People in Bulwell say it's a shame the town missed out on £20million of Government investment as the area's MP said that it will "bounce back" despite the decision. Nottingham City Council had made an overall bid of £57m to the second round of the Government's Levelling Up Fund, with other projects forming part of its bid including the Broad Marsh and Island Quarter in Nottingham.
The authority has not received any money from the latest round, with other areas of Nottinghamshire such as Worksop and Mansfield being successful instead. The Bulwell element of the city council's bid focused on making vast improvements across the town centre, including through the creation of a new 'Bulwell Promenade'.
Traders have previously told Nottinghamshire Live that Bulwell's town centre could "cease to exist" if the levelling up money wasn't granted. Following the Government's decision on January 18, people have now been expressing their disappointment.
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Gordon Lee, 66, who lives in the town, said: "It is disappointing and I think the regeneration of the high streets is probably one of the biggest challenges that we've faced as a county. You see places everywhere having the same problems and we certainly have them here.
"When I look around Beeston I see that it has quite a lot of murals and artwork around the town, and I wondered if there was an opportunity to do something like that in Bulwell." Gordon's wife Lynne, 59, who was born in Bulwell, agreed that work was needed in the town.
She said: "The only businesses that we seem to have now are nail bars. There isn't anything major to draw you to coming in the town and that's what it needs."
Jason Whalley, 51, has owned the Kidz World shop in Bulwell's Tudor Court for 11 years and said: "This is really disappointing because we are all trying really hard here to bring Bulwell back to how it used to be.
"People here are so generous and when we were walking around at Christmas raising money for Wish Upon A Star, we collected about £380 in half an hour. So it's a very giving town and it's a shame it hasn't had a bit of support of its own here.
"A lot of the town does need help and especially the businesses. It's not about getting people to come out and spend loads of money, because people are struggling with the cost of living, but it's about making the town nice so that people get a positive vibe from the place when they are here."
Alison Rogers, 63, who was in town with her mum Marina, 88, said: "The town could have definitely done with some help and I do actually think it's worse here than in places like Worksop and Mansfield that have got some money.
"We used to have a good variety of shops and even a few little restaurants. You could have a good night out in Bulwell at one time but now you're frightened to go out on your own in the evening."
Nottingham City Council leader David Mellen said that the authority does not have £20m "spare" to deliver what was planned in Bulwell. Cllr Mellen previously said: "This week we started work on redeveloping Bulwell bus station which will bring some improvement to the town but clearly there was much more we wanted to do to help rejuvenate the town centre."
Alex Norris, the Labour and Co-op MP for Nottingham North, said: "It's exceptionally disappointing to see that our city's bids have not succeeded. The Government has no interest in supporting Nottingham. Nevertheless, our ideas are good ones and we will keep fighting to see them become reality.
"Our Bulwell bid was a good one and what the town needs. People will be disappointed but we will bounce back and work to make these plans a reality."
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