A row of disused buildings on one of Arnold’s main shopping streets could be demolished as part of wider plans to regenerate the town centre.
Gedling Borough Council has purchased the former Arnold Working Men’s Club and neighbouring empty shops on Front Street, close to the junction with Coppice Road and Cross Street.
The former club has stood empty since 2015, while the nearby units between it and the Blue Monkey pub are also disused. One was formerly home to the Blue Circle chip shop, which closed last year.
The council wants to clear the site as part of a wider regeneration scheme which could eventually include a new leisure centre, arts centre with a theatre and cinema, library, public square and community garden.
The authority’s preferred option would create a new open public square off Front Street, with the leisure centre, arts venue, library and community garden built around it.
Two alternative options have also been considered. One would include a new leisure centre, arts centre and public square while retaining and refurbishing the existing library and keeping a dentist at the end of Front Street.
Another would include a new leisure centre and arts venue, with the public square set further back from Front Street, while retaining the library, dentist and two nearby retail units.
Council leader John Clarke said the demolition works had recently been signed off, although the wider scheme depends on external funding.
Cllr Clarke said the plans could “put a bit of pride back” into Arnold.
He added: “I would think if we got the buildings down, got the funding, that work could start in the next year, but it’s down to funding.
“You’ve got to have a vision and change a very bland street into something very appealing, which I think we’ve already done with the Market Place.
“I know the East Midlands Mayor was very interested… I want something that gives Arnold a boost, people a boost.
“I want it to be a thriving, supporting town, working with the city, with our colleagues in the north. We’ve still got a fair amount of small business, if we can pull into a lively cultural centre, with a brand new swimming pool – a hell of a lot of footfall there – it could spin off and help other businesses.”
The site sits a short walk from the £4 million Arnold Market Place building, which was completed in 2022 and includes a Post Office and independent businesses.
Gedling Borough Council said a contractor had been appointed for the demolition, although it could not yet give a start date.
A council statement said: “Once the demolition is complete, the council will progress a scheme of works to improve the appearance of the site.”
The wider regeneration project would be delivered in phases. Phase one would include the arts centre and theatre, while phase two would include the leisure centre.
The council says it is seeking £10 million for phase one and £30 million for phase two. The proposals are being promoted to the East Midlands Combined County Authority and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
A spokesperson for the East Midlands Combined County Authority said: “We are committed to supporting partners across the region to deliver projects that bring real benefits to our communities.
“We are working closely with Gedling Borough Council to explore various opportunities to bring forward viable projects with support from regional funding streams.”
Shoppers in Arnold said the town centre needed investment, although views differed on what should happen next.
Yvette Trumann, who has lived in Arnold for 21 years, said the town was no longer as appealing as it once was.
She said: “There’s that many empty shops in Arnold now it’s not a place anymore that people think ‘oh I’ve got to go to Arnold because it’s lovely there’ – and it’s not.
“When I first moved here it was beautiful, you would never have seen all these weeds around here. It was clean, the shops here are awful now – there’s hardly anything here, it’s vape shops and Turkish barbers.”
Another resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “Arnold needs something. It’s already got the Bonington Theatre and the existing leisure centre.
“It could do with anything really to bring more people down. I suppose it’s quiet this end than the other end where they’ve done development on – I suppose an arts centre is better than empty shops.”
Georgina, 34, a manager at Chloe’s Café, said more needed to be done to support independent businesses.
She said: “It’s a shame to see [the empty units], because we’re always talking about how local high streets are dying.
“But we’re putting rents up to unaffordable rates for small businesses. So the only ones who can survive are the big chain companies and the big chain companies don’t want to come to the little high streets because they don’t make enough money.
“You’d be better off lowering the rent, getting people in the shops and letting independent businesses flourish.”
