Attendance
- Andria Birch
- Steve Scotthorne
- Jo White
- Joelle Davies
- Karen Whitlam
- Darren Huart
- Dave Skepper
- Philip Jackson
Peter Gaw - Jo Bradley
- Kevin Dale
- Anthony Ward
Maggie Easton - Sally Gillborn
- Dee Sissons
- Becky Law
- Tina Masters
- Alison Shipperbottom
- Julie Beresford
- Lucy Elsdale
- SM - joined but could not dial in
- JD - joined but could not dial in
Welcome
- Apologies from Natalie Cockrell, Craig Taylor, Stella Bacon, Michael Hirst, Helen Azar, Tracey Mace-Ackroyd, Paul Stuart.
- Introductions
New board members
- Declarations of interest: ACTION 1 – ME and DS
- S80 partnership as managing agents for BDC
- Darren as a member of BCVS to present consultation findings
- SS in youth workspace
- Cllr KD for Nottinghamshire County Council
Presentation
Previous actions:
- Five open actions ACTION 2 - TMA to enquire about costs of video for all members to engage comms teams to promote the Pride in Place programme
- Board to obtain advice from other Pride in Place towns on how to promote their website ACTION 3 (carried forward)
- ACTION 4 JB - to circulate summary of government guidance procurement rules to board - MHCLG Pride in Place
The new Pride in Place Programme has now superseded the Plan for Neighbourhoods / Neighbourhood Fund. The Programme offers top up funding for certain areas; however, Worksop is not one of these. The new Programme has the same aims and objectives to allow local communities to deliver place-based initiatives.
- ACTION 5 - ME to circulate Pride in Place Prospectus link to board to ensure a comprehensive understanding.
BCVS CANNS Consultation Findings:
- DH and KW presenting
- 8-9 weeks to produce the Consultation
- Many thanks to partners
- Approach has been such a success, and we are now able to understand what residents want and need funding allocated to
- 698 participants took part
- Broad geographical and demographic reach
- Key themes; strong emotional connection to place
- Clear concerns about crime and safety, empty high streets, and young people
- Pride in place around community spirit and local green spaces
- Local people want change and want to be involved in creating and shaping that change
- Targeted partnership working to ensure voices were heard from people who were not involved in the previous consultation
- Broad participation across neighbourhoods, age ranges, with double the female representation of women engaging
- Participation across ethnicities, gender and sexual identities, and disability
- 15-minute film produced capturing the emotions, feelings and hopes for the future of Worksop and what improvements residents want to see ACTION 6 – AB to circulate.
Top priorities for funding:
- Supporting existing and attracting new business (25% said too many empty shops, which linked to their feeling of (lack of) pride in place
- Create new and enhanced amenities for young people
- Increase skills and workforce development
- Create community facilities in the Town Centre
- Develop stronger events programme
Additional priorities:
- Safety was also a strong theme; more visible policing, better lighting, and CCTV, with a lot of negativities around visibility of drug and alcohol use in the Town Centre, with a high proportion of residents stating they do not feel safe during the night or day. This ties into focus groups highlighting a desire for consistent mental health support.
- Transport and accessibility; increasing accessibility for walkers and cyclists, as well as desire for more and cheaper parking.
The older people consultation had a strong theme of interventions being led by local people.
The Consultation Report featured 20 top recommendations – not a hierarchy of recommendations.
KW highlighted opportunities for quick wins, with college students in particular providing issues and solutions to the CANNS interviewers, i.e. areas students can be, without having to buy anything.
Conversations with older people about coming into Worksop for banking - further engagement around banking hubs was also highlighted.
Markets came through as a Pride in Place, but it was noted there were accessibility issues for some regarding moving up Bridge Street.
Questions / Feedback re: Consultation:
- DS - Acting and engaging with the people needs to be prioritised
- There was further questioning around what new businesses and people want – comments from the consultation highlighted current prominence of vape shops and nail bars – no more are wanted
- Community hubs are present in Worksop, but not a cohesive one-stop place - as a board we need to understand if people are unaware of the current provisions, or if they want them grouped together
- PJ - Lack of shops, conversations with residents who want shops but do not use them have taken place – mindsets need to be changed
- JW - Consultation outcomes are confirmation of the issues that have been heard from residents before – around safety, lack of provisions for young people and the elderly, and substance abuse treatment being centred in the Town (priority to work with ICB, NCC, and the police).
- PG - Community hubs, how to join up community-based offers is a challenge, alongside accessibility of these offers, with revenue as a major challenge for the ability to provide opportunities for young people.
