This year offers us a £50 million chance to regenerate Mansfield

Mansfield’s economy has been very much on the agenda this week as I’ve had meetings with advisers and ministers involved in regeneration plans.
Ben Bradley, Mansfield MPBen Bradley, Mansfield MP
Ben Bradley, Mansfield MP

We have a huge opportunity this year to submit final proposals and secure up to £50 million in funding from two big Government pots of cash.

The first is the ‘town deal’, which is worth up to £25 million to boost the local economy.

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It’s to be used for local connectivity, infrastructure, improving skills and other inequalities that currently limit Mansfield’s reach.

I’ve secured agreement from Government that this can be used for the whole district, including Warsop.

The second pot is the Future High Streets Fund, again worth up to £25 million, this time specifically for our town centre and high street.

It could make a huge difference if it’s used in the right way to improve the town centre offer, attract new and different businesses and also bring more people to live in our town centre too.

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This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to regenerate our area.

Last week, I invited Robert Jenrick MP, secretary of state responsible for these pots of funding, to come and visit Mansfield.

I wanted him to sit down with the council, who will need to lead the local planning, and lay out exactly what’s needed.

It will need to bring in private sector voices to drive this forward too as part of a board, which I will also sit on.

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I was pleased that the secretary of state was keen to have plans agreed and release the first part of the money within months.

There are huge strides forward happening already such as new hotels being built in the town centre, plans for new collaboration between West Nottinghamshire College and Nottingham Trent University, and ambitious plans to extend local rail connections.

There’s more besides and it makes me hugely optimistic for the year ahead.

This year can be a year of delivery for Mansfield as we take advantage of Government’s new agenda to ‘level-up’ communities like ours.

My job is to ensure Mansfield is at the forefront of that agenda and ministers fulfill promises to invest here.