Changes needed to Borderlands projects, which includes Northumberland

COVID-19 could have an effect on the Borderlands deal. Credit: PA Images

The COVID-19 pandemic will have a knock-on effect on some of the projects planned as part of the £350m Borderlands deal.

The heads of terms agreement for the Borderlands Inclusive Growth Deal was announced last July and confirmed a commitment by the UK and Scottish Governments for the financial package, with £200million to be invested on the English side and £150m in Scotland on a variety of projects over 10 years.

The Borderlands Partnership is a collaboration between the five cross-border local authorities - Carlisle, Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway, Northumberland and Scottish Borders, which represent 10 per cent of the UK's land mass and an area larger than Wales.

It aims to create thousands of new job opportunities, bring millions of extra tourists to the area and unlock investment in towns.

Projects to have been announced so far as part of the deal include the proposed Lillidorei play village at The Alnwick Garden (which previously had a target completion date of Easter 2022) and the Ad Gefrin whisky distillery in Wooler (hoped to open next summer).

In an update newsletter this month, the partnership states:

It adds:

Nonetheless, work is continuing and progress still being made, with the newsletter revealing that the £4 Digital Borderlands Voucher Scheme should be launched in Cumbria and Northumberland 'shortly', following the submission of the business case for the 'top-up' full-fibre broadband project to the UK Government.

The commissioning process for an Energy Masterplan - 'the first step in setting out the pathway to a net-carbon-zero region which has green energy at the heart of its economy' - will start this month and the work be delivered over the next 12 to 18 months.

Andy Dean, the chief executive of Community Action Northumberland, which supports the county's rural communities, said:

Last November, Northumberland councillors agreed the governance arrangements, which include the county acting as the accountable body for the English side, and to fund the county's share of the operating costs, after the partnership board agreed an initial annual operating budget of £531,000.

The newsletter explains that the first phase of the project management office is now established and 'is well equipped to support the finalisation of our deal and move to delivery'. Programme manager James Davies started in March, having previously worked for the North East Local Enterprise Partnership.