A1 dualling: Farm couple 'exhausted' by nine-year wait

A couple whose farmhouse will be demolished if consent is given to dual part of the A1 say they are "exhausted" nine years on from plans being mooted.

The government is due to sign off on the expansion of a 13-mile stretch between Morpeth and Ellingham, having postponed it three times.

It would see Amanda and Martin Beal lose Charlton Mires farmhouse, near Alnwick.

Mrs Beal, who has an incurable cancer, said they want certainty.

The farmhouse has been in the family since 1904.

"We need to know what they are going to do," she said.

"We're virtually in the same position we were nine years ago; we don't know if its going ahead or not - we just don't know."

Eighteen months ago Mrs Beal, who has MS, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. She said the uncertainty over the A1 plans had taken a toll on the couple.

"I'm worried about Martin. He doesn't sleep, he's up three times in the night talking about it and worrying about it.

"We just don't know what's happening. We need it sorted so we can get on and enjoy whatever we've got left of our lives."

The plan was first raised 15 years ago with the aim of making the road safer while boosting the local economy, but the decision on whether and when work will start has since been put back three times - most recently for the "consideration of environmental matters".

If the road dualling goes ahead, Mr and Mrs Beal's farmhouse and the steading will be demolished to make way for a flyover, while 42 acres of their land will be lost as part of the construction works.

Mr Beal said the threat of being given two months' notice to vacate their home had made his livelihood "impossible".

"You can't really farm in two months segments - we have to plan ahead for 12 months.

"If you suddenly lose 40 acres then I could lose 200 sheep and I could be selling them for less than I bought them," he added.

"You can't be expected to live like that for ever, although I think they see us as collateral damage and couldn't care less.

"If they're going to do it then do it, and if they're not we can get back to some kind of normality."

A freedom of information request earlier in the year revealed National Highways has already spent £67m on the scheme.

The money has paid for detailed designs, the application for a Development Consent Order - which is needed to allow the project to go ahead - advanced construction work and the purchase of land and properties.

Mrs Beal said it was disappointing they had heard nothing from their local Berwick MP, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who served as Secretary of State for Transport from September to October 2022.

"Another postponement would be a nightmare," said Mrs Beal.

"Where is Anne-Marie Trevelyan, why isn't she here? It's supposed to be her baby, why isn't she kicking off about it?"

Ms Trevelyan, who has campaigned for the road to be a dual carriageway, has not commented on the three previous postponements.

Her parliamentary assistant told the BBC she is overseas on ministerial duties, but indicated it was likely she will comment when a decision is made.

A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said an "update on the decision is scheduled" for Tuesday. National Highways said it will issue a statement once the decision is made.

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