Sad Death on the A57, Local Communities Fund, Tour of Britain & More

Good morning readers and happy Thursday to you all.

Another packed newsletter for readers today - one of seven newsletters we deliver every week, all 100% FREE and not an advert to be seen - if you haven't subscribed yet .... why not?

Our pick of the full length stories from the last 24 hours are sadly led by a Police appeal for information after a pedestrian died following a collision near Worksop.

You will also see that throughout June we are running a fabulous competition to win tickets to 'Beyond Van Gogh' or 'Beyond Monet' for the opening week of the exhibition at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. This competition can only be won by one of our amazing newsletter subscribers. Spread the word.

Todays thought for the day ... “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain

Enjoy the read and have a great day wherever you are in Bassetlaw.

Justin Doddy, Editor

P.S. Don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter here if you haven't already and please forward our newsletter to anyone that you think would like a good read.

Appeal after man dies in A57 collision

Police are appealing for information after a pedestrian died following a collision near Worksop.

Emergency services were called to the A57 around 10.30pm on Wednesday 10 June following reports a man had been involved in a collision with a van.

A 30-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the van stopped and has given an account to officers.

Officers closed the A57, between its junctions with the A60 and the B6034 Netherton Road, while investigations took place.

The force has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Contact (IOPC) due to previous contact with the man who died.

Detective Inspector Jamie Moore, of Nottinghamshire Police's Serious Collision Investigation Unit, said:

"Our thoughts are with the man's family and they are being supported by specially trained police officers.

"We would like to hear from anyone with information, or relevant dashcam footage, about what happened and who has not yet given an account to officers."

Anyone who can assist should call 101, quoting incident 795 of 10 June 2026.

Worksop-Based FCS Group Expands with Major Acquisition

Worksop-headquartered FCS Group has strengthened its position in the civil engineering and environmental services sector with the acquisition of MCP Environmental, a Bradford-based business with an annual turnover of around £15 million and a workforce of approximately 120 employees.

Founded in 1979, MCP Environmental provides civil engineering, groundwork and asbestos services across the UK, supporting major infrastructure, utilities, rail, public sector and commercial projects.

The acquisition brings together two complementary businesses with expertise spanning civil engineering, infrastructure, rail and environmental services. The deal is expected to enhance FCS Group’s capabilities, broaden its service offering and create opportunities to secure larger contracts and frameworks in the future.

Importantly, MCP Environmental will continue to operate under its existing senior management team, ensuring continuity for customers and staff alike.

Commenting on the transaction, Beechbrook's Jon Milnes praised MCP Environmental's strong reputation and experienced leadership team, while RG Corporate Finance's Connor McBride highlighted the deal as creating a stronger platform for future growth.

This latest acquisition marks another significant milestone for FCS Group as it continues to expand its presence within the infrastructure and environmental services sectors.

📰 Source and credit: The Business Desk – article by Miran Rahman.

County council’s community funding scheme now open for applications

Nottinghamshire community groups can now apply for £1.2 million worth of grants to help support their work in communities via the new-look Local Communities Fund.

This community-improving grant scheme is all part of Nottinghamshire County Council’s continued commitment to encourage healthy and sustainable communities by financially supporting community groups and charities via a two-year Local Communities Fund programme (2026-28)

Eligible community groups have until Friday 24 July 2026, unless stated otherwise, to apply for a range of grants, including a new pot of money aimed at supporting new or recently set-up grassroot organisations.

These grants are:

Large revenue grants to help with essential running costs, such as paying wages and bills. These grants will be paid annually for the next two years. NB. This type of grant has been open for applications since 1 June, so will close on Friday 3 July 2026.

Small revenue grants (up to £5,000).

Capital grants of up to £20,000. These are designed to support improvements to local facilities which have match-funding.

A one-off foundation grant is targeted at new or recently set up organisations. These groups can apply for up to £1,000 to help them get more established.

A building financial resilience grant of up to £5,000 aimed at projects that address the root causes of financial crisis and help people build longer-term financial resilience, as part of a new government funding package.

