Joy at Last for Widdrington
Blue Sky Forest Project
By Canon Peter Dodd
For many years the area west of Widdrington has endured successive schemes for open cast mining, but in more recent times a vision has emerged for what may be done, and it is very imaginative. The Blue Sky Forest vision is the brainchild of Widdrington Regeneration Partnership with Widdrington Parish Council at its heart. The chief business partner in this enterprise is Peel Energy and in March they hosted an impressive exhibition shown both in Widdrington and Hadston of what the vision entails.
An international standard golf course, a prestige sporting academy, a hotel and spa, an adult adventure centre, a holiday village, and a wind farm for up to fifteen turbines are envisaged. The leader of the Parish Council is enthusiastic about such possibilities and feels that the long struggle to develop the area has reached a critical moment. There is no international standard golf course in that part of Northumberland and it would be of benefit to many local communities.
The idea of a sporting academy, backed by Sir Bert Millichip (Sports) Ltd, would include football, rugby, hockey and tennis and could attract many people from nearby Ashington. There is also space for a substantial wind farm, and it would be in an area of Northumberland well removed from the National Park and the coastal Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The vision also includes small areas of mature woodland where nature reserves could be established.
Local people need to be congratulated for their long struggle. Our own Society’s County Committee needs to monitor these possible developments carefully, to ensure that they are appropriate for the area and local voices continue to be heard. It would be good for Society members to respond to this article with their views on such possibilities for the area.
City and County
May 2011
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