The centre comprises of 2 junior pitches a floodlit training area with a club meeting room and kitchen with changing facilities for players and match officials. The final cost of the development was a mind boggling £872,000 which was found by a massive donation from the Football Foundation and also a large sum from Northumberland County Council.

Jubilee People's Millions projects will inspire, involve or improve their local communities. If you've got an idea that could breathe life into your local area and improve the lives of the people who live there, why not apply for a grant of up to £60 000!

Hexham MP Guy Opperman, a barrister by training, said he would find it "astonishing" if the plans would work.

It comes after Justice Secretary Ken Clarke unveiled plans to close magistrates and county courts nationwide - including Bishop Auckland, Hexham, Alnwick, Blaydon, Gosforth, Houghton- le-Spring and Consett.

Up to 1,000 posts in the county council's 7,000-strong workforce are potentially at risk - on top of around 1,300 which have been shed over the last two years.

A two-week trawl for further voluntary redundancy applications was launched yesterday, after employees were briefed by their department heads about the latest budget cuts facing the unitary authority.

A major public consultation will be launched soon as part of a wide-ranging review which will help unitary council chiefs decide whether or not to scrap the tradition of free parking in the south east of the county.

Shopkeepers and businesses in rural communities such as Berwick, Seahouses, Alnwick, Morpeth and Hexham say it is unfair that motorists have to pay up to £1.10 an hour - while they can park free in towns such as Blyth, Cramlington, Ashington and Bedlington.

Now open to organisations including voluntary and community organisations, schools, town and parish councils, and statutory health authorities. Grants of between £300 and £10,000 are available.

There is up to £2 million available across the UK and organisations can submit applications before the three deadlines of 21July, 22 September and the 24 November 2010.

For further details and to get an application form visit our website www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/communitywildlife, or call our helpline on:
0845 367 0610.
For more ideas for projects visit www.bbc.co.uk/wild

An appeal has gone out for more parents and carers to join the organisation and come up with ideas and suggestions to move its work forward.

The Northumberland Parent, Carer and Professional Forum aims to help families across the county which have youngsters with special needs.

The restructuring of post offices, the work of local community forums and the accessibility of the county council are the three areas up for discussion at the meeting in Morpeth Town Hall at 6.30pm on Monday.

The council's Communities and Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee will hear from the Post Office network manager for the North of England about the progress made in reorganising counter services since January.

Surface dressing work will be carried out at 52 different locations across the county in the next three months.

Council highways teams will lay down hot tar on the road, followed immediately by chippings which are rolled into the surface and any excess removed by a mechanical sweeper.

Anger erupted earlier this year when county council budget cuts threatened to bring the axe down on concessionary taxi travel for people physically unable to use other forms of public transport.

The council said it was planning to scrap four taxi schemes - which operated in Blyth Valley, Tynedale, Castle Morpeth and Wansbeck - to save £70,000 a year. Now it has had a change of heart and plans to launch a new, county-wide scheme on July 1 which involves people paying £10 for £50 worth of taxi tokens.

Called Space Hop, the scheme will be running across Northumberland's libraries from Saturday July 3 and will last up to August 28.

Illustrated by leading children's book artist Tom Percival, Space Hop coincides with the 350th anniversary of The Royal Society's scientific endeavours, and the 2010 BBC Year of Science.

The council has released figures showing how its development control department is performing, in terms of the percentage of planning applications submitted to it which are determined within guidelines.

The report shows that 49% of minor applications are decided within the eight week guideline, 29% below the target set by the authority of 78%.

Currently there are five councillors each for the Hexhamshire Ward and Lower Quarter Ward with a current electorate of 283 and 294 respectively.

The parish council now believes the separation is historical rather than practical, and as parish councillors represent the whole parish and make decisions on its behalf, it believes the electorate would be best served by the councillors being elected for the whole parish rather than the two wards.

A review is under way and a report will be sent to Northumberland County Council in September. Any changes would take place for the May 2013 parish elections.

Senior officers at County Hall in Morpeth have come up with the figure after making fresh budget calculations based on comments made by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat administration at Westminster.

The estimated additional efficiency savings for 2010/11 would come on top of budget reductions of £21m agreed in February, and are likely to be followed by another £20m worth of savings in 2011/12.

County council officials are carrying out a survey to build up a picture of the provision of childcare in different areas.

The results will be used to help shape the future of the service and meet the needs of working parents and carers. Childcare providers are also being asked to take part in the survey.