Advance Northumberland is our county's new regneration company, and is set to deliver on its key role of regnerating our county. This week the council's full cabinet voted to set up the new regeneration company which will deliver meaningful development in the places it's needed. This comes after Northumberland Conservatives delivered on its manifesto pledge of scrapping the old development company, Arch which had become mired in scandal following revelations of its activities during the previous Labour administration.

The formal creation of Advance Northumberland will now be voted on at the full council meeting which will take place in early November. Leading the effort to put in place the new company is, Councillor Richard Wearmouth who this week attended a drop-in session for Energy Central, a scheme that is redefining the area around the Port of Blyth, making it a vibrant business hub at the cutting edge of technologies for renewable energy.

Cllr Wearmouth said: "This is an example of how a development company should be working. It is our duty to support the businesses who create jobs and invest in our communities. Port of Blyth have already made a huge commitment to the area, and with our support will be able to continue this into the future.

"We now have to replicate that work around the county so all investors can see this county as a great place to do business."

Cllr Wearmouth has also pledged that elsewhere the new company will focus on 'spade in the ground redevelopment' of our town centre and brownfield sites. This means an end to frivolous puchases which were commonplace under the previous administration including executive housing from its own executives and huge shopping centres which created no new jobs whilst landing the council with a mountain of debt. It will also focus on delivering affordable housing across our county and support businesses as they grow our economy and create jobs for Northumbrians.

To see the plans for the future of Energy Central, check out Port of Blyth's video here.