Plans for a £20m investment on a raft of improvements and services in Nottingham have been approved by councillors.

The Labour-led authority has hailed the plans getting the green light as a ‘monumental day’

Some of the headline figures include £4m for pothole repairs, £1.5m on new green spaces, £1.2m on free leisure centres for pensioners, and more than £1m for civic pride events.

As part of efforts to bring community protection officer (CPO) numbers back to pre-pandemic levels, 20 full-time or equivalent roles are also being created.

Coun Ethan Radford, Deputy Leader of Nottingham City Council

placeholder image — Coun Ethan Radford, Deputy Leader of Nottingham City Council

Since the council declared effective bankruptcy in November 2023, its finances have improved in the last two years with the help of a new leadership team and a team of Government-appointed commissioners who departed earlier this year in favour of a lesser form of intervention.

The money is coming from a £20.4m underspend in the last financial year, which ended in March.

Coun Ethan Radford (Lab), deputy leader, who represents Bulwell, said: “I think it is a monumental day for the authority and the city.

“It caps off a total of around £45m in investment in services people want to see.

“We’ve said a number of times our long financial nightmare is over, gone are the days of bankruptcy notices and budget cuts, we’ve ended austerity in Nottingham thanks to the Labour Government and we are piling money into frontline services in a way that people want to see after 14 years of underinvestment.”

Coun Radford, who is also the authority’s finance executive member, said the council’s ‘grey to green’ plans will protect residents from the worst impacts of climate change.

The greening programme builds on a manifesto created by Nottingham’s Climate Assembly, which was published in July.

He continued: “We’ve taken the first step with the Green Heart, and now we are putting additional investment into greening the city centre.

“It isn’t just about making places feel nice anymore, there is a critical health element to this now.

"People died in the heatwaves in the summer, people will die in future heat waves, we have to make sure the temperature in the city is actually manageable and one of the best ways to do that is to green the city.”

However, opposition member Coun Kirsty Jones (NPA) criticised some of the spending, including the transfer of £157,000 to Nottinghamshire Police, spending £1m on business rates relief due to uncertainty surrounding a national Government scheme and that almost £5m is being left over as contingency.

She added: “Meanwhile residents are living with the consequences of years of reductions in council services.”

The full investment package includes:

Blocked drains – £340,000

Business rate relief – £1m

Care leavers package – £300,000

Practical support for carers – £500,000

Chewing gum removal – £50,000

Clean Champion volunteer incentives – £100,000

Road signage enhancement – £150,000

Dedicated graffiti removal and immediate justice programme – £156,000

Civic pride, events and cultural development – £1.05m

Grey to green schemes – £1.5m