Northumberland House Prices Up 7.3% to £212,563 in July
Northumberland's average home sold for £212,563 in July, up 7.3% in a year. Only eight English districts rose faster, and it is still the North East's dearest.
Ashington
Woodhorn Heapsteads Restored: £2.5m Colliery Work Complete
The £2.5m restoration of Woodhorn Museum's two heapsteads near Ashington is finished, saving pithead structures that were on the Heritage at Risk Register.
Morpeth
Morpeth Piramal Factory Gets 7 FDA Inspection Observations
US inspectors left Piramal's Whalton Road drug factory in Morpeth with a Form 483 listing seven observations. What that means, and what happens next.
Community
Druridge Bay 100-Mile Charity Run: 2am Start on 10 October
Alistair Douglass, whose daughters were born at 31 and 27 weeks, will run 100 miles round Ladyburn Lake for Tiny Lives on 10 October. You can run a lap too.
Blyth
Blyth Neighbourhood Plan Passes: 87% Yes, 11% Turnout
Blyth voted 2,960 to 425 for its neighbourhood plan on an 11% turnout. It is already part of planning law, and 30 green spaces now have protection.
Morpeth
Morpeth Parking: Newmarket West Shut for Three Weeks
Newmarket West car park and its electric charging points are closed while the old Riverside centre comes down. 108 extra spaces are promised by mid-November.
Buses
Northumberland Buses: Council Backs Franchising Overhaul
Cabinet backs bringing buses under public control but wants rural guarantees first. The consultation closes 9am on 28 September; first services in 2029.
Council tax
Northumberland Council Tax Support: 8,450 Get Less in 2027
Support would fall from 90% to 85%, 70% to 65% and 40% to 35% in April 2027. That leaves 8,450 households paying more, 2,393 less. Consultation to 14 October.
Haltwhistle
Haltwhistle Pool Wins £1.19m to Replace 1975 Plant
Cabinet approved up to £1.191m on 8 September to replace pool plant dating from 1975. The report also floats crowdfunding, which would cut the council's share.
Libraries
Northumberland Libraries: What Changes in January 2027
Cabinet approved it on 8 September: 21 staffed libraries on fixed hours, six sites to volunteers or smart shelves, and the mobile library every four weeks, not six.
Farming
Bluetongue in Northumberland: outbreak confirmed in west
Defra's register records two Northumberland premises this season, and two county shows dropped sheep and goat classes. Report suspicions on 03000 200 301.
Council spending
Northumberland's council solar panels off after two fires
All of the council's 140 commercial solar installations and 40% of 1,200 in homes stopped generating. A £4.98m fix reaches Cabinet on 8 September.
Rothbury
Rothbury Estate appeal: £5.5m in a week takes it to £26m
Pledges of £5.5m in days took the Rothbury appeal past £26m of £30m. Two separate deadlines now apply, and trustees have agreed a loan to cover any shortfall.
Heritage Open Days
Northumberland Heritage Open Days: 189 free sites in 10 days
Berwick alone holds 117 of Northumberland's 189 free openings from 11 to 20 September. Wallington, Lindisfarne Castle and Seaton Delaval Hall all open free.
Blyth
Blyth Beach creosote: north end shut, south open again
Bathing has resumed south of the Dave Stephens Centre, but the beach north of it stays closed while the Environment Agency investigates creosote in the sand.
Beadnell
Beadnell sea wall: 195m repaired, Cresswell slope done
Cresswell's coastal road slope scheme is finished and 195 metres of Beadnell seawall is close behind. Traffic management stays on Harbour Road until it is done.
House prices
Northumberland house prices up 12.6%, fastest in England
The average Northumberland home hit a record £213,452 in June, up 12.6% in a year. That is the biggest rise of England's 295 local authority areas.
Jobs
Northumberland claimant count: 7.9% in one Blyth ward
Northumberland's claimant count held at 5,355 in July, or 2.8% of working-age adults. One Blyth ward records 7.9%, a Tyne Valley ward 0.8%.
Environment
Nurdles on Northumberland Beaches: 11 Drop-Off Points
The council has named 11 places to leave collected plastic pellets, from Amble Dunes to Cresswell, plus rules for volunteers. Over 17 tonnes went in the Tyne.
Heritage
Berwick Record Office Award Vote Closes on 31 August
Berwick Record Office and Cragend Farm at Rothbury are 2 of only 24 sites shortlisted in England. The vote shuts 31 August, winners named 10 September.
Kielder
Kielder ospreys: 150th chick fledges, 17 years after return
A male chick named Kielder flew from Nest 12 on 6 August, the 150th osprey to fledge in Northumberland since the birds came back in 2009. Where the count stands, and how to see them before they leave.
Bins
Northumberland bin lorries: 52 new trucks by November 2027
The council is replacing its whole refuse fleet after breakdowns hit collections: 52 Dennis Eagle trucks, 18 already allocated, two arriving a month, plus a £3.3m Hexham workshop. What the £12.1m contract says.
Rothbury
Rothbury Estate appeal needs £9m by end of September
The Wildlife Trusts have raised £20.7m of the £30m needed to buy the rest of the Rothbury Estate, and the clock runs out in September. What happens if they miss it.
Blyth
Blyth Neighbourhood Plan referendum: vote on 10 September
Blyth votes on 10 September on whether the council must use its neighbourhood plan to decide planning applications. Every deadline, and what the plan protects.