New plans set to transform Broad Marsh areas with independent businesses

Nottingham City Council is aiming to establish areas around Broad Marsh where businesses could be set up to help give an insight into what to expect once it is finally redeveloped. The move would allow pop-up businesses to set up shops in different locations including Sussex Street near the new Nottingham College building, Collin Street opposite the new Central Library and Listergate near the Green Heart space.

The shops could also potentially stay in these areas for the long term. The aim is to drive footfall to the parts of the site that have been underused and overlooked but could benefit from extensive regeneration. Many areas near Broad Marsh have been vacant for some time while the bus station has been rebuilt and also the shopping centre demolition.

This would allow independent traders, food and drink outlets and entertainment businesses which include seasonal events along with local producers, suppliers and artists a chance to showcase themselves.

This area is seen as the gateway into the city as travellers pass through coming from the bus, trams or train station. It is estimated that a million people a year pass through and it could give them a reason to stop, shop and stay local. This also includes thousands of students who are based at the nearby campus.

The Council will run a soft market testing exercise to see what is needed to help make the sites commercially viable. The council’s Regulatory and Appeals Committee decided on Friday, June 9 to approve Collin Street, Sussex Street and several other sites around Broad Marsh from ‘prohibited streets’ to ‘consent streets; which means trading can happen there. This will be open to consultation before returning to the committee and if approved, it could be implemented in December.

The new Central Library is also set to open while work on the Green Heart area is set to start later this year. Public realm improvements like those already carried out on Carrington Street and Sussex Street will also get underway on Collin Street.

This will connect the new library and new college via amphitheatre-style steps and offer a fresh new gateway to the city via the Green Heart area and Listergate.

City Council Leader, Cllr David Mellen, said: “We’ve made fantastic progress on our plans to completely change the look and feel of this part of the city. Streets that were once filled with traffic are now pleasant places to be, students are enjoying the new college, and the new bus station and car park are up and running in a modern building where the new central library will open later this year.

“Work on the Green Heart and Collin Street improvements will also get underway this year – but we know that it will be some years before the vision for the whole site will be fully realised.

We believe there is a very exciting opportunity to use parts of the site in the short and medium term for a variety of activities, as part of the first phase of the ongoing transformation of the area. We’d like to hear people’s views on this and hope that if there is general agreement, we can move this forward before the end of the year.”