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29th September, 2026
“Full Speed Ahead!”
Following the revelation that NCC has to raise further millions for the Maltings project, the agenda for NCC’s cabinet meeting on 6th October 2026 contains yet more bombshells.
For the Maltings cost increase, NCC will ask councillors to approve £2.6m of new borrowing adding to the £900m debt pile, bleeding an extra quarter of a million pounds a year from the day-to-day budget. At current interest rates over a period of 15 years, that’s an estimated £3.5m including interest. Not only that, NCC wants to subsidise the Maltings Trust for two years before opening due to the construction delay, again by taxing you and me!
At the same time, NCC is proposing to raise alarm charges for the elderly and disabled by around 40%, and withdraw warden support from 1,200 of them, to save £643,000 a year.
You read that right: NCC wants to cut vital services for the most vulnerable members of society, while happily spending money it doesn’t have on entertainment, like a teenager addicted to slot machines.
This now makes the issue a moral one. Just taking the alarm charges proposal, a substantial number of vulnerable users have said that they will not be able to afford the increase. The ambulance service is worried that that will result in harm and increased pressure on the service. No doubt there are other areas that are affected by the unreasonable debt that NCC has accumulated. So why on earth is NCC throwing good money after bad on a project that will inevitably incur further ‘unexpected’ costs?
The Maltings project is starting to resemble a black hole, gobbling up budgets here, there and everywhere. Borderlands has agreed to redirect some of its digital budget for Northumberland into the Maltings. NCC has already ‘borrowed’ from budgets marked for specific areas, and now the money for the long-planned Berwick Visitor Gateway in Tweedmouth has also been diverted to the Maltings, presumably killing that unwilling donor project.
The questionable ethics surrounding this project extend to the ruthless stripping of human rights to air and light from those living near the Eastern Lane site, with no debate amongst councillors. And to the lack of concern or planning for the Berwick businesses that will suffer for over two years of construction in a cramped area. And of course to the dodgy visualisations of the building, manipulation by NCC officers, and so much more that it will have to be documented separately.
But back to finances and the immediate future: there is a way out of all of this that will provide satisfaction (if not entirely nirvana) to Berwick without picking the pockets of residents and exposing the NCC budget to further calamities.
County councillors who have the interests of their constituents at heart – and not just the desires of a select group of powerful people – can ask for the following:
to defer the decision to approve further NCC debt in the November full council meeting;
that the refurbishment assessment of the Full Business Case is published so that councillors have the full information in front of them;
that NCC officers cost a detailed refurbishment plan, beyond the £11m estimate mentioned in council documents;
that NCC apply to Borderlands to rescope the Maltings plan for refurbishment and fund this instead of the complete rebuild.
Borderlands has allowed rescoping before, for example two Hadrian’s Walls projects, Carlisle Station Gateway, and Destination Tweed. In the Maltings case, rescoping has not been presented as an option to councillors, in order to guide them to approve the preferred NCC plans. Councillors should not accept the “it’s this or nothing” argument – it’s nonsense, because of course funding decisions can be adapted.
With this change, a reduced Borderlands grant can pay for the refurbishment and sunk architectural costs, while allowing more vital services to be retained and council tax increases minimized. A refurbished Maltings with modern energy systems, better accessibility and redesigned spaces will be more than acceptable. There will be far less disruption to businesses, and the spruced-up Maltings should even be available ahead of the April 2029 date now projected.
Councillors, it’s over to you. 4th November 2026 is your last chance to rethink, refurbish and then relax in the knowledge that you have averted disaster with a sensible compromise. Please don’t be bullied by NCC officers or feel you are letting the side down by compromising: it’s a sign of strength, not weakness.
Thanks to Kathryn Tattersall for highlighting the main points in the cabinet meeting agenda.