Councillor Jody Stoll, Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health, said the funding is vital to help support residents to lead healthier and independent lives. He said: 

“We are proud to continue supporting groups via the Local Communities Fund in a way which builds resilience, rather than reliance. We know that the work groups do makes such a big difference to residents’ lives.  We have designed this new version of the fund to focus on those communities who need the help the most.

“We hope there’s a fund to suit all groups, and rest assured when an eligible community or voluntary group successfully applies for this funding, we’ll assess behind the scenes which pot of money is best suited.”   

One group which benefitted from the last round of funding was Mansfield-based Jigsaw support scheme. The charity helps a range of people from the local community, aged 18 to 88 years old. It received more than £3,500 in revenue grants earlier this year to help with vital running costs.

Alison Waring from Jigsaw explained the benefits this funding has brought to the community. She said:

“This funding is helping our group with our continuing work to support people with mental health conditions in the Mansfield area through a variety of ways including support groups, a community allotment and home visits.”

Deputy Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health, Councillor Gaynor Mann, recently visited Jigsaw’s community allotment. She was joined by fellow councillors, including Cllrs Faz Choudhury and Cllr Kevin Brown, the local county councillors who endorsed Jigsaw’s funding application. Cllr Mann said:

“It was fantastic to meet some of the residents who are benefitting from the wonderful work Jigsaw do in the community.  Jigsaw is such a great example of how the Local Communities Fund can help and support voluntary groups via revenue grants.”

The revised Local Communities Fund will be a two-year programme to help plan for future local government reorganisation. The improvements to the fund include: 

To help those organisations that have previously been unable to meet the funding criteria, a new foundation grant will be available for new or recently set-up groups to help them get established and help position them for more funding opportunities in the near future. This is in addition to getting general support from the council’s communities’ team.

To speed up the application process for capital grants, groups will be able to apply without having their match-funding finalised but will need to provide evidence if and when they are successful in their application. 

To free up more funding towards projects which offer community resilience, the Local Communities Fund will no longer fund projects such as village or gateway signs.  

For more details on the Local Communities Fund and how community groups can apply, go to: The Local Communities Fund (LCF) | Nottinghamshire County Council

Our three interesting facts for today ....

'Cacozelia' is the use of foreign words to make one appear 'un peu plus cultive'

Michael Bond, creator of Paddington Bear, was a camera operator on Blue Peter

In a desert, the naked eye can see the glow of a major city from 125 miles away

Good news for all the cycling fans out there as Lincolnshire to host first two days of Tour of Britain

By: Jamie Waller

Lincolnshire will host not one but two legs of the 2026 Lloyds Tour of Britain, it has been confirmed.

The first leg of the men’s event will start and end in Lincoln on Wednesday, September 2, while the following day will start in Boston and end in Skegness.

This is the first time the county has hosted the modern event, and it’s expected to provide a windfall for local hotels, restaurants and shops.

Councillor Natalie Oliver, who is in charge of culture at Lincolnshire County Council, said:

“It’s incredibly exciting to be welcoming the Tour of Britain to Lincolnshire this year.

“Lincoln is no stranger to world-class cycling, proudly hosting the Grand Prix every year, and this latest event further cements our reputation as a premier destination for the sport.

“Bringing such a prestigious race to our area will be hugely inspiring for our children and young people, giving them the opportunity to see elite athletes up close and encouraging them to get involved in cycling and lead active, healthy lives.”

Lincoln’s economic growth executive Councillor Joshua Wells said the city would be a “magnificent backdrop” for the first day.

“Hosting the first stage of this iconic national cycling event will have an incredibly positive impact both on the day and long after the peloton has departed.

“Hotels, restaurants, and retail can all capitalise on the media coverage that puts our city front-and-centre of the UK’s greatest cycle race.”

The other three legs will take place across East Yorkshire and North Yorkshire.

The organisation and hosting fee will cost Lincolnshire County Council up to £450,000, although this is expected to lead to large amounts of publicity through the media coverage.

The exact routes haven’t been confirmed yet, with the council hinting at using Lincoln’s Cathedral area as a key location.

