Other case studies

Kielder Parthership

The Kielder Partnership is continuing to benefit from the impact of the £5.4 million capital investment at Kielder Water & Forest Park between 2007 and 2010. Key developments include the Kielder Observatory, Lakeside Way trail, six new art installations and five flagship mountain bike trails. As a result:

• five direct jobs have been created;
• tourism days have increased by 62,000 (26%) to 300,000 with 60% of these from outside the north east region; and
• direct and indirect spend has increased by £3,169,000 (33%) contributing £12.6 million to the local economy.

The visitor economy is pivotal for a sustainable future as it is the key source of employment and income generation in an area with few opportunities due to the decline in traditional economic sectors such as agriculture and mining.

The partners have established the Kielder Water & Forest Park brand and the Big Picture Development Plan provides a long term vision for the area, including a range of sustainable solutions to attract new audiences.

It builds on the strengths of Kielder to create a destination which adds critical mass to other iconic attractions in the north east, as part of One North East’s promotion of the region. Work is well under way and examples of significant recent achievements are provided below.

Affordable rural housing

There is a need for affordable rural housing to meet local employment needs and we supported this development by the Home Housing Group in Kielder village. Four of our employees live in these houses which are fully sustainable too, thanks to a pilot project which uses wood chip technologies to heat the home.

Artwork and observatory

The art and architecture programme has been developed over 15 years and there are now more than 20 innovative contemporary landscape art and architecture pieces to see, or interact with, making Kielder Water & Forest Park the largest outdoor public art gallery in the UK. Kielder also has the darkest night skies in England with minimal light pollution and the Kielder Observatory, which was designed to rise like the deck of a ship sailing above the landscape, offers exciting opportunities to those with an interest in learning more about the night sky.

Lakeside Way

This year has seen the completion of a 26 mile lakeside multi-user trail with water access points, that encircles the shoreline of Kielder Water.

Britain’s most beautiful marathon

In February, we launched the Kielder Marathon which will take place this autumn and is billed as Britain’s most beautiful marathon. It will use the Lakeside Way and, with over 1,500 runners, it will help to promote the profile of the area.

Ospreys

In 2009, a long term project to encourage Ospreys to return to the region was rewarded when a pair of first time parent birds nested on a specially erected platform and successfully reared a brood of three chicks; the first born in Northumberland for at least 200 years. Controlled access encouraged visitors to the site and this will be developed now that the birds have returned this year.