A £13.9m Heritage Lottery Fund grant to aid the transformation of Nottingham Castle has been warmly welcomed by the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership.
Detailed plans and designs for a £29.4m development plan for the historic city site were submitted in a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund – which is funded through the National Lottery – in July (2016), the result of 18 months’ of work by a dedicated team.
The funding milestone will enable planners to progress to the technical design and procurement stage, before work begins onsite. The project should be completed by early 2020.
The D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership – which has the Visitor Economy as one of the eight key business sectors it promotes – has welcomed the major funding for the area attraction.
Nottingham Castle Trust has also raised almost half of its £3m target and said it would now be approaching trusts, foundations, individuals and companies for help with further funding. Investment will also come through a combination of grants from Nottingham City Council.
The current Nottingham Castle was built on the remains of an earlier medieval castle. There has been a building on the Castle site for around 1,000 years.
Proposals to transform the Castle include:
- new galleries dedicated to the legend of Robin Hood and the story of City rebellions (an impression of what the latter gallery might look like is shown above);
- restoration to the Gatehouse and Palace galleries;
- remodelling of the landscape and grounds;
- an adventure play area, a new visitor centre and an improved Nottingham Caves experience.
The transformation project is designed to significantly raise the Castle’s profile as a visitor destination.
It is hoped the attraction will bring an extra 400,000 visitors to Nottingham in the first year after the project is completed, and encourage visitors to spend an extra £90million in the area over the first ten years.
It’s estimated the Nottingham Castle project will create 395 sustainable jobs and 230 construction jobs during the works; with an expected 20,000 school visits to the Castle per year once the project is completed.
Cllr Dave Trimble, Nottingham City Council Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture, said: “We’re delighted with this news and very grateful that the Heritage Lottery Fund has given the scheme their vote of confidence. Securing this funding means we can push on with the next phase of the scheme.
“We look forward to delivering this major project, which is so significant for our City, for tourism, and our economy and is a source of pride for the people of Nottingham.”
The Nottingham Castle scheme is part of the City Council’s wider strategic plan to develop the southern gateway into the city centre, which D2N2 is also investing in.
In a separate funding application, Nottingham Castle is one of the 23 projects for which the D2N2 LEP has submitted a bid to Government for Local Growth Fund (LGF) funding. The bid for £3.7million, to help improve the Castle site and create associated business workshops, could create an estimated 110 jobs. All the LEP’s LGF bids were submitted in July (2016) and it’s hoped that, following today’s (November 23) Autumn Statement, Government’s decisions on the bids will follow shortly.
For more details on the Nottingham Castle transformation project go to the Nottingham Castle Trust website HERE.
Further information on the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership’s support of the Visitor Economy key sector can be found on its website at www.d2n2lep.org/key-sectors/visitor-economy
Media wanting further information on the work of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership can contact D2N2 Communications Manager Sean Kirby on 0115 957 8749 or email: sean.kirby@d2n2lep.org
