Long Eaton regeneration projects face further delays

BBC News

2 days ago

Several multimillion-pound regeneration projects in Long Eaton have been delayed by several months.Erewash Borough Council was given £25m of government funding to rejuvenate the town more than five years ago.However, all but one of the projects are still in their pre-construction phases.Funding for all of the schemes in the Town Deal must be spent by March 2026 or it faces being pulled back by central government. They must be completed in full by March 2027.
A meeting of the Long Eaton Town Board heard that construction of the listed building next to Long Eaton Town Hall has been extended by four months because of defective designs, with completion now set for August rather than April.The Stable Block building is set to become a modern working hub with new office and workshop space.
The Britannia Mills Bridge, which will form part of an improved pedestrian and cycling network, now faces a six-month delay and will begin in September this year, with completion set for March 2026.
Starting works at Broad Street Bridge, connecting West Park with the town centre over Erewash Canal, also faces delays. Work was originally mooted to begin in January but has been delayed again from July to August while further cost benefit analysis is completed but with no knock-on delay to completion expected.
The project to revitalise Long Eaton's high street has faced "unexpected queries" from Derbyshire Highway Authority, according to the council, resulting in delays.Completion of works, estimated to cost about £10m, will not happen until July 2026, instead of June. This date however has been bought forward than the original October 2026 estimate for completion.Work will begin in September this year.
Meanwhile the former Galaxy Row cinema, where demolition work began in May, has also faced another round of delays.It will begin its development stage in September this year, a month after the time it was originally mooted to be finished.The latest slowdown will see the project, which will see the site turned into shops and flats, now expected to be completed in December 2026 instead of October.A project to improve lighting in West Park to encourage walking and cycling was completed last year.
'Challenges to overcome'
The leader of Erewash Conservatives Wayne Major said the delays were "a real concern"."While it's positive that there's now some leeway from government on deadlines, that flexibility should be used to get projects over the line, not to drift further behind."Keeping to budget and timeline is essential if we're going to make the most of this funding."
A spokesperson for Erewash Borough Council said: "The Town Deal continues to be a massive project for the borough council. Like almost all the other such schemes across the country we have had challenges to overcome along the way."The conditions set by the Towns Fund is for all projects to be in contract by the end of March 2026 – with projects completed by the end of March 2027. We are well on track to achieve this."