A plan to help the Northumberland economy bounce back from the coronavirus lockdown will be based around the county’s tourism sector and efforts to revive its town centres.
The plan has been put together by Northumberland County Council with the aim of helping businesses come back as the Government has moved to ease the lockdown imposed at the end of March.
More than 7,000 businesses in the county have received support to get them through the crisis, while the number of people in Northumberland claiming unemployment benefits has risen by 75% in the last two months.
The council says many of the affected businesses in Northumberland will not re-open, but it has put together a plan that aims to support those businesses that are able to come back from the shutdown.
Council leader Peter Jackson said: “Whilst we’re not out of this crisis yet, it’s really important that our residents and businesses understand how we will play our part in the economic recovery of the county, and of course how we are going to help communities recover too.
“Our number one priority for Covid-19 recovery is to get our economy back on track, and we don’t underestimate the scale of the challenge. However it’s important we remember that before the crisis, our economy was in a good place with real strengths in key sectors, including tourism, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and in energy and offshore.
“We need to rebuild confidence through strong leadership, and acknowledge that we have not lost our strengths in innovation, skills, our natural assets, and of course our people, and we need to harness all these to make sure we meet the challenge and come back stronger than ever.”
The council has outlined a number of measures to support the Northumberland tourism sector, saying that it had lobbied the Government to help B&Bs after they were fell outside of initial support packages.
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The authority is planning to scale up its Discover Our Land visitor campaign, as well as looking at new ways to promote Hadrian’s Wall as a tourism destination and seeking Government support to market the county as a walking and cycling destination.
Elsewhere it is hoping to put measures in place to support high streets in Hexham, Blyth and Ashington, as well as developing plans for seven rural towns in the county.
Other measures in the recovery plan include further support for the Energy Central scheme at Blyth, which is aiming to help create 10,000 jobs, the planting of a million new trees in its Great Northumberland Forest, and the continuation of plans to re-open the Northumberland rail line.
James Ramsbotham, chief executive of the North East England Chamber of Commerce, has welcomed the council plan.
He said: “Throughout this crisis, businesses have been telling us how the pandemic has directly affected them, including the overnight collapse to their sales, which led to issues with cash flow, staffing and recruitment.
“But the visitor economy has taken one of the biggest hits, and businesses will be looking to the council to be enablers of growth, with clear recovery plans that are complementary to the North East LEP and the North of Tyne Combined Authority.
“The Chamber is absolutely committed to working with the council and its partners to help the county and the North East get back on its feet and achieve its full potential”.