Ashfield District Council has been successful in securing £6.27m from the government’s Future High Streets competition.
Council officers and Councillors have been working on the proposals since the fund was first announced in 2018. The announcement that the bid for Sutton-in-Ashfield was successful will provide a much needed boost to the town centre during these challenging times.
Sutton Academy Community Theatre/Cinema– renovating the existing Sutton Community Academy theatre and creating a foyer area, featuring a bar and café so that in the evenings and weekends the theatre can become a public facing theatre, cinema and live music venue.
Sutton Maker Space and Business Hub– creating a Maker Space and business hub. The Maker Space is for anyone who lacks the funds and/or space for tools at home to be able to pay a small membership fee for access to woodworking, metalworking, sewing machines, 3D printers, laser cutters, etc. This can be for hobbies, sense of community, learning a new skill or starting and building a business.
Low Street vacant units – for the purchase and refurbishment of vacant retail units on Low Street to give them a new purpose on the ground floor and convert upper floors into high quality apartments.
Fox Street pop-up food court and car park– transformation of the vacant plot behind Lloyds Bank into a new car park and public space that provides connectivity between ASDA and Portland Square to attract more people into the town centre. The space can also be set up as a venue for pop-up food stall events.
Market Place new build– a new building on the Market Square that will provide space for community uses and high quality residential apartments.
As the government only gave a partial grant of money the Council will now submit amended plans to the government in February that achieve as many of these exciting plans as possible.
Cllr Matthew Relf, Cabinet Member for Place, Planning & Regeneration said: “The hard work put in by Council officers and Councillors, with the support of the Discover Ashfield Board has paid off and we are over the moon that Sutton will be receiving over £6.2m in investment. Future High Streets was a highly competitive process and this success demonstrates the quality of our bid.
“More than ever our town centres need investment and we have some really exciting plans for Sutton, including a much needed boost to its night time economy. We’re looking forward starting to make these plans a reality so we can bring many more people back to Sutton once this pandemic is over.”
Ashfield District Council are also bidding for £50m as part of the government’s Town’s Fund. As part of the fund, Kirkby and Sutton could receive up to £25m each to fund plans to create thriving and revitalised town centres, with a wide range of services and retail offer, a vibrant night-time economy and enhanced leisure offer.