Protesters are due to voice their concerns today over proposed cuts by Newcastle City Council to make ninety million pounds worth of savings.
The council announced how the cuts would be made last week when it emerged that there would be 1,300 job losses, ten libraries to close and that the City Pool would close - all in a bid to make millions of pounds worth of savings.
The council says that it has to lose the libraries, swimming pools and jobs, amongst other services, after the government reduced its grant.
To see our full coverage on the cuts, you can read more about them here.
"Every one of those job cuts means a lost job opportunity in a city where unemployment is already high - particularly amongst young people."
The branch will work with staff, service users, carers and the public, to challenge the Council's proposals."
– Paul Gilroy, branch secretary of Unison in Newcastle
£9.2 million bill for June's massive downpour in Newcastle
June 28th was a very dark day for residents across Newcastle, particularly those in Newburn.
A month's rain fell in just two hours - causing havoc across the city.
A blocked culvert at Spencer Court in Newburn provided the most dramatic images as the foundations were swept away.
Now, the area's MP Catherine McKinnell has said that the total bill to Newcastle Council is £9.2 million.
The MP has criticised the government's failure to provide grants to help out.
A government scheme called Belwin is available to councils, subject to certain caps, to help councils deal with immediate recovery costs after disasters.
The Local Government Minister Brandon Lewis said that while the June floods did have a significant impact locally, overall this summer's floods were on a lesser scale than those which struck in 2007.
Then 55, 000 homes and properties were flooded nationally compared to 4000 in 2012.
Swimming club says pool closure will halt Olympic dreams
A Newcastle swimming club has launched an urgent campaign to halt plans to shut down the pool in which it has trained for over thirty years.
The City of Newcastle Amateur Swimming Club trains at Newcastle's City Pool for over seventy hours each week, and the pool has seen three olympians train there, as well as many more swimmers who have represented Great Britain internationally.
Two swimmers from the club, 14-year-old Georgia Darwent and 16-year-old Tom Howley, represented Great Britain this summer at the Olympics.
The club and other swimmers at the pool face eviction if plans go ahead to close City Pool in March 2013.
"The news of the threatened closure has come as a massive shock to the Club and our swimmers. It is ironic that in 2012 Newcastle's Olympic legacy threatens to be the closure of the City Pool, the home to the City's Swimming Club and some of the region's best swimming talent.
If the pool closes Newcastle will have lost a crucial sporting asset as well as a building of major historic importance in the heart of the city."
– Louise Graham, Head Coach of City of Newcastle ASC
Newcastle heritage will be sold to plug £90M funding gap
A piece of Newcastle’s heritage is going to be sold to help plug a multi-million funding gap.
The Lord Mayor's official coach, which has been pulled through the streets of the city for more than 200 years is valued at £80,000 and will go towards filling a £90 million gap.
It is a decision the council says it is doing “reluctantly” after “cuts in Government grant and rising cost pressures”.
The council says it has endured two years of Government cuts with another three to come. It says any money raised will be classed as a capital receipt and used for newcapital investment in the city such as highways and schools.
"We are looking at all ways of raising money. It gives me no pleasure whatsoever tosell off the Lord Mayor's coach to the highest bidder - but our financialsituation leaves us with no room for sentimentality.
"As a council we have a duty to helpfamilies who are suffering. In order todo that, we now have to sell off the family silver.
"As leader of this council I will alwaysput people before objects. If the coach raises money that will help us to avoidcuts to services that people need then I make no apologies for that."
– Councillor Nick Forbes, Leader of Newcastle City Council
Dunelm Homes "has full planning approval for Newburn flats"
Dunelm homes said it had full planning and technical approval for the whole of the Newburn flats site. The company said an agreement was signed in 2008 that committed Newcastle City Council to adopt the roads and the culvert which flooded, subject to construction standards being met.
It said the roads and culvert were due to be adopted subject to final inspections by the Council in summer 2012. But Dunelm said the process had been suspended and responsibility for both the roads and culvert at Spencer Court and Millvale remain in its hands.
Newcastle City Council's announced spending cuts of 30 million pounds - which will mean 360 job losses. The local authority set out its latest budget at a full council meeting last night. The council claims it will protect front line services where possible.
Public sector unions say they'll fight compulsory redundancies. All councils are implementing the Government's 2010 spending review which will see local authority spending reduced by more than a quarter by 2015.
