Environmental Enhancements

Ashington Town Council is pleased to announce the installation of new secure gates at Nursery Park Allotment site. This improvement, brought forward by the Council’s new allotment officer, Alan Bunker, addresses longstanding concerns raised by allotment holders and enhances the security and management of the site.

The new installation includes both vehicle and pedestrian entrances with lockable gates, resolving parking issues that have frustrated the site.

Despite budget constraints, the Council prioritised this project to fulfil its duty of maintaining and securing allotment gardens. Haydon County Cllr Brian Gallacher, and Haydon Ward Town Cllrs, Marjorie Chambers, Graeme Wright and John Tully collaborated to share costs, demonstrating a commendable example of cooperation for community benefit.

We are plesed to commend the swift response of our Neighbourhood Services Officers (NSOs) when faced with vandalism to several Haydon ward litter bins. Our team demonstrated that we won’t be deterred from maintaining our town’s cleanliness and despite the sweltering heat sprang into action, swiftly reinstalling and upgrading litter bins in the Haydon Ward. Their quick response ensures that these isolated incidents of vandalism do not impact our services for long.

Despite the hot weather, our NSO team worked efficiently to replace the affected bins. The new installations are now secured on concrete plinths for improved durability.

Ashington Town Council will carry out improvements to bus shelters across the town during June.

Ashington Town Council has invested £180,000 over five years to significantly upgrade CCTV coverage with powerful new cameras on Station Road, Woodhorn Road, and Station Road West.

“This boost to community safety underscores the Council’s priority and commitment to improving the environment by providing a pleasant and safe place to live,” said Cllr John Tully, Leader of Ashington Town Council.

The project features cutting-edge technology including 24/7 monitored pan-tilt-zoom cameras providing comprehensive visibility of the area. Local contractor Asset Watch has been selected to deploy the high-tech system, cementing this initiative as a community partnership supporting local jobs.

Ashington Town Council is partnering with Northumberland County Council to transform several grassy areas into vibrant wildflower havens around town.

The Town Council is pleased to announce that the safety surface at Paddock Wood Play Area has been refreshed with new bark chippings in preparation for the upcoming spring and half-term holidays. This was a great team effort involving Town Council staff (Alan, Stephen and Mark), Northumberland County Council (NCC), and contractors Scot Bark UK.

To allow the contractor’s large vehicle access to the play area, NCC staff helpfully provided a tractor to temporarily move a large boulder that had previously limited vehicle access. The contractor’s powerful 130m boom lorry, one of only a few in the country, was then able to reverse close to the play area and blast the new bark chippings into place.

Unfortunately, due to the recent wet weather, the lorry did churn up a small section of grass next to the pavement during the works. The County Council tractor will return tomorrow to replace the boulder which is again large wheels onto wet grass. Town Council staff will reseed the churned-up grass to fully reinstate the area as quickly as possible.

A project to improve Paddock Wood is now underway.

The seating area at Laburnum Terrace has undergone recent enhancement works to upgrade the amenities and appearance of this public space frequently used by Ashington residents.

Ashington will be aglow with colour next spring thanks to the planting of thousands of bulbs around town. 

The Enhanced Neighbourhood Services Partnership between Ashington Town Council and Northumberland County Council aims to make ongoing improvements to keep the town’s streets and estates clean and litter free, and to improve the environment by providing a pleasant and safe place to live. These are two of the four priorities of Ashington Town Council.

Overall, the collaborative approach is to ensure those resources being invested are towards activities that will visibly improve Ashington’s environment and appearance.