Northumberland Line [Social Value]

AECOM for Northumberland County Council

Cadenza brought an innovative, purpose-led approach to the station designs for built-in self-sustaining Social Value initiatives to maximise the opportunities for the local communities

Cadenza’s Julian Sindall at Ashington Station on official launch day with some of the children from Bishops Primary School who will benefit
[Cadenza photo with permission of their Head Teacher]

The Northumberland Line project is an upgrade of a freight railway to reinstate passenger services and provide six new stations between Ashington and Northumberland Park. But its purpose is more than that.

Cadenza was asked by AECOM to originally lead the GRIP 2 feasibility design team, and then to support the Engineering Leadership team through the remaining stages to outline design.

But Cadenza also highlighted the purpose of this project is actually to unlock opportunities for communities along the route in areas of high social deprivation.

Northumberland County Council (NCC) endorsed proposals by Cadenza to begin to develop ways in which the community could be encouraged to connect with their stations better, without more cost.

We developed a range of initiatives aimed at improving prospects for local residents to access jobs, learning, leisure and wider travel.

Working with various NCC and community representatives, we created Community Engagement Plans for the Arts, Academic, and Business communities. These were focussed on:

Improving the public realm with context-focussed local art
Stimulating inward investment and tourism
Helping local businesses to attract customers and staff
Enabling local people to (re-)enter the workforce
Support those with Special Educational Needs to build confidence in using public transport
Providing passive security for the stations through regular use of adjacent facilities

We were asked to develop and assess the Social Value appraisal criteria for the construction contract, which successfully created significant community interaction and widespread project support.

NCC: “Cadenza were central to the successful delivery of the project by being knowledgeable, approachable and innovative. They never forgot 'the bigger picture' of what the project was trying to achieve.”

AECOM: “Cadenza’s [representative] is a very knowledgeable and professional engineer with far reaching understanding of the positive impacts that new or enhanced railway infrastructure can have on the surrounding communities. It has been a real pleasure working with [them] and I look forward to working with [them] again.”