It was good to hear that Northumberland County Council’s cabinet agreed to progress a major investment in regenerating Blyth town centre.

A whopping £39m will be spent over the coming years to breathe new life into the town. Some of this money comes from central government as part of the Future High Streets Fund programme. The rest will come from council reserves and borrowing.

This is great news for Blyth which is already a centre for renewable energy. This investment will help make Blyth a better place to live, work and shop and will provide space for leisure.

However, while the people of Blyth may be celebrating, the people of Ashington and Bedlington are not.

There is no mention of plans to address the Ashington hole; the place where the relocated council headquarters was going to be under the Labour-run council. There have been a number of suggestions such as shopping, leisure and entertainment facilities, but no mention of it in the council’s latest summary of capital proposals.

Similarly Bedlington has been waiting for news of badly needed investment in the town. And again, no news.

It’s worth remembering what the council’s objectives and priorities are supposed to be, namely that people in the county:

•        feel safe, healthy, and cared for

•        love where they live

•        have access to the things they need such as transport, education and other facilities and services

•        achieve and realise their potential

•        live in a place which attracts more and better jobs

These are fine words but they need to be matched with action, especially in towns like Ashington and Bedlington, where people’s hopes of having investment to make their towns better have been raised and dashed time and time again. Let’s hope the same doesn’t happen in Blyth?