Nottingham’s parks, playgrounds and green spaces will benefit from a £765,000 programme of improvements to be carried out by the City Council.
The extra funding is part of a £2m additional in-year investment in core, universal services announced last week by the Council’s Deputy Leader, Cllr Ethan Radford, which he said was possible due to the authority getting it house in order and improving its financial position, demonstrating ‘not words – but action’.
£665,000 for the parks programme has been allocated to the Council by the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) from funding provided by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). The UKSPF aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.
A further £100,000 has been allocated by the Council for park improvements as part of an additional investment of around £2 million to provide better value for money in some of our core, universal services.
Improvement work is to be carried out at locations right across the city including:
- Playground improvements at Colwick Country Park, Locksley Park in Clifton, Ashton Park in Bulwell and Wallan Street in Radford.
- Path and access improvements at Woodthorpe Grange Park, Bulwell Hall, Southglade Park and Broxtowe Country Park
- A citywide programme of improvements to playground surfacing, targeting high use grassed areas to provide a longer-term solution to improve safety.
- A scheme to look at ‘legacy’ tree planting, on some of our park sites, planting larger trees to help provide a better mixed of larger trees to help ensure better continuity of tree cover.
- New interpretation and signage at the Arboretum in the centre of Nottingham to provide better quality information for visitors on the tree stock at this important heritage site.
- a bid to secure additional external funding to improve the ball court and play provision on Birchover Park in Bilborough.
Cllr Corall Jenkins, the Council’s Executive Member for Neighbourhoods, Waste and Equalities, said: “As a council we have always valued and invested in the city’s parks, playgrounds and green spaces as we know how important they are to local communities. That’s why we’re really pleased to be able to allocate this additional funding to upgrade facilities and make them even more accessible for everyone to enjoy.”
Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward, said: “Our parks and green spaces are the heart of our neighbourhoods. By working together, we are improving the spaces where families spend time, children play, and communities come together. Local people deserve spaces that are safe and welcoming. Devolution is making a real difference, and this is a great example of how we can turn investment into something local people will see and enjoy every single day.”
In 2025, Nottingham City Council was awarded an extension to our UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) Programme and has been allocated £4.6m to deliver an additional 12-months of activity. The programme will run until 31 March 2026.
The full list of planned park, playground and green spaces improvements which will utilise UKSPF funding can be found at UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) – Nottingham City Council