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The legacy of ‘Levelling Up’: All the major regeneration projects happening across Nottinghamshire

By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter

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Councils across Nottinghamshire say dozens of projects to improve left-behind areas are still progressing  – after millions of pounds in funding was awarded under the former Conservative Government’s ‘Levelling Up’ agenda.

Former Tory Prime Minister Boris Johnson made the idea of “levelling up” one of his government’s top aims after winning the 2019 General Election, under which he promised to improve areas that had suffered from a lack of investment for decades.

However last year a report by the Government’s public accounts committee –  which examines the value for money of Government projects – said a huge number of projects awarded money under the flagship policy had been plagued by delays.

Concerns were also raised that councils were spending “scarce public resources” on failed bids in an attempt to land money.

The policy included the Levelling Up Fund, for which there were three rounds of bidding, plus the Towns Fund, and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Between them, these pots of money will have seen £10.4 billion spent on local areas since 2020.

Across Nottinghamshire, a significant amount of money is being spent on a number of schemes.

While work on some of them is is yet to begin, councils say they will be starting soon.

Nottingham

Nottingham City Council says its plans to carry out almost £20m in improvements to Bulwell town centre “are well under way”.

The authority successfully bid for £19.8m to revamp the town.

Money will be spent on improving the much-loved Bulwell Bogs area, which will be “fully refreshed with a new planting and landscape design, including a high-quality play offer to cater for all ages”.

The splash park will also be renewed and expanded, and a refreshments kiosk will be built including a toilet.

The existing market will also be improved and equipment will be replaced with a flexible mix of stalls, along with better access to electrical power on site, allowing flexibility in attracting both new and existing vendors. Toilets at the bus station toilets will be rebuilt and modernised.

The council said: “Construction work is due to begin in autumn 2025, which has been deliberately chosen to minimise the impact of construction works during the school holidays and to ensure that the Bogs remain open as usual for families to enjoy over the summer.”

In 2021, the council further successfully bid for £18 million from the Government’s Levelling Up fund to deliver the Renewing Local Streets transport programme.

The council says this work has now been completed, improving streets and local town centres and make walking and cycling easier and safer.

By March 2026, around £13m will have been given out to support employment, community facilities and local businesses under the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), the council adds.

Broxtowe 

Since 2022 Broxtowe Borough Council says it has been in receipt of “large scale funding for major regeneration projects and local initiatives”.

Kimberley town centre is being revamped using £16.5m in Levelling Up funding, with a new business and community hub expected to be built in Newdigate Street.

Funding will also be used to create a new active travel route that will link up Kimberley with Eastwood, Giltbrook, Phoenix Park Tram Stop and Bennerley Viaduct.

The Grade II-listed viaduct reopened to the public in 2022 after being closed for 54 years, and the funds are being used to improve the landmark with a new accessible ramp and a visitor centre.

“In the last three years through Stapleford Towns Deal, the Football Foundation, Kimberley Means Business the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, FCC funding, Broxtowe has been awarded  £42.74 million,” the council said.

“All the funding is committed to projects and around £23.5 million has already been received and defrayed or contractually committed.

“This financial year should see drawdown of most of the remaining money with the end of the last projects scheduled for March 2027.”

Mansfield

Mansfield District Council and the Mansfield Place Board have received £12.3m from the Towns Fund, £20m from the Levelling Up Fund and £2.96m from the shared prosperity fund.

Five projects funded by the Towns Fund, including Berry Hill Destination Park, the Warsop Health Hub, and West Nottinghamshire College Future Technology Centre, will be completed by 2025, the council says.

The Berry Hill Destination Park includes a new visitor centre, café, play area and repairs to pathways.

The council said visitor centre foundations are laid and timber framework is going in over the next two weeks; new footpaths are almost complete; and the car park completed and resurfaced.

The Warsop Health Hub is now open and complete.

Building work at the The Mansfield Ambition Exchange (formerly known as Future Technology and Skills Exchange) – at West Nottinghamshire College – is complete, with the first students due to attend in September.

The council says money from the Levelling Up Partnership “was awarded relatively recently”, and there is still progress to be made on these. Some of the projects are led by Nottinghamshire County Council and other agencies.

Projects include £7.4m to remodel the Bellamy and Oak Tree estates and improve housing quality and access to services, £3.2m for a youth centre on the Bellamy estate to help divert young people from crime and anti-social behaviour, £2m for streetscaping and public realm improvements in the centre of Mansfield – with initial proposals due to be presented to the council’s cabinet this month –  as well as £2m for improvements to Sainsbury’s junction, a local traffic pinch-point.

Mayor Andy Abrahams said: “Mansfield District, which has suffered years of under investment, has really embraced all the levelling up funding opportunities that they have successfully bid for in recent times.

“The schemes we have supported, many with match funding, have been, and will continue to be, transformational for our communities, supporting local businesses and increasing skills and creating job opportunities for our residents.

“The new Warsop Health Hub is ground-breaking in its approach to providing accessible health and wellbeing services by fostering social connections to support local initiatives. Berry Hill Park, which came close to closing because of neglect before the council took on its management, now has a multi-million pound scheme nearing completion that will transform the park into a flagship public space.

“The Mansfield Connect scheme to create a new civic and multi-agency hub along with urban greening streetscaping and improvements to Mansfield’s historic marketplace, will transform and regenerate the town centre.

