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Chronicle Live

National

Daniel Hall

Northumberland village with eye-watering £600,000 average house price where some are using foodbanks

Foodbank Northumberland Ponteland

A tranquil village green, a running river, church bells ringing and you have the quintessential essence of a Northumberland village.

And that's what you have at the heart of Ponteland, though the roads around that image above are anything but quiet during the school run. Nevertheless, it's a sought-after part of the region for many, thanks to schools rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted; a wide range of places to eat, drink and shop; and easy access to both Newcastle, Morpeth and the Northumberland countryside.

It even has 'the best pub in the North East,' at least according to the North East Tourism Awards. The Blackbird sits in the village alongside the Diamond and the Seven Stars, as well as a few drinking spots that aren't quite conventional pubs, such as YOLO, Flying Gang Brewing and Ponteland Tap.

Of course, all of that comes at a cost - according to the latest Rightmove data, the average house price in Ponteland over the last year is £603,149, a 30% increase since 2019. That average house price is pushed up by Darras Hall, a residential area which has had several local Premier League stars living there over the years, with one road's average house price being more than £1.2m.

However, Darras Hall house prices do not paint a true picture of the whole of the village, with the cost of living in more modest areas having bitten some residents so hard that they've turned to food banks. Recently, the West Northumberland Food Bank revealed it had delivered parcels to Ponteland, though it did not specify to which areas of the village.

Five food parcels having been handed out in the last seven months compared to more than 400 across the rest of the area that the food bank covers, but it will come as a surprise to some that any were handed out in the village at all. Despite the food bank helping a small number families in the village, the cost of living hasn't had such an impact that it has been noticed one of the local primary schools - at least not yet.

Dr Caroline Pryer, Headteacher of Ponteland Community Primary School, said: "We haven't noticed anything yet, and I'm going to say yet because I'm aware through other connections that it (the cost of living's impact) hasn't quite cut in yet. It's beginning to show but we're not at the point of having to do things or seeing the need to be asked to help."

Alongside her role at the school, Dr Pryer works with the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA), which provides lifelong support to those serving and veterans from the British Armed Forces and their families or dependents. The charity predicts that where people will find the pinch is when the food supplies, such as wheat and vegetables, reduce - and this is when there may be an increase in requests for free school meals.

How have you been affected by the cost of living? Let us know in the comments below.

Dr Pryer continued: "We may find that there are more children whose parents apply for free school meals. We haven't seen that yet, but we are anticipating that there will be an increase in free school meals in time."

And Dr Pryer and her staff are looking out to make sure that any children from families who don't feel they can approach the school for help aren't going hungry. She continued: "If we see that there are children who are not eating a great deal, then we've always got fruit and we've always got milk.

"If children are hungry, if they're looking a bit worried, a bit weepy, or just a bit pale around the gills so to speak, then we'd always find something whether it's a biscuit or a sweetie somewhere or a mug of tea with a sugar in. We do so much PE here that we have to make sure children have enough energy for the day."

The increase in the cost of living is expected to hit in other ways, even if free school meals or food banks are not needed. Dr Pryer finished: "I think we may find that ther are families who feel that they can't support the schools when it comes to trips out in the summer term. We'll have to find solutions for them if they can't afford those things or they're finding it a little bit tight."

As well as the school trips Dr Pryer mentioned, another thing that people may have cut down on due to spiralling costs is eating and drinking out. Following it's recent 'best pub in the region' award, the Blackbird isn't struggling too much - at least not from the outside, with plenty of customers still coming in due to the warm weather.

However its owner, Stuart Young, has noticed a change, with some customers popping in less often than they usually would. He said: "People are coming out a little less often for their treats or they come out and maybe spend a little less each visit.

"Inflation certainly can't help some of our elderly customers who are living on pensions or fixed incomes or retirement income - whatever it may be. They're not going to get a pay rise to cover the increase in their utility bills, which we all know is a big increase."

As well as noticing a change in customers, the pub's costs have gone up in what Stuart deemed a 'perfect storm.' He continued: "We can use somewhere between six and nine drums a week on cooking oil and what used to cost £14 or £15 is now over £40. That's a hidden cost and though we don't sell it back to customers, we use it in our meals.

"Inflation on fish is massive at the moment, we've had bird flu which has pushed up the price of chicken and eggs, there are massive cost increases everywhere and unfortunately we're having to pass some of these on because we can't absorb everything."

Stuart is surprised that given the previous two years on the Coronavirus pandemic that the Government has returned to the full VAT rate of 20%. He continued: "I think that after two years where the trade and the industry has suffered enormously through being open and closed with Covid, I found it a little strange that the Chancellor has decided to go back to full VAT because that was arguably one of the best benefits for restaurants and pubs that serve a lot of food.

"It's very difficult to predict ahead at the moment, but I think the next 12 months are going to be volatile and hard and less well-structured and less well-funded companies - these will inevitably go to the wall."

One of the customers who has swapped the Blackbird for a cheaper option is Jean Banks, who has lived in the village her whole life. She was surprised to hear that food parcels have been delivered in the village, though has noticed that the number of yellow stickers in the town's largest supermarket, Waitrose, has increased a lot recently.

She said: "You're seeing an awful lot more of the yellow stickers. There are trolleys at the checkout a couple of times a week.

"It would usually be out of my pocket, but I'm happy to go in and rummage through the baskets for yellow stickers. You didn't used to get that though, wherever they put their discounted food, it certainly wasn't at the checkout."

Jean also reckons there has always been a divide between Ponteland and Darras Hall, which is continuing to grow, saying: "I do think that Darras Hall and the calibre of people there who are extremely wealthy don't look after people who are not so wealthy as much as they used to when I was a child. There was a lot more philanthropy then, there are people round here now with so much money, putting brick walls and gates up, that it's a bit exclusive rather than inclusive.

"People like women's groups and the Red Cross would help - not underprivileged children, because there weren't really any - but the area around this (Thornhill Road and Richard Coates Primary School) was a council estate originally. Now, the schools are the only places that people mix, it's more integrated now than when I was younger and there was a real separation of the class."

For now, though it seems that while the cost of living is undoubtedly having an effect in Ponteland, as it is everywhere else, it is a very small number who are having to turn towards food banks. A spokesperson for Ponteland Town Council said that, so far the Council has not been approached by anyone in Ponteland about the cost of living crisis or any difficulties it is created, although he said the council as a whole as well as councillors individually do offer support to local foodbanks and charities.

On social media, some residents acknowledged that there are areas across the region far worse off, while West Northumberland Food Bank have delivered a far higher proportion of parcels to the rest of Tynedale.

However, the fact that any have been delivered to Ponteland at all will be a massive surprise to many - including those who live there.

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