Berwick’s Future
Though Berwick has many assets - a rich heritage of buildings, landscapes and archaeology, a wonderful rural environment and relatively full employment – it faces local challenges such as an ageing population, below average educational attainment, a high proportion of unskilled jobs with low wages and an economy heavily reliant on older, traditional businesses.
In addition, global issues such as environmental sustainability and climate change must be addressed.
To meet these challenges, the Berwick’s Future initiative began in 2006 with the launch of an ambitious visioning exercise to determine the best way to achieve the economic and social change which will, over the next 20 years, create a more competitive, distinctive and well-connected town with greater economic diversity, a more sustainable and balanced community in which people choose to live and work.
Planning consultants Gillespie created in 2006 a master plan which outlined a number of initiatives for consideration.
These were shared with local people through a series of public events and the comments collected were used to refine that initial plan. Further work has been carried out and consultants Urban Initiatives have produced a regeneration strategy for Berwick.
Berwick's Future Vision is for a town which is: ‘A competitive, distinctive and well-connected Border town that is enterprising, ambitious and inclusive.’
Our role
Berwick Community Trust is a key partner in the Berwick’s future programme and the only community based organisation that has been involved through the whole initiative.
We work as members of the steering and programme management groups to ensure that the direction of the programme is in line with the needs and aspirations of the community and that residents’ views are considered. We also work at a project level and to ensure, with our partners, that the public is kept informed of activity and progress.
The approach
The issues affecting the image and performance of Berwick are complex and include low wages, low skills, lack of enterprise and an ageing population.
The preferred regeneration approach recommended by the consultants is to expand the town centre, forming a core focused on the unique character areas of the Old Town, Spittal and Tweedmouth. This should act as a key driver for growth and regeneration.
This approach provides the opportunity to create a range of different house types, land uses and amenities which complement each other, while using the existing built heritage to stimulate tourism and jobs and underpin quality of life.
Regeneration specialists Urban Initiatives tell us that Berwick is a unique place, formed by a series of relationships; the town to the river, the town to its catchments, the town and its people. Their vision for Berwick seeks to build on this historic uniqueness to create a market town centre that is characterised by the following:
• A town for living
• A town for business and enterprise
• A town for leisure and tourism
• A town for people
• A town for connecting
• A town for shopping and retail
To ensure that the vision can be achieved, further work on key themes will be done in order to:
• Deliver an improved tourism offer
• Develop a traffic and parking strategy that can address current issues within the framework of the regeneration strategy
• Deliver a learning and skills offer which meets the needs of young people, adults, communities and employers
Priority projects and sites
The Gillespie’s master plan identified 54 potential sites. In the Urban Initiatives regeneration strategy these have been narrowed down to 10 recommended priority sites
In recognition of the importance of tourism to the Berwick economy Miller Research was commissioned by One NorthEast to develop a tourism destination plan for the town (known as the Market Town Welcome).
A short executive summary sets out some of the key points of the regeneration strategy for Berwick.
