In focus: Keeping confidences
The history of Eastside in Nottingham is a long and thorny one – but one which might just end happily.
The news that Tesco have taken on Nottingham City Council’s concerns about their new megastore on the site is to be welcomed. As is the adjacent community centre and new office space. Hopefully, it will help revitalise an area which has for too long been a blight on one of the main arteries into Nottingham.
Eastside was announced in a fanfare, of course. Who can forget that clock that counted down to when the bright new future of Nottingham was to be unveiled? Until the clock reached zero, nothing had happened, and it was quietly dismantled and, presumably, binned.
Well, maybe it’s time to break out the clocks again. Tesco might not be everyone’s ideal choice for Eastside, but did anyone really believe the fanciful plans of a few years back that showed a huge mixed-use area – including a lake? The plan was to shift the city centre southwards, but no-one was ever going to walk 20 minutes on a freezing cold February night to stand in the same chain pub s/he could find in the city centre.
The Tesco plan, at least, is a starting point for the further regeneration of the site, and will no doubt be welcomed by those slogging on with finishing Southreef; the two could complement each other perfectly, and – combined with the improvements at the nearby train station – this area could at last deliver on what it once promised.
The move also represents an ideal opportunity to give itself some good PR. Derby City Council have been expert at getting through planning applications quickly. Sure, things might not have happened so quickly there either, but the opportunity for positive news can’t really be passed up these days. The sooner Nottingham City Council bites its lip and gives Tesco the green light, the better. Who knows where a simple supermarket might lead? Confidence is key, and the market is in desperate need of it. Build this little lot, and Nottingham really could have a success story on its hands; delay again and we’re back to square one. Deal, or no deal?
Any comments? Sam Metcalf, Insider
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