Plans to create thousands of jobs and homes in city
COUNCIL OUTLINES AMBITIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
THOUSANDS of new homes and up to 15,000 jobs could be created in Nottingham over the next few years, according to a new plan.
City councillors discussed its new strategic plan, which has been redrafted, during a meeting at Loxley House yesterday - it will now go to full council in September for approval.
The re-draft comes as a requirement of the Recovery and Improvement Plan, overseen by the Government, in light of a new operating context following the collapse of Robin Hood Energy and the coronavirus pandemic.
The draft Strategic Council Plan for 2021 to 2023 also underwent a public consultation to give the public a say in what the council should focus on going forward.
Councillor Sally Longford, the deputy leader of the council who also represents Lenton and Wollaton East, said the council had been “working hard to review it and to make sure that it is fit for purpose so it is deliverable in the future.”
The consultation consisted of online and paper surveys which had 375 responses and among the main pointers were safety, improving the city centre, better housing and “particular favourable responses” to financial stability and safety.
There were also calls for “more emphasis” on culture and creative arts.
To achieve what is set out in the draft plan the council hopes to develop 4,000 new homes, including eco-homes and low-cost homes, to either rent or buy.
Amid concerns over homelessness the target of an additional 1,000 affordable homes for those who were formerly homeless has been set, and so far the council has built or acquired 328 of these.
Councillor Linda Woodings, portfolio holder for housing and planning, told the council: “This is a streamlined council plan that takes account of our new council finances, especially as we along with every other local authority in the country haven’t been fully recompensed for the losses we have incurred because of Covid.”
She added some of the things placed in the plan had already been achieved since it was drafted in May 2019, including setting up a historic buildings trust to access heritage grants.
There will be pressures created in the “new Covid world” and resulting financial difficulties, including a £19.4m hole due to the pandemic, but councillor Woodings said it was “really important to say we are still really ambitious for Nottingham.”
To achieve better financial stability the plan sets out proposals for the disposing of assets that are “no longer needed” as well as reducing external borrowing.
Additional reviews are also being undertaken, including a review into how its own companies are managed and whether they should be retained or disposed of.
The council also aims to create 15,000 new jobs. These will be created, it is hoped, from the completion of the Nottingham Science Park, Unity Square tower block which will house HMRC employees, as well as the development of the John Player tobacco site and Island Quarter project which is currently underway off London Road.
Up to 20 vacant sites will be brought back into use “for employment opportunities for local people” while continued development of the Creative Quarter and creative industries will have a new focus so it can be transformed “into a regionally significant economic sector”.
Carbon neutrality is also in the plan, with hopes to make the city centre single-use plastic-free as well as providing water refill stations across the area.
Councillor David Mellen, the leader of the council, added: “I think we have retained the ambition for the city whether that is building more council houses to meet the needs of the waiting list or changing our city centre to reflect the needs of the 21st Century or preparing for Carbon Neutral 2028, this plan still retains the ambition, but realises that we can do none of these things effectively or in a sustained way if we don’t have financial stability in the council.
“We have managed to adjust this plan without it using its heart and its soul.”