Northumberland County Council held an event at the Queens Hall Hexham on Saturday 11 June inviting the public to talk to council officers, councillors and Hexham Community Partnership among others.
Independent Councillor Derek Kennedy was on hand to talk to officers and local residents. He said “This was a really interesting event held in a very informal way. Residents were able to ask lots of questions about all the plans there are for Hexham.”
“Some of the positive news is the plans for Hexham House to be converted into a civil wedding venue with additional 7 self catering apartments on the first floor. County Council are investing £1.5 million with the plans expected to go to planning in the next few weeks and the opening of Hexham House for weddings by Summer 2017. This is great news and something I have supported for a number of years, this is a flagship investment.”
“Prospect House near the old gaol has been sold to a developer and I understand that this is likely to become apartments.”
“While there were some positive news, I am still questioning the positioning of the new fire station next to the hospital, this area of town is very busy with the new bus station opening in September 2016. I agree the need to move the fire station away from the flood plain but County Council spent £hundreds of thousands on a site on the West Road near the golf club. The site was cleared ready to be built on and then abandoned it. I’ve asked the Council to explain what they intend to do with this redundant site.”
“One thing I was confused by was the lack of advertising of this event not many people knew of it which was a real shame. Also it being timed during the bridge closure was a little odd, it was unfortunate that the Highways department was not present to answer queries.”
“A good event in general, I do hope this is repeated again.”