District Council to bring private, public and community groups together to improve prosperity for residents

The Newark and Sherwood Community Partnership will work together to identify emerging opportunities and challenges for the district and work together to effectively address them. Members of the Partnership will be able to influence and inform local plans, priorities and the appropriate allocation of resources as well as actively contributing to the development of key projects and initiatives that will benefit residents across the district. This has included developing an Investment Plan for Shared Prosperity Fund and developing collaborative plans for the challenges faced by the increasing cost of living. Meetings will take place at least quarterly and as and when required.

The need for a district wide Community Partnership has been identified following the success of recent work on delivering the levelling up agenda, with success in securing a Town Fund for Newark, Levelling Up Funds for Newark for the Southern Link Road, Shared Prosperity Fund and a bid for Levelling Up for Sherwood , concluding the need for a new partnership covering the whole of Newark and Sherwood in order to develop and sustain good relationships between partners to bring to fruition a number of projects for the benefit of every resident and business.

Councillor David Lloyd, Leader and Portfolio Holder of Strategy, Performance and Finance at Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “In recent years, we have been incredibly successful at securing funding from central Government for a number of projects. As part of securing these funding streams we have subsequently set up partnership groups, such as the Newark Towns Fund Board and the Sherwood Levelling Up Steering Group, who do a fantastic job at maximising the potential of the external funding. While these two groups do great work in the Newark and Sherwood area, we recognise that we also need a new partnership that will cover the entire district which isn’t tied to a specific funding initiative.  This will allow us to work with any private and community group in any area that want to be involved in shaping the future of our district which will in turn benefit all residents.

“This new partnership, made up of key organisations from a range of sectors, will enable us to maximise the impact of our plans, priorities and projects as well as create a new level of efficiency by facilitating collaboration and avoiding duplication. The Newark and Sherwood Community Partnership will unlock new opportunities for the betterment of every resident and business.”