NORTHUMBERLAND County Council is seeking suggestions to improve one of the county’s towns thanks to Government funding.

Organisations in Prudhoe are being encouraged to bring forward proposals to help secure Borderlands Place Programme investment in the town. The suggestions should be around boosting economic growth.

The place programme is a ten-year, £21 million initiative bringing funding from the Borderlands deal and the county council to support towns. In Northumberland, seven towns including Prudhoe are included in the programme.

READ MORE: Investigation into 'hundreds' of dead fish inconclusive

The council’s deputy leader and cabinet member for business Councillor Richard Wearmouth said: “The development of these plans is an important step for the town towards securing further investment, we are looking forward to hearing from potential project sponsors who feel they can contribute to the town’s future prosperity.”

A so-called “place plan” is currently in development to inform suggestions ahead of investment. The key themes in the plan are to encourage economic growth, to grow the local economy and to promote inclusion with a key focus on young people.

The county council is organising the process to develop the Place Programme in Prudhoe working with the local ‘Place Partnership Group’ involving business, community and public sector representatives all with an interest in making the town an even better place for all.

Last year, a Freedom of Information request by the LDRS found that Prudhoe had received the lowest level of funding of any of Northumberland’s 10 largest towns. Just £3.9 million was spent in Prudhoe between 2017 and 2023.

However, since then the council has looked to invest in the town. Cllr Gordon Stewart, the Conservative councillor for Prudhoe South, outlined some of the work that has been going on.He said: “Prudhoe is already a great place to live, work and invest and our work with partners in the town aims to make it even better.

“Our work to secure this funding comes on the back of ongoing investment by NCC, most recently the announcements of £1.5m investment in Waterworld to improve leisure facilities, our assistance to further develop the feasibility of the proposed youth and community facility at the East Centre in partnership with the Community Partnership and Town Council, and also our backing for the recent visit of the National High Streets Task Force.”

The council say projects should have an identified project sponsor and a value of over £300k to be considered as part of this process and will need to identify how they meet a range of economic-focused funding criteria.

Cllr Angie Scott, the Labour councillor for Prudhoe North, encouraged stakeholders to have their say.

She said: “This is a good opportunity to have your say on the future of Prudhoe. I would encourage as many organisations as possible to have their say.

“For me, I would like to see more opportunities for young people. We need a community centre and it would be good to develop the East Centre sight.

“Prudhoe also needs more affordable housing, particularly for young people.”

Any organisations with a proposal they feel will make a significant economic growth impact in Prudhoe can contact the team via email at growth@northumberland.gov.uk to receive the guidance. The deadline for submission is June 2.