'Game-changer' bid for £20million funding submitted in hopes of improving Eastwood

Broxtowe Borough Council has applied for £20million for Eastwood and a further £16million for Kimberley to make what it says are much-needed improvements to the area.

If successful, the funding for Eastwood will be used to create a new health and wellbeing hub, a swimming pool, a community hub and improvements to the cycle network.

Leader of Broxtowe Borough Council Milan Radulovic MBE, said the Levelling-Up bid is designed to meet the needs of local people and improve health and access to the countryside.

He said: “The key to the Eastwood development is health and fitness. We have some of the most serious cases of respiratory disease in the country because of the history of mining in this area.

“This bid will go a long way towards addressing health inequalities. It includes a swimming facility, heated to a higher temperature to help people with respiratory diseases.

“I am very confident we will be successful.”

The health hub in Eastwood would host a new GP surgery, pharmacy, library, five-lane community swimming pool, boxing club and women’s services.

The funding would also see a historic building in Eastwood transformed to house the Durban House Community Hub group, a local charity.

A dementia daycare facility would be on offer as well as a café, community garden, employability support, mental health support groups, and health and fitness classes.

Councillor David Bagshaw, leader of Eastwood Town Council , added: “I think we’ve got a great chance of it being accepted.

“We’re going to create a swimming pool for the people of Eastwood and the surrounding areas, which was my idea way back.

“We have to look at the benefit for the whole of Eastwood, including a new doctor’s surgery in the middle of the town.”

MP Lee Anderson believes the funding would be a “game-changer” for Eastwood, which he says has been neglected for years.

He added: “It has been many years since Eastwood has seen any real investment and local people deserve to have better facilities and opportunities at their doorstep.”

It is expected that an announcement will be made in the autumn, indicating if the bids have been successful.