Hexham MP, Guy Opperman has held a public meeting alongside Northern Powergrid with local community groups and parish councils to prepare for future storm events.
Parish and community representatives from Allendale, Haydon Bridge, Hexham, Humshaugh, Newbrough, Hexham shire, Slaley & Great Whittington attended the meeting.
There is funding of up to £20,000 available for parish councils with a resilience plan for a community hub that requires funding.
Northern Powergrid announced during the meeting that Great Whittington Parish Council’s £4,000 bid for funding had been approved, 2 weeks after application.
The MP and Northern Powergrid are holding another meeting in Bellingham Town Hall on Friday 30th September, from 6pm – 7.30pm.
Please visit: www.guyopperman.co.uk/winter-preparedness-public-meetings or call: 01434 239 205 to signup for the meeting.
Guy Opperman MP said:
“My thanks to all who came as we make progress on the significant funding for community resilience locally from Northern Powergrid.
There is funding of up to 20k available for parish councils with a resilience plan for a community hub that requires funding.
The Great Whittington application for £4,000 for their village hall has been approved, 2 weeks after application.
We do it all again on Friday in Bellingham.
The dedicated Storm Arwen section of my website has the application form for NPG's community fund and a sign up page for the Bellingham meeting.
Please visit: www.guyopperman.co.uk/winter-preparedness-public-meetings or call: 01434 239 205.”
Paul Glendinning, Policy and Markets Director at Northern Powergrid, said:
“We were delighted to be able to announce the first batch of approved funding through the Northern Powergrid Foundation including to support a warm hub at Great Whittington Village Hall. This will be able to provide heating and cooking facilities for residents in the event of future power outages.
“We have been working closely with Guy Opperman, Northumberland County Council and the Local Resilience Forum and look forward to announcing more successful bids across the region shortly.
“Northern Powergrid would like to thank everyone who came to the meeting. It was great to see so many in attendance to discuss how we can work together to support community resilience.”