From ancient castles to the legacy of its coal mining past, Northumberland boasts a rich historical, cultural and geographical diversity. As the county grows and changes, we face key questions around how it will balance the need for new housing with creating jobs and opportunities for the area.
- Where will new homes be built?
- How will we create good jobs?
- How do we protect the landscapes and heritage we love?
Planning isn’t just about buildings. It’s about shaping the places we call home - how we travel, where our children go to school, whether there’s green space nearby, and what our towns and villages feel like. Good planning means thinking ahead, and thinking together.
To make sure local voices guide these big decisions, Northumberland County Council is holding a series of Citizen Vision Sessions. The sessions will be guided by the question:
“How should we shape the design of Northumberland's neighbourhoods to support thriving happy communities and protect the environment, now and in the future?”
Recruited in collaboration with the Sortition Foundation to reflect the county’s population, 22 residents will come together across three full days in September 2025. Together, they will create a positive vision for their neighbourhoods and develop a set of principles to guide planning decisions.
The vision and principles will inform the design codes for the Local Plan, which will be updated by Northumberland County Council’s Planning Housing and Planning team, and Environment and Transport Team. Design codes are the practical tools that shape how new homes, streets and public spaces are created and so are an integral part of planning.
This conversation is about what matters to people and how we can work together to shape a better, greener and more liveable Northumberland. The outcomes from these sessions won’t just sit on the shelf - they’ll influence real-world decisions, and the places where people live, work and grow.
These sessions are part of Innovate UK’s Net Zero Living programme - a major UK wide project to help local authorities engage their citizens on how to get to Net Zero. In partnership with Forum for the Future, Ipsos, and Quantum Strategy and Technology Ltd, we are working with 25 local authorities across the Country to create a citizen vision for their area that guides their decision making so that it is based on what people want.
You can read more about the Thriving Places programme here.