By Lauren Monaghan, Junior Local Democracy Reporter, and Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
A Nottinghamshire council leader has said he’s “disappointed” plans for a new community centre hasn’t received funding from the new East Midlands Combined County Authority.
Councillor Milan Radulovic (Lab), leader of Broxtowe Borough Council, put forward a request for £50,000 to the new authority so his area – Eastwood – can get the new facilities.
The future ‘hub’, on Nottingham Road in the town centre, would be home to the Department for Work and Pensions, Job Centre Plus, the Connect to Work programme and access to health care and voluntary support.
It would also possibly offer support packages for those caring for people with Alzheimer’s Disease.
It will be designed to offer a location for nearby residents to have access to health and social support without the need to travel further away.
Plans for the hub and the borough council’s funding request were not put forward to the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) board or discussed in its recent meeting on December 16.
This is despite Cllr Radulovic confirming correspondence between himself and the EMCCA aiming to set up a meeting in the second half of November.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Cllr Radulovic said: “If you live in the north [of the borough], you have to go the Alfreton and if you live in Eastwood you have to go the Heanor and Ilkeston.
“In Eastwood, we have massive health issues because of the lack of provision. Now [funding] has been turned down by the EMCCA.
“[Access to health and social care] is too far out for local people- it needs to be in the heart of the community.”
In the recent EMCCA board meeting, funding for projects such as the continued demolition of the former Broadmarsh Centre was approved.
At the meeting, Cllr Radulovic said he felt areas such as Eastwood, and wider Broxtowe, “never get anything” and added that he had not been consulted on where public funding would be going.
Speaking to the LDRS, regional mayor Claire Ward (Lab) – who runs the authority – said the organisation doesn’t “have any information” on the Eastwood hub project mentioned by the leader.
She said: “I’ve been clear, we are not a combined county authority with a responsibility to simply plug the holes in funding districts or boroughs, or the cities or counties.
“Our role is quite specific which is to create growth and therefore so that by strategically investing into projects that will bring that growth through new jobs, infrastructure, skills.
“That is why the initial projects that we have agreed to take further, such as the Broadmarsh, are projects that were at the top of the pipelines for our constituent councils.”
She added there will be an “investment pipeline” and projects will have to demonstrate how they will deliver on economic growth.
She added: “I would not say district and boroughs are being left behind, they are part of our wider region and where we create opportunities for jobs and skills will be of benefit right across the region.”
The EMCCA board confirmed £9.5 million across six projects in the region, including £3.4 million for the demolition of the remaining parts of the old Broadmarsh shopping centre in Nottingham.
Cllr Radulovic told the LDRS that he is “very disappointed” in how funding from the combined authority is being spent.
He said: “It’s nothing to do with creating jobs, the money for Broadmarsh is to knock the building down.
“How many houses? How many businesses [from the project]? We want to see a business partner involved.
“That’s public money, how is it going to benefit unemployed people in Eastwood- we’re asking for transparency and clarity from the board.
“How does knocking down the Broadmarsh stimulate growth?”
The hub project will be discussed at the upcoming Broxtowe Borough Council Cabinet meeting on January 7, with refurbishment works – expected to take six to eight weeks – on the agenda.
The facility will be a pilot project for the first couple of years, with the hub projected to move to a more permanent location in Eastwood following this period.
