2025
Mansfield looks to shape the future with confidence
On 28 November, we sent our final proposal for Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) for consideration by the government. The 170-page document sets out in detail why we believe our north-south model provides the strongest, most deliverable, and future proof option for local government in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
The option, 1e, which we have named the councils Sherwood Forest and Nottingham and South Nottinghamshire Unitary Councils, has been formally approved by Mansfield District Council Bassetlaw, Gedling and Newark and Sherwood councils. We believe that the most obvious reason for choosing our option is that it is the most sensible geography where communities have the same history and culture.
The alternative option (1b) that has been backed by the County Council and Rushcliffe Borough Council, joins Rushcliffe with districts in the north of the county instead of our neighbours in Gedling. This creates a council with a 60-mile distance from Bassetlaw to Rushcliffe, which we think is not logical and will put strain on services trying to deliver across such a wide geographical area. We believe our option not only ‘makes sense’, but it has been evidenced to offer a financially sustainable and resilient future, through the operational efficiencies of our geography and the platform for further transformation.
We believe option 1e offers a more balanced geographic and demographic split which produces a more coherent socio-economic grouping, avoiding the extreme urban and rural asymmetry created by option 1b. The evidence shows that in option 1e, deprivation is more evenly distributed and there is a stronger fit for critical adult social care and children's services. Option 1e enables £2.8m of annual adult social care savings through reduced admissions into residential care and produces more equitable children's social care demand.
We proposed the north-south model because we believe it is the best for the whole of Nottinghamshire as it offers the strongest platform for long term housing growth, which supports East Midlands Combined County Authority’s (EMCCA) Inclusive Growth Strategy.
Option 1b is constrained by tighter southern boundaries, floodplain limitations and ridgelines, making long term growth harder to accommodate. Lastly, but not least, the north-south model received the most public support in the engagement exercise that took place over the summer. Ultimately, Central Government will decide on what is the best option and we should know by next summer, following some further consultation.
Another example where Mansfield is looking to the future, is our participation in discussions to ensure that our area and surrounding districts, especially our neighbours in Ashfield, get their fair share of investment from EMCCA.
Mansfield District Council’s Chief Executive presented plans to the Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward, to demonstrate how the area of central and northern Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, which EMCCA has identified as the ‘Heartlands’, can make a significant contribution towards its objective of Inclusive Growth.
What does Inclusive Growth mean for Mansfield?
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Growth that everyone feels - higher paid jobs, town centres to retain wealth locally, and opportunities for young people to build pride and ambition.
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Better greener transport - extend and develop the rail networks, upgrade poor quality roads and highways, and improve bus services timetables and affordability.
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Higher employment - strengthen careers education, promote upskilling, expand traineeships and work placements and use inward investments to create good quality jobs.
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More skilled people - incentivise smaller employers to hire those not yet fully skilled, provide longer term flexible skills funding.
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More homes - prioritise brownfield first and flood resistant land, expand affordable options and social housing, retrofit existing homes to cut bills and fuel poverty and address construction and green skills shortage.
We have a lot to offer: A globally connected precision manufacturing and engineering sector supplying defence, aerospace and automotive, with major firms like Glenair and ITP Aero. We are home to Linney Group (one of the largest creative agencies outside London anchoring 400+ creative and digital businesses) and a unique Nottingham Trent University partnership for skills development.
You can’t stop change, but you can prepare and get yourself ready. That is what we will continue to do, so Mansfield looks to shape the future with confidence.
Mansfield Mayor – Andy Abrahams