Plan to boost use of upper floors in town centre

Property owners in Newark are being given support to find ways to develop the upper floors of buildings in the town centre.

An upper floor conversion scheme aims to help landlords with risks associated with bringing back upper floors of buildings into use, with £800,000 of funding available through the government's Pride in Place programme.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said Newark's vacancy rate was currently above the national average at about 12%, a rise from the 9.54% recorded in 2023.

However, officials have said there are "green shoots of investment" in the town, citing book retailer Waterstones moving into a building and an art school set to open in a former cafe.

Matt Lamb, director of planning and growth at Newark and Sherwood District Council, said a report is due to be presented to Newark Town Board in November, which will outline how to get vacant buildings used to their fullest potential.

"If you go into Newark town centre in the evening and you look up you don't see many lights on," he said.

"It is a relatively modest pot of money of £800,000, and what that will do in really simple terms is allow us to work up schemes with landowners, to properly cost them, and give them a grant – incentivising them to actually build upper floor units, residential apartments, that effectively helps them with their risk."

The plans come as other regeneration projects in the town are developed, including the approval of further funds for the Newark Castle Gatehouse Project on Tuesday.

Some of the money came from reusing funds previously allocated for the marketplace, which will now receive new lighting and stalls instead of wider redevelopment.

Lamb said work on the market "will improve the vibrancy for the centre as a whole", while on wider projects he said: "Our catalyst interventions are beginning to work."

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