Calls are being made for Chancellor Rishi Sunak to ‘level up’ Gedling borough by splashing the cash on a number of proposed local improvement projects.
Gedling Borough Council leader John Clarke and deputy leader Michael Payne yesterday wrote to the Chancellor appealing for fresh funding after the borough missed out on a slice of the government’s £3.6 billion Towns Fund, despite submitting a strong bid.
The leaders are now asking for a share of Mr Sunak’s new £4bn Levelling Up Fund, which was launched last week during the Chancellor’s spending review.
The fund promises to deliver a range of community projects by the end of this parliament.
In their letter to the Chancellor, the councillors wrote: “Our communities in Gedling borough were overlooked and did not receive a single penny from the £3.6 billion Towns Fund, despite submitting a strong bid, which was deeply disappointing and a missed opportunity by the Government.
“We note the Secretary of State’s own constituency of Newark, which neighbours our Borough, was chosen by the Government for an allocation of £25 million from the Stronger Towns Fund and £275,000 from the Hight Streets Heritage Action Zone programme.
In the letter the leaders highlighted a number of proposed projects which now require a fresh cash injection to move forward.
The wrote: “We trust you will honour your 2019 Conservative manifesto promise to ‘level up every part of the United Kingdom’ by ensuring that our communities in Gedling Borough will be prioritised to receive a significant allocation of the newly announced £4bn ‘Levelling Up’ Fund.
“We’ve set out several projects that Gedling Borough Council would urge you to support with an allocation from ‘Levelling Up’ Fund.
“We look forward to you sharing the details of the process for securing funds from the ‘Levelling Up’ Fund in due course, and very much hope that we can work together to develop key infrastructure projects in support of our residents, communities and businesses.”
The Gedling borough projects the council leaders want funded…
Arnold Town Centre
A bid was originally submitted as part of the Future High Street Fund but did not receive Government support. The town centre currently faces numerous challenges including a heavy reliance on retail, a lack of strong identity, poor layout and street design, and competition from Nottingham City centre. The leaders said: ‘Using our own funds, we have already started to make significant improvements to the area, and a further capital injection of around £10 million would enable us to make leisure centre improvements, create a cultural hub, and re-develop the wider site around Arnold Market place, which the council has recently purchased and is currently investing in’.
Former Gedling Mineral Line
The council has set out a vision and ambition to develop a new 3.5km walking and cycling route along the former Gedling Mineral Line, in partnership with Network Rail, Nottingham City Council, and Nottinghamshire County Council. It would involve a capital cost of around £2 million. Working with Nottingham City Council, consideration will also be given to an extension of the tram line from the City, but the business case for this will rest with the City Council.
Bestwood to Calverton Mineral Line
Gedling Borough Council are keen to support Nottinghamshire County Council to develop an 8km walking and cycling route that will connect the cultural heritage heart of the Borough with the National Cycle Route 6. This former mineral line has the potential to connect both Nottingham City Centre to the south and Sherwood Forest to the north, with the world class heritage sites of Newstead Abbey and Papplewick Pumping Station. It would also uncover local sites of major heritage importance for both visitors and local people to discover. We see this an opportunity to create local jobs and to drive our local visitor economy using our significant local heritage as the driver. This project would cost around £1 million to deliver.
Small Business Unit development
Business units suitable for start-ups and small businesses are desperately needed within the Borough to help underpin a successful economic recovery by ‘growing our own’. Located in Calverton village, the provision of a further four units has been a longstanding ambition for the Council and this well-developed £1.2m project would provide four more starter units as well as Electric Vehicle Charging points to this village. The proposal has full planning permission, is ready to go, and can easily be delivered should funds be made available.
Fourth Trent Crossing
The council want to construct a new road bridge over the River Trent, connecting Colwick and the eastern edge of Greater Nottingham with the A52 and the wider strategic road network. The area suffers from poor transport infrastructure, and this would provide opportunities for extending the tram from Nottingham City centre into Gedling, as well as developing new opportunities for walking and cycling. I have recently written to the Secretary of State for Transport, the Rt. Hon. Grant Shapps MP on two occasions now regarding this proposal but have not yet received a reply. This would require capital funding of around £70 million.
I agree that the Chancellor should honour his promises although lately the word “honour ” has been absent from the Tory Government actions. But the funds available should also benefit more than Arnold. The case for developing Arnold town centre also applies to Netherfield. In addition, there have been demographic changes to Netherfield with housing developments like Nether Pastures and proximity to the massive Rivandell site on the boundary with Stoke Bardolph. Local action groups have been instrumental in improving rail connections in Netherfield but it is still an area with a preponderance of cafes, takeaways and little to attract shoppers apart from the Co-op and one or two other shops. The adjacent Crown estate with big chain names drains away attention but this just emphasises the need for development help for Netherfield.