“Our continuing ambition to bring more young people to the town centre, as a result of our excellent partnership with West Nottinghamshire College, will be given another boost with the opening of the £8.9m Mansfield Ambition Exchange in September, delivering Level 3 and higher courses.”

Ashfield

Ashfield District Council said the Government withdrew £9m in Levelling Up Fund money for Hucknall in February.

A letter from local growth minister Alex Norris, also the Labour MP for Nottingham North and Kimberley, said funding had been withdrawn because of the “extremely challenging fiscal environment this government has inherited”.

Projects the money would have been used on in Hucknall would have included a new 3G sports pitch, improvements to the roads and public space around the local cinema, and a study into expanding outdoor markets.

However the council says it has successfully rolled out £1.3 million in funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), distributed by the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA)

Projects included the refurbishment work at Ashfield’s Cornerstone Theatre, in partnership with ATTFE, breathing new life into the key cultural venue, as well as planned public realm improvements at Central Walk and Chapel Street in Hucknall, with design work underway and a public consultation planned.

Community and business grants have also been offered, and collaborative work with the Teversal, Stanton Hill and Skegby Neighbourhood Forum is helping shape projects aligned with the Stanton Hill Investment Plan, the council adds.

Councillor Jason Zadrozny, Leader of Ashfield District Council, said: “This funding gives us the flexibility to deliver meaningful projects that directly benefit our communities.

“It’s fantastic to see that this funding is already making a difference, from helping residents into better jobs to supporting local businesses and improving public spaces.

“We’re making sure every pound goes towards building a stronger, more vibrant Ashfield. I’m excited to see how the projects progress even further over time.”

Newark and Sherwood

The majority of projects under the Newark Towns Deal, which were announced in 2020, are complete, or well-progressed in their delivery, Newark and Sherwood District Council says.

“The Air and Space Institute, Construction College and YMCA Community and Activity Village have all been built and are making a positive impact in the town providing young people with a wide range of opportunities to expand their learning and increase their career prospects,” the council said.

“The cycle town scheme has seen four Brompton Bike hubs installed in the town to encourage alternative methods of travel and our Newark Cultural Heart project has ended its three-year programme which saw an increase in footfall in Newark thanks to a wide range of events such as Small Business Showcase and an 18-metre-long whale.

“32 Stodman Street and the Southern Link Road are well underway, and the Newark Gatehouse Project is just starting its construction phase. These are three major projects that will have a great impact on how people travel, shop and visit Newark and it’s exciting to see these come to life.”

Under the Plan for Neighbourhood, announced in March 2025, Newark was selected as one of 75 areas to receive up to £20m, to help drive growth over a ten-year period from 2026.

The Newark Town Board is responsible for overseeing the funding, in addition to the existing Towns Deal, and is now working to develop a local ‘Regeneration Plan’ to submit to Government by November.

The Shaping Sherwood’s Revival (Ollerton and Clipstone Regeneration) programme was initially awarded funding through the third round of the Levelling Up Fund in late 2023.

“Following a national pause in the programme in 2024, the council received formal confirmation of LUF funding in April 2025, with a revised spend deadline of March 2028,” the council added.

“The council is working to progress both plans within the required delivery timescales. The Clipstone regeneration scheme includes the development of new commercial and industrial units (phase 1) which received planning permission earlier this year, an enhanced sports and leisure offer (phase 2) which plans have been submitted and an educational and recreational scheme associated with the Vicar Water Country Park (phase 3) which plans are still being designed.

“The Ollerton regeneration plans aim to provide an enhanced town centre space, creating jobs, driving economic growth and improving spaces for local people to socialise and access key services. Plans aim to deliver a boutique cinema and residential, retail and hospitality spaces, as well as public sector spaces. There will be a drop-in event for residents on Thursday, September 11, to view the final designs before a planning application is submitted later this year.”

Gedling

Carlton has been named as one of 75 towns set to receive funding and specialist support from the Government’s £1.5 billion Plan for Neighbourhoods scheme.

The council could get up to £20 million over a 10-year period to use on community projects to regenerate the area and reduce anti-social behaviour. It is expected the authority will get £2m each year, and a board has been set up to decide what projects it will be spent on.

The money is expected to be handed over later this year.

Gedling Borough Council was also allocated more than £2.8m from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

However the council’s bids for money to improve Arnold town centre failed, promoting criticism of the Levelling Up agenda and claims in 2024 it crated a “begging-bowl culture” from the then Deputy Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor Michael Payne, who went on to become Labour MP for Gedling.

Bassetlaw

Bassetlaw District Council is receiving almost £18m in funding, after its bid from the second round of the Levelling Up Fund was approved.

The money will be spent on improvements to Worksop town centre. Work will initially focus on the redevelopment of the Priory Centre including the creation of a new family-focused leisure facility with activities such as tenpin bowling, indoor soft play, a trampoline park and a café.

Some of the other projects in the area include the revamp of vacant buildings, and the £1m refurb of Retford Town Hall.

More than £100,000 was also awarded to support Bassetlaw’s outreach work in preparation for the arrival of a prototype nuclear fusion plant at West Burton.

“The scheme will look to retain existing occupiers and bring in new tenants for empty units,” the council says.

“The works will also create a new towpath link along the Chesterfield Canal, improve a green corridor through the town centre, and bring two sites forward for the development of new apartments and town houses.”

Rushcliffe

Rushcliffe Borough Council was unsuccessful for two bids for Government funding to support capital projects.

It was however awarded just over £2.5m as part of the UKSPF, some of which was handed out to businesses in the form of support grants.