By Lauren Monaghan, Junior Local Democracy Reporter
Nearly £180,000 will be spent on landscape improvements around a city centre area seen as ‘hot spot’ for regeneration – including £60,000 towards a new games area.
Nottingham City Council this week approved £177,000 of funding to improve Sussex Street and the Broadmarsh area.
New planting is planned for the area, which sits next to Nottingham College and already contains the existing basketball court.
The spot is popular with young people for recreational use and falls under the tram bridge connecting Lace Market and Nottingham Station.
A new multi-use games area is planned for the space, costing £60,000, alongside £50,000 worth of planting improvements.
Council papers say the improvements will “help the area to look better”.
The Standing in this Place sculpture, planned for the city’s Green Heart park in early 2025, will also receive a £10,000 contribution.
The rest of the funding will cover the project management fees and the three-year landscape establishment period.
Councillor Sam Lux (Lab), Executive Member for Carbon Reduction, Leisure and Culture, said: “The Broad Marsh area is becoming a bit of a hot spot- we’ve seen wonderful change there already, it is becoming a bit of a beacon of hope.
“With the planting that is going there, not only does it look beautiful, it’s also good for biodiversity and flooding.
“One of the things we struggle with with planting is maintenance, but the good thing about [this scheme] is the maintenance costs are included.
“I love seeing the demographic of people in that area. You have a lot of young people from different backgrounds.
“It’s really positive. It sends the right message to developers that this is the place to come.”
Council leader Neghat Khan, Executive Member for Strategic Regeneration, said: “It’s great to see contributions from new developments going towards making our city a better place to be.
“This funding will go towards improvements to add a new multi use games area to the Sussex Street area, which is already very popular with young people.”
The money that is funding the scheme comes from a open space contribution from the nearby Short Hill development.
