HISTORY

The Sherwood Growth Zone took root a decade ago with the Coalfield Task Force, the government panel set up to turn around the fortunes of former coalfield communities. Ten years on, that aspiration for prosperity has leapt from the printed page to real life. This community has traded up its image, from an isolated area that was home to mining and Robin Hood, to a buzzing, beautiful location with healthy prospects in high technology and the knowledge economy.

Below is a list of the key dates in the development of the growth zone, from October 1997 to the present day.

October 1997 – The Deputy Prime Minister sets up the Coalfields Task Force to assist communities affected by pit closures and job losses.

June 1998 – The Coalfields Task Force publishes Making the Difference: its recommendations on how to deliver a prosperous future for coalfield communities. The report attributes economic problems in the Mansfield and Ashfield area to its isolation, the reliance on historic mineral railway lines and to transport, sites and premises infrastructure being inferior to prosperous areas. Rainworth Bypass, Pleasley Bypass and the Mansfield Ashfield Regeneration Route (MARR) are identified as key to improving the east-to-west links between the A1 and M1. MARR is put forward as one of seven regeneration routes across the UK which would stop economic growth bypassing the towns and have a major significance in opening up employment sites in the coalfields areas. Junction 29a of the M1 at Markham Colliery is also identified.

July 1998 – The Deputy Prime Minister welcomes the Task Force Report at the Ollerton Miners’ Welfare in north Nottinghamshire and announces the creation of a Coalfield Enterprise Fund and Coalfields Regeneration Trust.

1999 – Funding and land amounting to £3m is secured through Nottinghamshire County Council, Mansfield District Council, European Regional Development Funding and the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) for a business centre dedicated to accommodating and nurturing young, innovative businesses through their first years of trading and helping them to grow and move on into commercial facilities in the local community. Planning approval for the incubation centre, Mansfield i-centre, is obtained.

1999 – The Department for Transport gives provisional approval to fund MARR, subject to statutory procedures being completed to secure the land required for development. The route could bring as many as 10,000 jobs into the area.

September 2001 – Mansfield i-centre is completed and opened. The incubation centre provides 2,000sqm of serviced space across 35 offices and five workshops, administrative and business support, a nursery, conference facilities and a café. The first tenant moves in.

July 2002 – The Department for Transport gives full approval to the £34.25m scheme and commits £28.1m. The county council provides the remaining funding. MARR becomes the single biggest ever regeneration project set up by Nottinghamshire County Council.

September 2003 – Mansfield i-centre hits its optimum target of 80% capacity. In addition, 95% of companies graduating from the centre are moving to offices within the area. The success of the centre proves that the regeneration strategy adopted by public sector partners is right for the area. The spirit of enterprise and innovation is there and if you set up the right level of support for higher value businesses with growth potential, they will thrive and provide high-value jobs for the area.

2004 – Nottinghamshire County Council and emda commission a study to identify the potential new employment sites for the county.

2004 – The Mansfield i-centre management committee starts looking into the idea of creating dedicated graduation space (to be built by the private sector) for businesses coming out of local incubation centres because they need larger premises.

July 2004 – Based on the research findings, Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council’s Joint Structure Plan 2004 mark Mansfield, Ashfield and Pleasley as the principle growth areas for Nottinghamshire. About 75ha of good quality employment land along the MARR is identified as having potential for development that could accommodate between 6,000 and 8,000 jobs.
“Mansfield is the biggest urban centre outside of Nottingham and as such has a major economic role to play. Sites of similar quality and accessibility were not found within the urban boundaries of Mansfield and Ashfield but along the MARR … obsolete employment sites need to be redeveloped for housing.” Joint Structure Plan 2004
The Alliance SSP identifies the knowledge economy, including high technology, as most the desirable type of employment along the MARR.

2004 – Funding is approved for the redevelopment of Kings Mill Hospital, bringing facilities up to date and in one complex, improving healthcare provision across the area.

December 2004 – MARR opens six months ahead of schedule.

2005 – Developers are sought and planning approval is achieved for the i-centre II, which will provide 5,400sqm of offices and workshops for businesses graduating from the i-centre and similar local incubation centres in the area.

July 2005 – Nottinghamshire County Council and the Alliance SSP allocate resources to coordinate investment and development opportunities along the MARR. The team becomes known as the MARR Partnership and is comprised of organisations with a strategic interest in and statutory remit for economic development in the Mansfield and Ashfield conurbation.
“The development of the MARR will mean an increased interest in a number of sites along its route for employment purposes. That interest will come from developers, from local companies, from inward investors and potentially from the public sector in purchasing and servicing a number of key sites.” Assistant director for regeneration and assistant director for resources report 2005

November 2005 – Skanska is appointed to lead the £500m redevelopment of Kings Mill Hospital.

