Council makes £1 million bid to improve Mansfield town centre

The scheme focuses on the creation of small green spaces in parts of the town centre that could benefit from improvements to open up darker, less inviting gateways to the town, such as Stockwell Gate, and would provide soft play facilities in the town centre, living wall and art installations, upgraded street lighting, and improved bicycle storage facilties.

The £1m spending proposal is in addition to a bid the council is already preparing for £25m for the district under the government's Towns Fund scheme and supports a council priority to improve the green environment in the district.

Councillor Stuart Richardson, portfolio holder for regeneration and growth, said: "The aim of these proposals is to create a feelgood factor to encourage more people to visit and spend time in the town centre and support the local economy, which is especially important following the coronavirus lockdown.

"We want to make a Mansfield a greener and more pleasant place for everyone and we hope this will enhance physical and mental well-being of our residents, too, and make them feel Mansfield is somewhere to be proud of living.

"The way high streets are used is changing, nationally, and it is vital that we encourage alternative uses for our town centre.

"These new pocket parks would be part of that revisioning and our town centre masterplan.

"Due to the short timescale we have been given to devise a plan for how we would spend this extra £1m, we have had to get our skates on in drawing up this bid and it has, therefore, not been possible to put this out for wider consultation.

"However we have discussed this with our key stakeholders and everyone is in agreement about these ideas for greening up the town centre."

The proposed interventions form part of a wider programme of town centre improvements.

This includes re-imagining uses for the Market Place included in the council's £25m bid for the government's Future High Streets Fund, plus the £25m bid for the whole district from its Towns Fund.

The extra £1m of funding being made available to the council must be spent before the end of the current financial year to kick-start investment coming from the Towns Fund later this year.

The council's aim is to promote a vibrant, appealing and safe district with more focus on leisure and culture activities, as well as improving access and arterial routes to the town and bike storage facilities.

Councillor Richardson added: "We think Mansfield is already a fantastic place in which to live and work.

"People here have a very good quality of life but there is a lingering negative perception of the town, which really is undeserved and which we're determined to reverse to help future-proof the prosperity of this district.

"We're confident in our ability to deliver these proposals and begin a process of transformation not seen in the town for several decades.”