Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has heard concerns raised by Northumberland Conservatives and residents of Berwick-upon-Tweed about Arch, the "arms length" regeneration company wholly opened by Northumberland County Council. Eric Pickles was speaking at The Cobbled Yard Hotel, opposite the old Kwik Save Site, which is controversially being developed by Arch into offices for Northumberland County Council and a local accountancy practice.
Eric Pickles had come to Berwick to support Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Conservative parliamentary candidate's, election campaign and asked the audience, of assorted guests, to tell him about "this development company" he has been hearing about. Residents raised concerns about the governance arrangements and so-called "arms-length" relationship with Northumberland County Council and complained that Arch were "cherry picking" the best sites in Berwick but failing to offer solutions that would facilitate proper regeneration in the town. David Blackburn commented; "since when does regeneration come about from relocating offices?". Michael Stewart told Eric Pickles that he had been calling for a public meeting with representatives of Northumberland County Council since last summer so residents could raise these concerns but that this request has continued to fall on deaf ears. Eric Pickles replied that he "could not understand" why this had not been agreed to.
Peter Jackson, the leader of Northumberland Conservatives, raised the issue of the proposed changes to the County's planning system and told Eric Pickles that the Labour-led administration at County Hall were "anti-democratic" and "running an almost Stalinist dictatorship, refusing to listen to anyone but themselves and running the Council like we were still stuck in the 1960s". Eric Pickles, also commented that he was "shocked" to hear about the situation within, and apparent transparency failings, within some of the Town Councils within the constituency.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who recently raised her own concerns about Arch saying that they seemed to be; "combining the worst excesses of a private developer with the waste and inefficiency associated with the worst of the public sector" said; "It was fantastic to have Eric Pickles come to Berwick this morning and listen to these concerns from ordinary people who, like me, wish to see much improved transparency and better outcomes for local people".