Levelling Up Newark and Sherwood

The Levelling Up White Paper was published on 2 February 2022 and in response a Sherwood Levelling Up Board, consisting of the District Council and more than 40 of its public, private and voluntary sector partners, will reassemble after Easter. The Board will be invited to build further on previous discussions, identifying activities, assets and projects that could form part of the Prospectus.

This Prospectus, once consulted upon and developed, will allow the District Council to apply for future LUF and other funding opportunities when announced.

Round one bids to the LUF for parliamentary constituency areas were invited in June 2021 for projects that were well advanced and capable of delivery and spend starting that same financial year. Newark and Sherwood District Council successfully submitted a ‘Newark’ parliamentary area bid for £20 million towards the Newark Southern Link Road (SLR). It was one of 17 successful bids out of 84 UK authorities that submitted and the only successful bid from a Nottinghamshire district.

Of these, only 13 local authorities nationally secured funding with the Department for Transport and Newark and Sherwood is the only district council in the country to do so.

The £20 million investment is to complete 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, allowing better ease of movement and accessibility to Newark. The site master developer, Urban&Civic (U&C) has already commenced the first phase of the development. This funding will allow the remaining delivery of Middlebeck, unlocking homes, jobs and new country parks and sports facilities.

Councillor David Lloyd, Leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “To be one of only 13 authorities to receive funding from the Department for Transport through the first round of the Levelling Up Fund was a huge accomplishment for our district and a testament to our members, staff and partners for contributing to the successful application.

“Now we hope to build on this for Sherwood. We have a dedicated Board and aspirational plans for growth and regeneration across various local areas. I look forward to seeing the ‘Sherwood Place Prospectus’ take shape while awaiting further news from government on future funding opportunities.

“Round two of the LUF has not yet been announced but the White Paper states “details of future rounds of the fund will be set out soon.”

To assist with the District Council’s levelling up and regeneration proposals, four new posts have been created. This includes a business manager for regeneration and housing strategy and three new senior regeneration officers, who will drive forward programmes and projects. A multi-disciplinary ‘Sherwood Place Prospectus’ team will be commissioned to drive the work required to develop, produce and submit the Sherwood Prospectus to government when funding opportunities arise.