Nottingham City Council today (December 1) unveiled wide-ranging plans to dramatically transform and regenerate the Broadmarsh area of Nottingham city centre, which are expected to boost the local economy by over £1billion a year, create nearly 3,000 jobs and attract an extra three million people a year to the city.
The plans, alongside intu’s proposed redevelopment of Broadmarsh, Nottingham Castle’s redevelopment and the Skills Hub scheme, which is part-funded by D2N2 – the Local Enterprise Partnership for Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.Collectively, these projects represent a £250m investment and will transform the southern end of Nottingham City Centre into a top-class destination for retail, leisure and education.
D2N2 – the Local Enterprise Partnership for Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire – is one of 39 LEPs across England. Its private sector-led Board of skills and training providers, businesses, local authorities, and voluntary and community organisations promotes economic growth and jobs creation across its area, with the target of creating 55,000 new jobs by 2023.
In July of last year (2014), the D2N2 LEP was allocated £174million of Local Growth Fund (LGF) funding from Government, of which £30million has been allocated to the Nottingham Skills Hub – a new flagship building which will be developed by Central College and New College Nottingham – and £10.3m to the Broadmarsh Southern Gateway project. When completed, the Skills Hub will provide space for over 1800 learners.
At the centre of the council’s new proposals are plans to redevelop the current Broadmarsh car park and bus station into a modern, 21st century facility. Opportunities will be created for cafes and commercial units on the ground floor, as well as providing 1,150 improved parking spaces on the upper floors, transforming the current layout of the bus station and introducing state-of-the-art public transport information facilities to better serve thousands of bus passengers who use the station each day.
Significant changes to the streets in and around the Broadmarsh area include:
- Creating a brand new public space on Collin Street linking intu Broadmarsh with the new cafés and other commercial outlets on the ground floor of the car park building, and creating a pedestrian-friendly street
- This will include high quality paving with landscaping, public art, a water feature and outdoor cafés, transforming it into a safe and attractive space for people to enjoy
- The public space will be capable of hosting major events in the day and night, helping to further boost the city’s reputation for hosting top-class entertainment and activities
- Improving pedestrian approaches from the south with upgraded streets, safer junctions and better pedestrian flows in the area
- Re-routing traffic currently using Collin Street and Canal Street onto London Road, Queen’s Road, Sheriffs Way and Waterway Street West and moving buses currently stopping at Collin Street onto Canal Street to better connect with the transformed bus station. Relocating the car park’s vehicle entrance / exit to Middle Hill.
The core development area is situated with Nottingham Castle to the west, poised for a £24m transformation, and a new Skills Hub to the east, due to be developed by Central College and New College Nottingham as a new flagship building just off Middle Hill. These developments, combined with intu’s plans for the shopping centre and the council’s plans for the surrounding area, are expected to attract an extra three million visitors a year, bringing with them an estimated £25m increase in spending. There is potential for a new tram stop to be introduced on Middle Hill in the future to serve the area and the many more pedestrians, students, shoppers, and leisure seekers who will be attracted to it.
Councillor Jon Collins, Leader of Nottingham City Council and Portfolio Holder for Strategic Regeneration and Development, said:
“With plans for the castle, shopping centre and a new college on the horizon, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform this part of the city, to grow the city as a whole and to boost the city centre economy by attracting millions of pounds into our retail and leisure sector and creating a significant numbers of jobs for local people.”
Councillor Nick McDonald, Portfolio Holder for Jobs, Growth and Transport, said: “Our scheme will help to give a good, welcoming impression of our city to the many new visitors and leisure seekers arriving in this part of the city. And it will deliver a return on the public investment being put into it.”
Work to transform the Broadmarsh area will start early next year and will be delivered through a coordinated and staged programme of improvements, estimated to take around four years to complete. The first phase of the development involves a planning application being submitted today (1st December) for the transformation of the Broadmarsh car park and bus station.
The application is available to view and for people to comment by logging onto www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/broadmarsharea .
Public comments are being invited on four designs which have been drawn up for the Collin Street public space and further consultation will be carried out on various aspects of the scheme as they come forward over the coming weeks and months.
To learn more about the above developments, click here
To learn more about the D2N2 Growth Deal, click here
(Image Courtesy of INTU Broadmarsh)
