New housing is being built at numerous locations across the town and to cater for the increased traffic that will inevitably follow, a relief road is planned to alleviate the congestion on Cowpen Road and The Laverock. That road however has been promised for years and has yet to materialise. The town centre has been awarded a multi million pound Towns Fund grant, aimed at regenerating the once thriving town centre. Work has begun on the first phase of improvements, with Bowes Street undergoing a much needed make over.

Church Street townscape regeneration.

Further regeneration will see the present bus station moved to the present market place area and a cultural and leisure facility will be built along side. The old bus station will be replaced by a new hotel with family orientated eatery.

Artists impression of the cultural and leisure facility in the present market place - Left and below.

The current bus station, which dates from the 1960's and is situated in a conservation area will be demolished and a 42 bedroomed hotel with eating and beverage facility will be built in it's place. Currently it is being referred too as the Laurel Hotel. The estimate for completion is 2025.

Right - The present delipidated station. Below - the envisaged Laurel Hotel.

The bus depot which is situated at the end of Bridge Street and also in the conservation area, will be demolished along with the bus station and will be replaced by a building currently being called The Energy Central Institute.

The county council website states that "The campus will provide learning and development facilities, harnessing the skills of local people inspiring STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics) career pathways from school age to higher education"

The Energy Central Institute - Below.

The Northumberland Line, which will reconnect South East Northumberland with Newcastle is also on course to deliver the return of passenger services to the town by 2024. After some doubt about the proposed Bebside station, it was confirmed it would go ahead. Giving Blyth two stations, the other being situated at South Newsham. Below is the estimated timescalefor project completion.

Late 2020 – Public consultation period.
Early 2021 – Planning applications submitted for the six stations and Chase Meadows footbridge. Early enabling works start on site. This will mainly be clearance and engineering works with standalone benefits, which don’t require planning permission.
Spring 2021 – Application for Transport and Works Act Order submitted to Secretary of State.
Summer 2022 – Construction on stations begins, subject to necessary approvals being secured.
2024 – Current expected start of passenger services.

Did you know?

Blyth once had three stations, one in the town centre and the others at Bebside and Newsham.

Blyth town centre railway station was closed on the 2nd of November 1964.

The Platform in the town centre station shortly before it's closure.

Map of the proposed service - Below.

A-train-standing-at-the-platform-of-Blyth-Railway-Station-on-26th-March-1963JPG.jpg

Newsham station will be situated on South Newsham Road and link to the Laverock Road roundabout. As you can see from the image left, it looks to be a park and ride design.

Bebside station will be located to the rear of the Heather Lea estate and will be accessed via Erringron Street and a new pedestrian bridge over the A189 Spine road from ASDA car park.

The building continues with one notable exception.

BLYTH’S much-anticipated relief road will not be completed until at least 2026 – but councillors have insisted they remain committed to the scheme.

Campaigners and residents have been calling for the scheme for decades in order to ease congestion in the town.

Northumberland County Council’s Conservative administration has repeatedly stated that it is committed to the £40m project, with funding set aside in the recent budget.

However, at a meeting of the council’s Corporate Services and Economic Growth Overview and Scrutiny Committee in April, members were told that the preferred route selected three years ago was no longer an option. In 2019, residents were consulted on five potential routes for the relief road, with option 3 proving the most popular.

The route would have connected the A189 at Shankhouse to the A193 at the Broadway Circle. However, as the route passed through the ongoing housing development at Crofton Grange by Persimmon Homes and Wimpey, council officers have now deemed the route unfeasible after work progressed on the site.

Instead, the council is proposing the realignment and dualling of the existing A1061 Laverock Hall Road, providing a direct dual carriageway connection between the A192 Three Horseshoes roundabout and the A193 South Beach. In addition, a new “complementary link” is also proposed between Chase Farm Drive and Ogle Drive.

At the meeting, Rick O’farrell, the council’s interim executive director, admitted: “Route 5 isn’t as good as route 3 would have been, but it is still the best option and it will have the benefits we are looking for.” He added that it “very quickly became clear” there were serious problems with the route 3 option, but the main issue was Persimmon’s progress with the housing development.

Coun Alex Wallace, who represents the Sleekburn ward, called the situation “diabolical”.

Coun Wojciech Ploszaj, cabinet member for business, insisted the administration remained committed to the project – but warned its completion would hinge on a successful bid for funding from central Government.

He said: “I’m sure that the administration is committed to delivering this project. We can’t guarantee it because there are some factors that are not dependant on the council.

“We are dependent on Government funding. We have a strong commitment from us to delivering on time by 2026. It is not as good as route 3 but we are where we are. There will be no other option in the future with the current developments.”

If the report is approved by cabinet, residents will be consulted on route 5.