Council’s controversial plan to share Derbyshire town’s £15m funding boost across the district moves closer

The Labour-led authority has re ceived confirmation that their list of newly-aligned projects for the £15m of Regeneration Funding – originally awarded in autumn with conditions – has now been approved, despite the council introducing a number of controversial changes about how the money will be spent.

Conservative Bolsover MP Mark Fletcher had launched a petition urging the council to stick to its original plans for the town, after it confirmed over £6m of the scheme’s projects that were deliverable within a deadline would stay in place – but others could not be completed by then, so alternatives for Bolsover town and other areas had to be considered.

Bolsover District Council’s Chief Executive, Karen Hanson said: “We had just eleven days from when we received the funding criteria to submitting the initial schemes, so we are delighted to have received confirmation that we have the go-ahead.

“We will now look to prioritise the schemes and ensure the money we have been allocated is well spent and benefits our communities.”

Mr Fletcher had welcomed the original plans for Bolsover town, including public realm improvements, the re-purposing of abandoned buildings like the former Co-op store, and greater accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists with more community spaces and new recreation or leisure facilities, and said he had been left shocked by the council’s planned changes.

He also accused the council of ‘betraying’ and ‘hijacking’ the original, successful bid for the funding which he says he had helped to secure.

But the council has stated that over £6m of viable Bolsover town centre projects which can be completed within the deadline will still include improvements for a public realm and to shop fronts, with a new community business centre and creative retail outlet.

Projects which the council argues could not have been delivered within a March 2026 deadline had to reconsidered ,including a ‘cultural hub’ which would have been a four-year development and which would have required an ‘end-user’ with management responsibilities who had not been identified.

It had been hoped the ‘cultural hub’ would have involved the purchase of vacant retail units to provide better opportunities for new businesses or the expansion of existing ones in Bolsover town.

The council also stated some buildings earmarked within the original plans had either been sold or been occupied, but it insisted where possible alternative proposals for the town had been considered.

It also explained that it has been working with the Arts Council on proposals for the alternative schemes for the town centre and there has been a review of remaining deliverable projects across the district before it confirmed that its latest list of projects has now been approved.

The Government-approved projects now include improvement plans to the public realm around the district, enhancing shop fronts to help make the area more visually appealing to attract shoppers and visitors and the establishment of community and creative hubs.

Also included in the updated bid was the redevelopment of prominent buildings in Bolsover town to help create what the authority claims will be a thriving place where people want to visit and work.

The Government Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the funding for Bolsover town in his Autumn Statement specifically to support town centre regeneration, public realm improvements, and cultural and heritage projects within the town based on an original bid and with criteria.

At the time, Bolsover District Council had welcomed the £15m Government Levelling Up funding to regenerate Bolsover town centre with ‘Cultural Hubs’, a shop front and public realm scheme and improved network connectivity.

Council Leader, Cllr Steve Fritchley, had said in November that the council has always been committed to regenerating Bolsover town and the authority had fought long and hard for the funding and that it would go some way to helping the council to achieve its ambitions for Bolsover.

However, the council stressed that figures released earlier this year indicated that since 2020 only just over 10per cent of the money allocated from the Levelling Up agenda has been spent as local authorities have been struggling to meet deadlines which Cllr Fritchley has been determined to avoid.

It also stated that it had submitted a schedule of schemes at the end of January, 2024, in line with the guidance and against very tight time-scales.

The council argued that the funding is ‘place-based’ for the whole of the district and that when it drew up a list of schemes it had stipulated the money should benefit the entire district and the approved projects support this commitment.

Cllr Fritchley said: “Since the announcement was made in the autumn, I made it quite clear that we were going to spend the money in the District of Bolsover and not be sending any back.

“So, I want to thank all our officers who have worked tirelessly on this project to get it to this stage and over the line, sometimes in very difficult circumstances.

“The key to this now is delivering on what we have promised by March, 2026, and that is something I know we will do.”

Bolsover District Council stressed the funding criteria stated projects needed to be deliverable by March, 2026, and have an ‘end user’ responsible for the running of premises and all future revenue costs and after being heavily scrutinised its bid has finally been approved.

Mr Fletcher has said he cannot support the changed plans because he feels they will not have any lasting impact and he has claimed that if funding is not concentrated properly then the impact will be minimal and he would rather transform the district’s communities one at a time.