Additional funding secured for Newark totals nearly £50m

Newark and Sherwood District Council, working alongside a range of partners, has been committed to maximising any opportunity or grant scheme available to help deliver its objectives.

The funding is in addition to the £50 million in grants that was paid to support local businesses in Newark and Sherwood during the Coronavirus pandemic in 2021, helping them during difficult trading periods.

Councillor David Lloyd, Leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “District Council staff, Councillors, and our partners have worked tirelessly in order to put a number of complex bids in to secure investment for Newark and the wider district. We are thrilled to have been successful for nearly 50 million pounds in 2021, ranging from developing under-utilised land and buildings, to transport infrastructure, to programmes that will create new educational provisions, routes into employment and training schemes.

“We remain, with others, committed to transforming Newark into a vibrant place for people to live, work and visit. Some projects are complete, some are well underway, and others will follow over the next three to five years. I look forward to seeing our plans come to life during the next few years.

“We won’t just stop here though, this is a start not an end.  2022 will see us continue to work with others, to be agile and able to apply for as much additional funding as possible to support residents and businesses all over the district.  An up to £25m Levelling Up Fund submission will be prepared for the Sherwood area by the District Council. This will sit alongside Nottinghamshire County Council’s submission, supported by the District Council, for the reopening and extension of the Robin Hood line and associated new stations at Edwinstowe and Ollerton.  It is only through the ambition and passion of the District Council and its partners to create the best opportunities for businesses and residents that this additional funding has been secured.  Without this drive, the district would not have this additional £50m allocated.  I am incredibly proud of the hard working team responsible for securing this additional investment.”

During 2021, funding was secured for projects including preparatory works for the redevelopment of the former Marks and Spencer site on Stodman Street (£284,000) and the Yorke Drive regeneration project (£1,050,000) via the government’s Brownfield Land Release Fund, which has allocated approximately £58m to local authorities to deliver housing on under-utilised public sector land.

Funding was also granted to the District Council, after a successful application, to launch various projects as part of the UK Community Renewal Fund (CRF), which supports areas to pilot programmes and new approaches that will better support people and communities.  As part of the CRF, just over £1.2m has been allocated specifically to Newark and Sherwood for employment and training support for local people and businesses that will be delivered via four different programmes. These include:

• The East Midlands Accelerator Programme (£578,368) to support businesses to increase their local carbon intelligence, help retail and hospitality businesses to develop their e-commerce, provide finance to help start-up businesses, provide work-based training and mentoring to convert Kickstart and graduate programmes into a sustained job and grants to help businesses with resilience and growth
• The Good Work programme (£135,673) to support people who have complex mental or physical health needs into employment
• The Newstart programme (£402,396) to support people into employment, new business or develop new skills
• Volunteer it Yourself (£153,000) for young people aged 16 to 24 to regenerate community spaces while learning new vocational skills and gaining Entry Level City and Guilds trade skills accreditations and qualifications.

Volunteer It Yourself (VIY) is currently looking for valued community spaces in Newark and Sherwood that could benefit from a refresh or repair. These could include sports clubs, music venues, youth clubs, libraries and community cafes.  Community groups who think they have a space that qualifies are encouraged to fill out VIY's Google form, and their team will be in touch. VIY will entirely fund projects at no cost to the venue, but projects must not exceed £25,000.

The District Council, in partnership with Nottinghamshire County Council and Urban&Civic, was also successful in the bid to the government’s Levelling Up Fund for a £20 million investment for the Southern Link Road (SLR), which was the only successful bid for Nottinghamshire.

The £20 million investment will go toward completing the SLR, which will form the missing link of Newark’s outer loop road by connecting the A46 at Farndon to the A1 at Balderton.

Urban&Civic has already commenced the first phase of the development and this funding will allow the remaining delivery of Middlebeck, one of the Strategic Urban Extension (SUE) sites around Newark.

Earlier in 2021, Newark received £25 million funding as part of the government’s Towns Fund initiative. The application involved the submission of Newark’s ‘Town Investment Plan’ which was developed by a dedicated Newark Towns Fund Board, comprising private and public businesses and bodies.

The funding is supporting nine catalyst projects for the regeneration of the town, with further projects and aspirations spanning the next 30 years.  Projects include the International Air and Space Training Institute, the YMCA Community and Activity Village, the Castle Gatehouse project, and the Newark Construction College Centre of Excellence.