East Midlands to receive £63m to improve High Streets

Seven areas across the East Midlands are set to receive a funding boost through the Future High Streets Fund, the Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has announced on Wednesday (19 May).

This £831m investment, which was announced in December 2020, will now help a total of 72 areas across England to implement local plans to improve transport infrastructure, build new homes and transform underused spaces.

Derby, Sutton in Ashfield, Grantham, Nottingham, Heanor, Northampton and Buxton will each receive funding in recognition of the forward-thinking and innovative proposals they have developed, including:

– £6.28m for Sutton-in-Ashfield will be used to improve pedestrian links to within the town centre. It will also fund the refurbishment of the Sutton Academy theatre and the creation of a new pop-up food and events spaces for a thriving town centre.

– £15.03m investment for Derby will revitalise the city’s market. Funding for the Eastern Gateway will create a new residential neighbourhood and improved transport links from the bus station to the high street.

– £12.53m for Nottingham to improve the area around Angel Row and Maid Marian Way. The historic frontage of the current Central Library on Angel Row will be protected and handed back to the council to be fitted out as a 1,535 sqm space. This will become the Angel Row Creative Co-operative, providing exhibition and gallery space, studios, workshops, experiential technology, offices, hot desks and a digital resource library for the city’s burgeoning creative industry. This dovetails with the council’s plan to open a new Central Library to the south of the city centre, and the sale of the Central Library building to a developer is being finalised. They will hand the space for the Angel Row Creative Co-operative to the City Council.

On Maid Marian Way, new traffic layouts will enhance pedestrian routes from Derby Road to cultural destinations such as Nottingham Playhouse, the Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall and Nottingham Castle, as well as improve public transport, the city centre cycling network and the pedestrian area of Chapel Bar. These will take place at the junction of Mount Street and Maid Marian Way, as well as the junction of Upper Parliament Street and Derby Road.

Councillor Rebecca Langton, Portfolio Holder for Skills, Growth and Economic Development, said: “We’re pleased to have secured this funding, which is a vote of confidence in Nottingham’s plans to re-think our city centre post-Covid. Over £12m will help us to preserve our heritage buildings, make it easier to get around the city centre and improve the street environment as we do.

“This funding will help us work towards our City Centre strategy and other important plans and projects that are already underway. These plans include retaining more of our talented graduates, promoting creative industries for further job growth, as well as having more people living in, working in and visiting the city centre.”

Lorraine Baggs, head of investment at Marketing NG, said: “The plans to reimagine Angel Row and establish the Angel Row Creative Co-operative are hugely welcome for Nottingham, and it’s pleasing to see the City Council has taken the post-Covid high street into account with future flexible working in mind. Companies will need to provide a reason to tempt people away from working at home and offer spaces where people can collaborate, work flexibly and engage together and this could serve as a model that will meet those needs while harnessing the city’s strong creative industries economy.

“The idea of a workplace of the times and a forward thinking, progressive creative space behind a historic frontage will add a unique element to Nottingham’s city centre, and the improvement of pedestrian routes to our cultural and tourist attractions will only serve to boost our visitor economy.”

Lucy Stanford, manager of Nottingham Business Improvement District (BID) commented: “An investment of this size is great news for the city and an important element in re-imagining the city centre post-Covid. Angel Row is a well-used gateway into the city centre for office workers and is often the first part of the city that visitors to Nottingham get to see when arriving by public transport, so it will be great to see the area receiving some much-needed care and attention.”