'It's a disgrace' - Bid to regenerate and breathe new life into town centre unsuccessful in Government’s ‘Levelling Up’ fund

In August 2022, the council submitted a £14.2 million bid to the Government’s ‘Levelling Up’ fund to help regenerate and breathe new life into Bolsover town centre.

However, the council received a letter from levelling up minister Dehenna Davison stating the bid had been unsuccessful.

Coun Steve Fritchley, council leader, said: “We feel completely let down and to say we are disappointed is an understatement.

"Four years ago we had the promise of Levelling Up funds to help regenerate our district, but four years down the line and we have still not received a penny. It’s a disgrace.

“We were told we could not bid for round one, because we weren’t ‘deprived’ enough. But here we are in round two and yet again we have nothing to show, after spending hours in time and resources putting a bid together.”

The bid would have helped regenerate vacant town centre properties, create a cultural hub that would have included a cinema, theatre and live performance space and assistance for businesses to improve their shop fronts.

Money would have also been spent on improving the 5G network and installing fibre in the town centre to help improve connectivity and provide much needed Wi-Fi.

And with improvements to public realm – pavements, signage, street furniture, etc – all this would have helped the town attract and encourage residents and visitors to spend more time in the town.

Coun Fritchley said: “We are getting used to these setbacks and empty promises. But we won’t sit here feeling sorry for ourselves, we will look at what options are available to us and continue with our ambitions to help stimulate growth and provide town centre regeneration and cultural opportunities in the town and across Bolsover district.”

The council will now discuss the various options available to them and look at other funding streams to help them achieve their ambitions.

Elsewhere, plans for a new planetarium and educational centre at Sutton's Sherwood Observatory have taken a huge step forward after it was awarded a share of Levelling Up cash.

And a scheme to transform the former Beales department store building in Mansfield town centre has taken a huge step forward with the announcement of £20 million of Levelling Up funding.

The Times reported that, of the 80 successful bids in England, only half are in the 100 most deprived parts of the country.

The levelling up secretary Michael Gove has denied that the south-east is getting an unfair proportion of money aimed at tackling inequality in the UK but London boroughs will get more than both Yorkshire and the north-east of England.