Improvements are under way at the Bothal Gateway feature on the A197 Morpeth Road, one of the main routes into Ashington. While the work is still in progress, people travelling along Morpeth Road may already have spotted some changes.

A new boundary wall has been built by a local contractor, Stuart Howard, funded by ward councillors Scott Amery, Lynne Grimshaw and Bob Walkinshaw through the ward environmental enhancement budget.

The Town Council created the ward environmental enhancement budget in 2023/24, with funding allocated to each ward in that year and again in 2024/25. Wards with funding remaining have carried their balances forward. The Bothal Gateway is a piece of land the Town Council already maintains, so the scheme was a straightforward way to make a visible difference. Where ward councillors want to create new spaces or take on new areas of responsibility, those proposals come to Council for approval.

Since then, Ashington Town Council’s Neighbourhood Services Officer, Ryan, has prepared the ground ready for planting in the spring, added some new stone features and returned suitable plants to the site.

There’s still more to do, and the gateway will really come into its own once it is fully planted up next year. In the meantime, keep an eye out for the bulbs, which will add a welcome splash of colour until then.