By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
Government minister Michael Gove says £20m of ‘levelling up’ cash has been given to transform a Mansfield department store so the town can unlock its potential and overcome a shortage of private sector investment.
The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities visited the town on Thursday (May 18) to meet with local leaders to discuss their plans for the former Beales site.
While welcoming the funding, the town’s Labour mayor Andy Abrahams said he had told Mr Gove to speed up the arrival of the money “so we can crack on with it”.
Mr Gove’s visit came four months to the day after his department confirmed a £20m bid, led by Mansfield District Council, had been successful for the derelict Stockwell Gate building.
The large department store closed its doors in 2019 after Beales went into administration and has remained vacant ever since.
However, the ‘Levelling Up Fund’ cash will be used to breathe new life into the building by turning it into a “one-stop-shop” public sector hub.
Once complete, Mansfield District Council will relocate into the building from its current Civic Centre on Chesterfield Road South.
The authority is expected to be joined by other organisations like Nottinghamshire County Council, the NHS and the Department for Work and Pensions.
There will also be public uses for the major store once the project is complete.
Visiting the town on Thursday, Government secretary and Conservative veteran Mr Gove praised work on the project and the support from the town’s Tory MP Cllr Ben Bradley.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “Ben Bradley explained to the department how important it was to revive the town centre of Mansfield.
“It’s a great town with a fantastic history, enormous pride and brilliant citizens but that potential, in the past, wasn’t always fulfilled because it didn’t always have the investment – particularly from the private sector – that it needs.
“Today’s visit confirms the £20m we’re spending will help transform this site and give the town centre the hub it needs with new jobs and investment from the public and private sector.”
It comes just a week after Cllr Bradley – who also leads the Tory-run county council, wrote to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak alongside other Tory MPs urging for the Levelling Up Bill to be fast-tracked through Parliament.
He also raised a question at last week’s PMQs urging Mr Sunak to “support growth and investment in the East Midlands” through devolution.
Speaking during Mr Gove’s visit, Cllr Bradley told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he believed part of the visit was the result of his “fuss in Westminster”.
He said: “I’m really pleased the Government is taking this seriously, I’ve been raising this for a long time asking for an accelerated set of outcomes.
“We’ve got a lot of levelling up projects and we’re starting to see some tangible bits of it but I want it faster, I want it bigger and I asked for that last week.
“We’ve got the Secretary of State here today and that’s fantastic. It’s great the Government has answered and I hope it will help to smooth these processes.
“This project is iconic and, if we can get it moving faster, it will be well worth causing a fuss in Westminster.”
Andy Abrahams (Lab), Mansfield’s mayor, also attended the visit and said the project – which is yet to begin construction – has been delayed by five months.
However, he says he told Mr Gove to put pressure on the Treasury to “get the money into Mansfield so we can crack on with it”.
He added: “I’ve talked to Mr Gove about the ambition of Mansfield and how this project is so central.
“We’ve talked about the emotional value of this building – it’s not just its strategic location in the centre of the town but people go back [with this building] from very young.
“Its location will be the catalyst for inward investment because it will draw in from Stockwell Gate, the Market Place and all around.
“It’s not just the investment in this building but what it will do for investment in the wider town for the benefit of the community and people of Mansfield.”
