A council leader said he feels "betrayed and disappointed" as after Eastwood’s Levelling Up bid was rejected. The Leader of Broxtowe Borough Council, Milan Radulovic, who has been in politics since 1986, said he will take his time to consider his position after news of the unsuccessful bid was revealed.
It comes after Broxtowe Borough Council applied for Government Levelling-Up funding of £20m for Eastwood and £16.5m for Kimberley to make what it said were much-needed improvements. Details of successful bids were revealed late on January 18 – Kimberley made the cut for funding but Eastwood did not.
The Eastwood bid would have been used to create a new health and wellbeing hub, a swimming pool, a community hub and improvements to the cycle network. Councillor Radulovic, who represents Eastwood Hill Top for Labour, told Nottinghamshire Live he is feeling "very bitter and upset about it". He added: "Eastwood has got nothing, not even a penny. We have got nothing from a transformational bid that would have reduced the inequalities particularly in the health sector. I find it incredible."
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Asked if he will be re-considering his position during his period of reflection over the weekend, Councillor Radulovic said: "Of course. Am I the right person? Did I do something wrong? Did I misread the situation?
"I am not being unfair to the government, but was the system fair - was it transparent? Were we rejected because it was not good enough? These are the questions I will be asking myself." He added: "I feel a sense of deep betrayal tonight. "
He explained that part of the funding would have helped facilities across Eastwood, particularly in the health sector. "I just do not think the system is fair", he added.
"Looking throughout the list, a lot of the projects that have been approved are not transformational - they are vanity projects. But when it comes down to actually dealing with issues of levelling up, which is about raising standards, particularly in health care, life expectancy treatments of dementia and other illnesses - you have got absolutely nothing. I find it incredibly distressing. It is just like nobody cares about it."
It comes as Nottingham has missed out on millions of pounds in government funding that would have gone towards projects including the ongoing redevelopment of the Broad Marsh. Nottingham City Council bid for £57m in the second round of the Government's levelling up fund last summer, with Nottingham's Island Quarter and Bulwell town centre being the other two areas that would have benefitted from the money. Overall, the Government announced 11 projects in the East Midlands have been allocated a combined total of £176 million from the levelling up fund.
Councillor Radulovic believes the East Midlands "suffers the highest danger of underinvestment in the country". He commented: "Places like Bulwell and Eastwood are crying out for the need to invest as are places like Netherfield and Gedling and Arnold. It [the LU fund] does not go to address the real issues about the quality of life and particularly the the quality of live in places like Eastwood. I feel very bitter and betrayed by the government."
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