CALLS have been made for more cash to be invested in Prudhoe after it was revealed £62m more has been spent on nearby Ponteland.
 
It follows a Freedom of Information request by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) which showed the £62m disparity in Northumberland County Council’s capital spend on Prudhoe against Ponteland since 2017 – when the Tories first took power at County Hall.

Councillor Angie Scott, who represents Prudhoe North on the county council and town councillor Paddy O’Kelly had submitted a similar FOI and were shocked by the results.

Figures held by the LDRS showed that there had been just £3.9m spent in Prudhoe in that time, compared to £66.1m in nearby Ponteland.

The leader of the county council has defended the disparity and pointed out the council is investing more in the county than ever before.

Cllr Scott said: “I’ve always felt Prudhoe had been financially neglected so I decided to investigate. I was expecting Prudhoe figures to be low but I was totally shocked by the data.

“Conservative-dominated Ponteland received more than 20 per cent of the entire budget. In a six-year period from 2017, NCC spent more on two car parks in Morpeth than in the whole of Prudhoe.”

Cllr Scott was referring to the solar car park at County Hall in Morpeth, which cost the council £1.9m to install a series of solar panels to provide energy for the council headquarters, as well as a £2.5m investment to build a new car park at Goosehill.

This totalled £4.4m, around £500,000 more than what was spent on Prudhoe.

She continued: “This is an absolute disgrace and misuse of power. The Tories spend in their traditional heartlands at the expense of Prudhoe, a town with far greater need of investment.