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Council gives green light for £30 million demolition of remaining Broadmarsh site

The continued demolition of Broadmarsh – which is expected to cost £30 million – has cleared one of its final hurdles.

Applicant Homes England submitted a prior approval determination application to Nottingham City Council on April 11.

This was to confirm whether the demolition project could go-ahead without needing further planning approval from the council.

Nottingham City Council has now given the green-light for the project on Thursday, May 8.

Documents read: “The proposed demolition may be carried out at any time within five years of April 5, 2025, but after that date, a further application will be needed.”

Construction on the Broadmarsh redevelopment is expected to begin in 2029.

It comes after Nottingham City Council approved the sale of the land to Homes England, the UK Government’s housing and regeneration agency, in March.

Initial works will focus on demolition and site preparation, with major construction expected to start in 2029.

The entire site includes the remains of the shopping centre, the cleared site to the west of the Green Heart, the NCP multi-storey car park, Severns House and the old college site on Maid Marian Way.

“The purchasers will commit significant financial, specialist, and reputational investment to deliver the Broadmarsh master plan,” documents say.

“The purchaser will begin active works on the project in the short term and aim to begin construction in 2029/30.

“The buyer has a strong focus on place making, sustainability, and quality, and will require similar from private sector developers.

“This work will be facilitated in part by the recent East Midlands Combined Authority grant which has been provisionally awarded to the council.

“The city will benefit from the jobs, homes and other benefits resulting from the delivery of Broad Marsh.”

Once the shopping centre is fully demolished, close to 1,000 new homes will be built alongside 20,000 square metres of employment space, creating about 2,000 full-time jobs.

Nottingham City Council took over the derelict shopping centre in 2020 after previous owner intu went into administration.

The entire demolition project is expected to cost £29.3 million.

A principal contractor for the project has not been appointed as of yet, documents say.

Construction firm Willmott Dixon finished demolishing a section of the shopping centre in 2022, before work on the Green Heart city park began.

The new park, which features a marsh area and sandstone rock features inspired by the area’s history, opened in September last year and now houses the Standing in Our Place sculpture.

This was unveiled in January and marks the contributions of thousands of unnamed and forgotten women involved in the East Midlands’ textile and lace industry.