The latest programme of school infrastructure improvements worth £8.6 million has been unveiled by Nottinghamshire County Council.

The investment is part of the council’s annual school building improvement work which will be designed and delivered by Arc Partnership, a joint venture between the council and SCAPE.

A dozen schools will benefit from a range of improvements, dependent on the needs for each school. The works will include roof replacements, drainage improvements as well as energy-efficient lighting and boiler upgrades.

Voluntary organisations and community groups helping improve the health and well-being of Nottinghamshire residents are set to share £345,000 worth of funding thanks to a County Council scheme. 

These funds help towards boosting local facilities, essential running costs, as well as improving residents’ access to affordable and healthy food.

Eligible groups were able to apply for three types of grants offered by the Local Communities Fund (LCF) by demonstrating that their projects will help communities live healthier and more independent lives.

A teenager from Nottinghamshire is achieving his dreams of becoming a DJ, with the support of Nottinghamshire County Council's short breaks service.

Max Dolan, 18, who has a number of additional needs and disabilities, was supported in a mainstream primary school, receiving an education, health and care plan in year 6 and transferring to a special school in year 8. 

From an early age he wanted to become a DJ, inspired by watching Kevin and Perry. Since the age of 13, funding from the county council's short breaks team, helped to fund DJ lessons. He quickly gained certificates and progressed to producing music. He now has several songs signed by a small label available to stream and buy, with more in the pipeline.

Organisations and businesses are being encouraged to join a campaign which aims to assure older and disabled shoppers that they’ll always have a welcoming place to have a sit down when out and about.
 
More than 300 businesses and community organisations across the county have already made a commitment to make their shops and buildings more age-friendly by displaying a ‘We are Age Friendly' sticker.

Nottinghamshire County Council revealed it has reduced its own greenhouse gas emissions by 39 per cent since 2019.

To support the delivery of the national 2050 Net Zero target, the council has created a Net Zero Framework.

The framework sets out its vision, ambitions and approach for reducing carbon emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change across the county.

 Key priorities include:

• Generating local ‘green job’ and skill opportunities
• Enhancing green spaces for biodiversity and leisure
• Improving the efficiency and insulation of homes
• Implementing infrastructure for sustainable, secure and local energy
• Transforming transportation services and networks.

Highways in the county are to benefit from £4.8 million of extra investment to enhance highway maintenance and improve readiness for winter. The decision follows the exceptional winter conditions of 2023 which caused extensive damage to Nottinghamshire’s road network.

The money will go to highway maintenance, focusing on permanent in-lay repairs and large-scale structural patching schemes. It will provide additional teams to address a further 20,000- 25,000m2 of permanent in-lay repair and a programme of 7 large-scale structural patching schemes across Nottinghamshire targeting areas of significant deterioration. Together these programmes will achieve coverage of an additional 40,000m2 of carriageway repairs.

The investment also includes resources for gully emptying, ditch clearance, and the deployment of extra teams to make sure there are effective responses to winter weather conditions.

When a community experiences flooding, it’s often those locally who can act quickly to support others and that’s exactly what a network of volunteers across Nottinghamshire are trained to do as part of a scheme which has been crowned the winner of a national award.

Nottinghamshire County Council operates the Community Flood Signage Scheme to help residents support their community should flooding or severe weather hit, and it is this scheme which has won a Flood and Coast Excellence Award in the Community Action category.