'˜Spring clean' just the first step for Ashfield regeneration

Lime Green Recreational Ground is to receive Â£104,000 of investment

Cabinet members unanimously approved plans to “enhance the identity” of Ashfield by investing more than £84,000 in the district.

Plans have been finalised to allocate £34,000 for infrastructure improvements in Sutton Town Centre, including the repainting and replacement of street furniture and litter bins in the centre.

It is hoped that these improvements will “support the regeneration of the town centre” and “enhance the visual appearance of the town”.

Councillor Jason Zadrozny, leader of the council, said: “The new funding into the town centre is aimed to bring pride back into the community and we see it as nothing less than transformational.

“This is the transition of change, the bread and butter improvements in Sutton that will mould what the area looks like in the future.

“We have students who leave the area to go to university, but because of a lack of investment they have no real jobs to come back to.

“This investment will act as the first step in a long-term plan to generate business in the area and make Ashfield a vibrant place to live.”

The council also approved a £50,000 grant from the Waste Recycling Environmental (WREN) agency to improve the Lime Tree Recreation Ground in Hucknall, bringing its overall investment to £104,000.

Coun John Wilmott said: “This is a great opportunity to build on the community around the Lime Tree area, creating places were people can congregate together and socialise.

“When you invest in an area and make it a vibrant place to live, you make people happy and want to go out and spend time and money in the area, and this is exactly what the investment will mean.”

Coun Zadrozny also stressed his desire to boost tourism in the area by capitalising on the area’s history and heritage.

He added: “In the plans to improve Ashfield we will leave no stone unturned when involving tourism.

“Taking advantage of the amazing history in parts of our district could really transform our tourism revenue, and with our location so close to the M1 it would be crazy not to.”