Newark and Sherwood District Council to borrow £700,000 to keep Ollerton and Clipstone transformational schemes ticking amid Goverment funding delays

A council will borrow £700,000 to keep two transformational schemes progressing — amid delays in receiving Government funding.

Newark and Sherwood District Council’s cabinet voted on Tuesday (December 10) to approve a capital budget of £500,000 for the Ollerton Levelling Up project, and £200,000 for the Clipstone project.

This will enable essential project development works — such as design and land acquisitions — to continue on the projects and will be funded initially by borrowing. This will be replaced by the Levelling Up Fund Three grant — which has been reconfirmed following the Labour Government’s first budget, but has still not yet been released.

The funds will now be borrowed prior to the council securing a memorandum of understanding with the Government — to act as formal confirmation of its £20million allocation from the third round of funding. It is hoped this document will have been received prior to the next cabinet meeting, on January 21.

However, work needs to continue progressing on the plans in the meantime to ensure the funds will be used prior to the spend deadline.. The schemes will see the redevelopment of Ollerton town centre and an enhanced commercial, sports and education offering at Mansfield Road, Clipstone.

The redevelopment of Ollerton town centre includes the development of a cinema, better shops and eating areas. In Clipstone, the plan will deliver highly energy-efficient units suitable for high-tech enterprises.

Rowan Cozens said: “These are two transformational projects and they need to happen. These are areas that do need levelling up.”

Lee Brazier added: “I just hope we can persevere through this, I’m looking forward to not looking at an empty field and seeing actual progress.

“I’m going to see Moana 2 with my daughter soon — hopefully by the time Moana 3 comes out we can see it at the cinema in Ollerton.”

Council leader Paul Peacock echoed comments about how transformational the projects would be.

“Its been a long time since there’s been Government investment in the area,” Mr Peacock added.

“This is a real opportunity to show how a bit of investment can transform decent communities.”

What do you think? Will the investment make a difference to the area? Let us know your views in the comments below…