Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Levelling up bid submitted to transform Worksop Town Centre

Bassetlaw District Council have submitted plans to government in an effort to secure £20 million in funding to transform Worksop Town Centre.

The District Council, working in partnership with the Levelling Up Board, has applied for a grant through round two of the UK government’s Levelling Up Fund (LUF).

If successful the District Council will redevelop the Priory Shopping Centre delivering a brand new family orientated leisure facility in the heart of the town centre. This will be complemented by a new towpath and moorings along the Chesterfield Canal, a new bridge linking to the north of the town and a focus on town centre living, with under used space being turned into apartments and town houses. A new multi-function market area and food court will also be created in addition to a new cycle hub, with café, changing rooms and lockers.

The bid, shaped by the Levelling Up Board including Bassetlaw MP, Brendan Clarke-Smith, and chaired by Andria Birch, Chief Executive of BCVS, will:

  • Redevelop the Priory Centre including the development of a brand new leisure facility focused on family orientated activities such as tenpin bowling, indoor soft play facility, Trampoline Park and a café. Redevelopment will retain existing occupiers and bring in new tenants for current empty units.
  • Deliver a new green footpath/towpath link along the Chesterfield Canal along with new moorings capitalising on canal boat traffic, whilst improving a green corridor through the town centre.
  • Create a footbridge over the Chesterfield Canal resulting in improved connectivity to the main town centre from the residential areas to the north of the town which is one of the most deprived areas within Bassetlaw.
  • Enable the redevelopment of the area for new town centre living, bringing two sites forward for development and encouraging underutilised space to be made into apartments and town houses.
  • Create a multi-functional market area with a new food court.
  • Create a new cycle hub that includes a cafe with changing facilities and bike lockers.
  • Improve the existing road surfacing to ensure there is a defined access into the shopping centre.

The bid is designed to encourage people into the town centre and give visitors a reason to stay longer by offering activities and interests that currently do not exist in Worksop. It will also make better usage of the canal and waterways within the town. A successful bid will kick start the improvements required to encourage new investments and create a new sense of confidence for Worksop Town Centre.

Cllr Simon Greaves, leader of Bassetlaw District Council, said: “Levelling Up Funding is crucial to the long term future of Worksop Town Centre. This bid complements developments like the new Bridge Skills Hub and will provide a catalyst to unlock investment, to give people a purpose not just to come into town, but to stay longer in town.

“We need to create a shift from surviving to thriving. We have strong support from our MP and the County Council and look forward to the Government delivering on their promise to Level Up forgotten areas like Worksop.”

Brendan Clarke Smith, Member of Parliament for Bassetlaw, said: “The ‘Levelling Up Fund’ provides Worksop with an opportunity to start the process of regenerating our town centre, to bring new life into empty units and to restore pride in a once thriving high street.

“This will build upon the £17.6m for a new A&E village at Bassetlaw Hospital, which will allow overnight treatment for children to return; the £3.5m funding for the Skills Hub, giving people the opportunity to retrain and reskill; the extra per pupil funding provided to our schools, giving our children the best start in life; the Safer Streets Funding, that provided new CCTV in our town centre to assist the police in making the high street safer and also the support to small businesses during the pandemic with grants, loans and the furlough scheme.

“I am delighted that we have been able to work together in partnership with other stakeholders, including the District Council, to produce a bid we feel gives us the best chance of securing this extra funding and once again delivering a town centre we can be proud of. I would like to thank everybody involved for their hard work in putting this proposal together.”

Chair of the LUF Board, Andria Birch, Chief Executive of BCVS, said: “Bassetlaw CVS has been pleased to support development of the Worksop Levelling Up bid submission. The strong and diverse partnership approach has kept community voice at the heart of proposals as they have developed. Levelling Up funding will provide a critical stimulus for the creation of a Better Bassetlaw for everyone. We now look forward to next steps and building on the great work to date once funding is secured.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our news site - please take a moment to read this important message:

As you know, our aim is to bring you, the reader, an editorially led news site and magazine but journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them.

With the Covid-19 pandemic having a major impact on our industry as a whole, the advertising revenues we normally receive, which helps us cover the cost of our journalists and this website, have been drastically affected.

As such we need your help. If you can support our news sites/magazines with either a small donation of even £1, or a subscription to our magazine, which costs just £33.60 per year, (inc p&P and mailed direct to your door) your generosity will help us weather the storm and continue in our quest to deliver quality journalism.

As a subscriber, you will have unlimited access to our web site and magazine. You'll also be offered VIP invitations to our events, preferential rates to all our awards and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Just click here to subscribe and in the meantime may I wish you the very best.









Latest news

Related news

By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. more information

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close