THE latest phase of a multi-million pound regeneration scheme in a Northumberland town is set to get under way next week.
North East property firms Banks Property and Harworth Estates have been working together for the past four years on the regeneration of 30 acres of land on the sites of the former Bates Colliery, the former Crofton Mill Colliery and the former Morpeth Road School in Blyth.
Around 450 houses will be built through the scheme thanks to a £2.5m grant from the Homes and Communities Agency.
Enhancements are to be made to the roads surrounding the site, in order to improve access to the area for its present occupants and those that will live, work and study there.
Preparatory work will begin on Cowpen Road outside the fire station on Monday, and is expected to last around 10 weeks, with traffic disruption possible on surrounding roads.
John Ruddick, senior property development manager with Banks Property, says: “This scheme represents a very substantial land investment in Blyth by Banks and Harworth Estates at a time when very few other firms are doing anything on this scale, and the positive impact it is having on the local community can already be clearly seen, especially through the opening of the new Morpeth Road school.
“The scheme is breathing new life into large areas of predominantly redundant land around Blyth, and is a crucial part of the wider, post-industrial regeneration of the town as a whole.”