- Arts and culture are an option to counter retail decline, as town centre usage shifts, with more retail occurring online.
- The Arts Council designated Bassetlaw as a priority, there is an option for Pride in Place to draw in and leverage other arts funding – such as Ashfield has done with their Town Board.
- SS – Clarify what is meant by ‘community hub’ – could the Priory Centre be a community hub? The Canch Splash Park is a community centre during the summer, could this be formed into a space to foster wider acknowledgement and togetherness?
- Link to a comms effort to highlight spaces that have been overlooked - monthly events at different hubs with representatives from each. Map different strengths of hubs. Work with nearby hubs and local neighbourhoods to maximise bargaining and reach to ensure partnerships are building reach and offers jointly.
- Eastwood as an example of bringing together hubs under one website, information in one place (the library), and broadcast together by Nottingham(shire) Radio for a morning.
- AW - Would it be a useful exercise to order these as a board as intervention priorities?
- Website for Worksop Together is a great resource.
- Information campaign about the commercial viability of the town; nail shops and vape shops are increasing because there is the demand, whereas other shopping remains online.
High Street Rental Auction
- Board is to be aware of current interventions to ensure the budget is spent on different initiatives or supporting current work to prevent replication
- BDC became an adopter of HSRA earlier this year - BDC’s role is making strong relationships with landlords to understand the issues surrounding Worksop’s rental issues
- BDC commissioned a CACI Report and provided detailed insights to share with agents and landlords to support strategic decision-making for investors
- 23 shops have opened or are under offer since designation, seeing success before the rental process has happened.
- Larger legacy stock in Worksop, which is a larger issue, some landlords have taken the initiative to partition up their larger floor plans.
- Seven businesses have opened or planned to open over the last 6 months, however, six have now closed.
- Targeted engagement with large national operators - Worksop is on the radar, due to interaction with the market at the GRO conference.
- Issues surrounding Worksop as a secondary shopping location, fit-out costs, unit sizes and shapes, all fed into by the changing retail environment. Fit out costs for a national restaurant can be £1.5million, which is expected to be picked up by landlords, as well as subsidised rent. Due to this, smaller units are more easily fitted out by smaller independent businesses due to the lower cost – this does mean that remaining larger stock is more difficult to fill.
- Layout of Bridge Street means it is difficult to condense and make a dedicated hospitality sector. Furthermore, the condition of buildings is a blocking point e.g. the Ship.
- Scoring and prioritising units has helped the BDC team to make headway in finding offers and taking units off the market.
- Government has highlighted BDC’s approach as best practice.
- ‘Discover Worksop’ place marketing has been vital in building investor confidence and building interest locally.
- Celebrating local business online translates into real time as well, not just local footfall for these businesses but in attracting national or larger retailers as well.
Budget
- Move at pace due to submission deadline in November approaching.
- Totals spend to date: £64,813.16.
- Capacity funding will be made available next budget year – this will be available for board to use in supporting funding.
- It is important the necessary funding for staff time and operational costs is considered.
- ACTION 7 - JB circulating financial information.
Regeneration Plan
- Thriving places, stronger communities and taking back control are the main themes for Pride in Place.
- ME has taken recommendations from the BCVS & CANNS consultation and related them to relevant themes, which will be reflected in the Regeneration Plan.
Programme Risks
- Challenging timeline – ACTION 8 – Members to respond with their preferences to feed into the regeneration plan’s 4 and 10-year timelines.
- Including capacity and capability now will support provision and longevity of the Board.
- UKSPF will not continue past this budget year - many schemes that are currently being delivered will not run further ACTION 9 – JB to provide an overview of projects that are currently being delivered and will be lost after the funding stops.
- Obtain board project preferences to fill gaps when funding ceases.
Engagement and Communications
- BL - Is there a plan to make consultation responses available to the public? AB: Plan is not in place yet, nor a budget assigned.
- ACTION 10 - AB to follow up with Comms Task and Finish group about further actions resulting from this meeting.
Any Other Business
- ACTION 11 - AB to coordinate a task and finish group detailed to support development of the Regeneration Plan.
- Dave Skepper (teams) highlighted it is difficult for buses to get from the bottom to the top end of town. Doncaster buses are every 15 minutes, this provides an opportunity to encourage people back into town when footfall and interest increases.
- DS advised to touch base with Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospital Trust Place-Based Lead to ensure Bassetlaw features in interventions. ACTION 12 – HA to make contact.
Meeting Closed.
Last Updated on Tuesday, March 3, 2026