Councillor Mark Swinburn fumes over Cramlington roadworks

Coun Mark Swinburn, who represents the Cramlington Village ward on Northumberland County Council, called out Northern Powergrid for a “lack of care and concern” over its ongoing roadworks on Station Road. Coun Swinburn said he had tried to get updates on the work after being contacted by a number of residents, but had not received a response.

Work on the road has been ongoing since summer 2022, and has resulted in a series of diversions and delays on the roads. The work, originally scheduled to last five months, is being carried out on behalf of developers Bellway Homes and Persimmon Homes in connection with the nearby St Nicholas Manor.

While most of the work has been completed, everything now hinges on Northern Powergrid completing mains connections. At the moment, not even the street lights are connected to the grid, leaving the area in total darkness as the long nights roll in.

Coun Swinburn said: “It has taken such a long time to ge the roadworks finished, which has made the town centre an absolute nightmare. Now we’re at a point where part of the town centre is in total darkness and the crossings aren’t finished.

“it’s a real safety issue – the footpaths need to be finished too. Residents and road users are the ones who are suffering.

“We don’t know what’s going on. It’s an absolute disgrace.

“Last week I approached Northern Powergrid directly to ask if indeed they have connected the supply or if this is still outstanding, and I am currently waiting for a response from them. As the dark nights have drawn in, and the clocks due to change at the end of this month which will make the situation worse, it is completely unacceptable to still not have mains street lighting connected around this busy junction.

“I see no reason why it has taken so long for the signage to finally be installed or for the footpaths to be completed. The crossings are still not in place and could be made ready to be powered up if all that is missing is the connectivity.

Cllr Swinburn on Station Road in Cramlington (Image: LDR)

“Neither can I understand why there has been no attempt to make good the mess of the surrounding verges that have been left in such an unacceptable overgrown condition for so long now that the main roadworks have been completed.

“This is having such a detrimental effect on the area, and I am quite frankly shocked that there is such a lack of care and concern by both the contractors and developers responsible. I am sure that they wouldn’t accept it outside their house.”

 Bellway Homes has spoken out to explain the situation from the developers’ perspective.

A spokesman for the company said: “The works are Section 278 works funded and completed by Bellway and our co-developer Persimmon Homes following approvals from the Northumberland County Council and in accordance with the completed highway agreement.

“Regretfully, the delays are due to service providers, meaning the associated streetlighting and topping of a pavement cannot be completed until the required diversions and connections have been completed by the network operator NPG. We are unable to provide any specific timescales on this as the delay is out of our control.”

And Northern Powergrid has now committed to carrying out work next week – at least, if the weather allows it.

A spokesman for the company said: ““The scheme at Station Road in Cramlington involves high voltage (HV) and low voltage (LV) cable diversions to allow for road layout changes in respect of a new housing development being built in the area.

“Our partners are working to install low voltage cables to provide power for streetlighting and we have liaised with them to request that they return to site to secure the barriers. We can confirm the pallets and spoil photographed on social media are not part of Northern Powergrid’s scheme of works, and our team has contacted the relevant contractors to make them aware.

“Our Regional Customer Service Manager has contacted Coun Swinburn directly and provided an update on our remit to carry out the electricity changes to support the housing development. We are assured that our service provider partner will be visible on site this week and next, to install the cables to facilitate street lighting connections (weather depending), and we will continue to update Coun Swinburn on our progress.

“If there will be any significant disruption from our works we will contact customers who live in the immediate area, by letter, to explain our position.”