Yahoo News Hexham General Election candidates address disparity in spending on towns in Northumberland
Candidates running to be the next MP for Hexham have debated the disparity in spending across Northumberland's key towns.
In October, the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed that, between 2017 and 2023, Conservative-led Northumberland County Council had spent £62 million more in capital spending on Ponteland than it had in Prudhoe. Ponteland had the highest spend out of the county's 10 largest towns at £66.14 million, while Prudhoe had the lowest at £3.91 million.
Since then, the county council has committed some further funding to Prudhoe, including investments at Prudhoe Waterworld leisure centre and at the East Centre, a disused community centre. However, the issue was still raised by the public at a hustings event in Prudhoe on Thursday.
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Five of the six candidates were asked about a "perception" that Prudhoe had been "neglected and underfunded" compared to other towns.
Speaking at the event at St Mary Magdalene Parish Church, Labour's Joe Morris said there was a "pretty stunning disparity" in capital spend "enjoyed by other towns in the constituency". He also referenced a £7 million investment in Morpeth's King Edward IV school sports hall recently approved by Northumberland County Council's cabinet.
He said: "That's basically double what Prudhoe got between 2017 and 2022. Is Prudhoe being neglected? Yes.
"Is it being neglected as a result of the settlement we have had in this constituency for 100 years? I would say yes.
"The Conservatives have held this seat for 100 years, they are currently in charge of the county council. It does not take a genius to work out where that neglect comes from.
"Being a constituency MP, the bare minimum is backing community projects. I will always do that. When you're thinking of casting your vote in Prudhoe, if we do get a Labour majority, who is going to be able to get a better result for Prudhoe?
"Is it the first Labour MP ever elected here, or a continuation of a century of Conservative MPs? I know who will be able to get a better deal, and it is not the incumbent."
The aforementioned incumbent, Conservative candidate Guy Opperman, defended his record in the area.
He said: "You have to look at the various public services and you work on those. You make sure the high school is rebuilt and the smaller schools are getting support.
"You then look at high streets. Hexham has received heritage action zone money to regenerate the high street. I totally support a similar vision here.
"The Borderlands money has several million pounds allocated and is an ongoing process that is being assessed. Look at the developments we have done - Eastwood Park, the developments at Cottier Grange and Humbles Wood and the project we're doing at the Walled Garden - that is something we have been working on for 13 years, but it is an amazing project in the longer term."
However, he did acknowledge that the town was a "work in progress".
Liberal Democrat candidate Nick Cott commented: "No-one should feel neglected and no community should, least of all by their MP. I'm used to working with the community to get things done.
"I would work with the business community and a whole range of organisations who have knowledge and understanding and want to make things work. It's by working together that we come up with solutions."
SDP leader and former Tynedale district councillor William Clouston said: "There was always a rivalry between Hexham and Prudhoe. The development of Low Prudhoe was long overdue.
"I'm quite optimistic about Prudhoe town centre. It doesn't suffer from the usual suspects which make it look viable - most of the shops are local shops.
"One of my priorities would be to look at the rates - what has happened in many towns is rents have fallen, but rents remain very high."
Hexham saw £52.46 million spent between 2017 and 2023 - the third highest in the county behind Morpeth and Ponteland.
Independent candidate Chris Whaley added: "Prudhoe, like all country towns, has been suffering. It has the potential to be a thriving community with a lot of industrial units and lots of shops.
"The Government has not been helping us. They're not helped by having a lot of taxes - the Government aren't helping the population."
Green Party candidate Nick Morphet did not attend the hustings.
