The government has granted Mansfield District Council £1m to create new pocket parks in the town centre.
It is hoped the new small green spaces, to be created in the coming months, will open up darker, less inviting gateways to the town, such as Stockwell Gate.
Among some of the options being considered are:
- Play facilities in the town centre
- Living wall installations
- Upgraded street lighting
- Improved bicycle storage facilities
- Art installations.
Martyn Saxton, head of Planning and Regeneration at the council, said: "We hope that by making the town centre greener and cleaner, it will tempt more people into the town centre and encourage visitors to spend more time there.
"This scheme supports a council priority on Place which focuses on putting Mansfield in a more prominent position on the map and making it a destination for more visitors.
“Credit should go to the council’s Regen team which prepared and submitted this successful funding bid at extremely short notice.”
The funding has to be spent before the end of the current financial year in April 2021 to kick-start investment coming to Mansfield from the government's Towns Fund.
Mansfield's bid to the Towns Fund is for £25m and supports a council programme of district-wide investment as well as a new town centre masterplan.
The £1m town centre "urban greening" project will also boost Mansfield's bid for £25m from the government's Future High Streets Fund.
This funding would support long-term council to revision the town centre in the face of changing national trends in the way people shop. It includes re-imagining uses for the Market Place.