June 2006 – Work starts on the Kings Mill Hospital redevelopment.

Nottinghamshire County Council buys more than 50ha of land from Rushley Farm at the MARR/A60 crossroads to act as a catalyst for strategic, long-term regeneration. The council and West Nottinghamshire College work in partnership to take forward ambitious plans for the redevelopment of the college and a complementary development on 10.5ha of the acquired land.

October 2006 – The MARR Partnership becomes known as the Sherwood Growth Zone Partnership in recognition of the requirement to assess and bring forward development sites that will provide job prospects and prosperity for the 200,000 people in the Mansfield and Ashfield conurbation and their future generations.

January 2007 – West Nottinghamshire College announces its plans to bring all its facilities onto one campus, allowing it to provide state-of-the-art facilities for existing students and to increase the number of student places. The Learning & Skills Council gives the college 'in-principle' approval to £96m funding for the project. The development will be on a gateway site where the A60 from Nottingham into Mansfield crosses with the MARR. The vacated site where the college currently stands is to be sold off and redeveloped for housing that will complement the surrounding residential community.

To add value to these proposals, Nottinghamshire County Council announces its ambition for a ‘technology park’, providing much-needed, high-quality accommodation for small businesses in creative industries and the knowledge economy. The council and college set out to develop the sites in tandem, in order to bring together the worlds of education and employment and to achieve two distinct developments of low environmental impact, which will complement each other. The technology park will provide 1,900sqm of accommodation for students coming out of the college wanting to set up their own businesses and for established businesses in research and development, prestige manufacturing, creative industries and professional services.

June 2007 – Industrial development company Prologis acquires the 53ha site at MARR Park with plans to develop 93,000sqm of offices and warehousing. The site is renamed Prologis Park Mansfield and work starts on conserving and enhancing the habitat for great-crested newts, crayfish and water voles. Initially 27,870sqm of warehousing will be built, with offices to follow. The site could provide up to 2,000 jobs. The development expands the accommodation offer around Oakham Business Park, which includes the Mansfield i-centre, reinforcing the park’s position as a hub for commerce and industry.

April 2008 – The private company behind Mansfield i-centre II opens the doors to the new business accommodation and welcomes its first tenant.

April 2008 – Detailed plans for West Nottinghamshire College’s 21st Century campus are unveiled. Nottinghamshire County Council and West Nottinghamshire College continue to work in partnership to take forward the strategic development of the Rushley Farm site. The council begins talks with the project management team, developers and architects working on the new college plans, with the view to achieving common design standards between the new college and the technology park and an integrated site. The long-term ambition is for the college and technology park to become a beacon for further education colleges across the country to follow.

January 2009 - Ashfield District Council and Mansfield District Council grant full planning permission to West Notts College for its super college.

April 2009 – The Government’s proposals to transfer greater responsibility to local government as part of its review of arrangements for economic development and regeneration result in the dissolution of the Alliance Sub-regional Strategic Partnership and the devolution of their responsibilities and functions in Nottinghamshire transferred to Nottinghamshire County Council and in Derbyshire to the Derby and Derbyshire Economic Partnership. Emda’s Single Programme funding is being devolved to local authorities as accountable bodies acting on behalf of a wider partnership. The County Council will be inheriting a large portfolio of contractually committed projects for the Single Programme in the north of Nottinghamshire. Government reorganises Sub-regional strategic partnership responsibilities are devolved to county councils across the

April 2009 – After it is revealed that the Learning & Skills Council’s national college rebuilding programme was oversubscribed, the programme is reviewed to make recommendations on how the organisation can meet demand for funding. All college capital projects in England and Wales are put on hold pending the outcome. The review recommends a “needs-based approach with explicit priorities and choice criteria” to prioritise applications. The LSC is consulting with the sector and is working closely with colleges whose capital schemes have received ‘Approval in Principle’. West Notts College is currently waiting to hear when work to create its new central campus on 16 acres of land to the south of Cauldwell Road can go ahead. Building work can start as soon as it gets the go ahead from the LSC.

Media reports claim some colleges affected by the funding delay may suffer financial difficulty and, in some case, insolvency. West Nottinghamshire College does not face financial difficulty or insolvency. The College remains in sound financial health and is currently in ‘category A’ – the highest grading for colleges’ finances.