When the possibility of hosting the race was discussed recently, most councillors were enthusiastic, although some questioned whether it would deliver value for money.

The organisers claim last year’s race led to £40 million of benefits across the host areas.

A 2027 leg in Lincolnshire could also be on the cards if the first is a success, the council has said.

The Lincoln event will take place directly after the city’s annual Steampunk festival, capping off a summer of culture.

Win tickets to see Beyond Van Gogh or Beyond Monet

Win a pair of tickets or a family ticket (5 tickets) for Beyond Van Gogh or Beyond Monet for the opening week of the exhibition at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham.

To be in the draw all you need to do is sign up to our 100% Free daily digital newsletter. Current subscribers will be entered automatically.

Full details can be found at: https://bassetlaw-today.ghost.io/competition-2/ .

New Bassetlaw Binformation App Launched

*Pictured: Cllr Darrell Pulk, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods*

People living in Bassetlaw can now stay up to date with their bin collections at the touch of a button, as the new Bassetlaw Binformation app is available to download.

The app brings together a number of key features in one place, making it quicker and easier for people to check their collection days, access information, and recycle correctly.

It includes tools such as the ‘What bin does it go in?’ section, helping residents quickly check how to dispose of items so they can be recycled correctly first time. As well as a simple address search that will tell you exactly what colour bin will be emptied on which day.

There is also a dedicated help section covering how to report a missed bin, contact our customer services team and report any issues with the app itself.

In addition, the app features a brand-new interactive game, Bin It To Win It, designed to build recycling knowledge and encourage good recycling habits.

The app can be downloaded free of charge from the Apple App Store and Google Play, with a desktop version also available via the council’s website.

Cllr Darrell Pulk, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, said:

“We’re really excited to launch the Bassetlaw Binformation app, giving residents a simple and accessible way to stay on top of their waste and recycling collections.

“Whether it’s finding out where to dispose of an item or having a bit of fun with the recycling game, the app is designed to make recycling easier and more engaging for everyone.

“We believe this will help to make information about our waste services really easy to access and we’re very sorry for the short delay in being able to launch the app to the Bassetlaw public. We hope you like it.”

You can download the Bassetlaw Binformation app on Apple and Android devices, or access the desktop version by visiting the Bins, Recycling and Waste section of www.bassetlaw.gov.uk

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE: List of nine ‘nationally-significant’ Nottinghamshire projects currently in the works

By: Lauren Monaghan

A range of projects are currently in the pipeline that could change the shape of Nottinghamshire for decades to come – including the creation of the county’s own Silicon Valley.

Nottinghamshire is known as being an energy powerhouse, home to the ‘Trent Supercluster’ – a 14-mile stretch of land home to the former West Burton, Cottam and High Marnham power stations – and home to the UK’s last remaining operational coal-fired plant at Ratcliffe-on-Soar.

Clean energy officials have already been seeking to transform the “Supercluster” area into a Silicon Valley-esque green energy patch.

This is spearheaded by the £2.5 billion Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) Fusion project on the former West Burton A power station site, which focuses on producing a new type of energy replicating that of the sun.

Some projects are a bit smaller, seeking to blanket patches of green land with solar panels in key areas with strong connection links or to reshape important road links to improve traffic flow.

But they are still large and significant enough that they need government ministers’ approval, being classed as ‘nationally significant infrastructure projects’ – or NSIPs.

There are currently several NSIPs in the pipeline for the county, where the majority relate to the booming green energy sector, but one relates to expanding a section of a key bypass that connects counties.

Works to the A46 Newark Bypass: An update from National Highways on its works to the Newark Bypass is still yet to be given.

Back in October 2025, the government approved the Development Consent Order (DCO) for the scheme, meaning it now has planning permission to move forward with works.

The road is regarded as a ‘crucial trade corridor’ through the East Midlands and connects the M1 and Leicester to the A1 and central Lincolnshire.

National Highways is proposing to improve congestion on the A46 Newark Bypass by widening 6.5km of the single carriageway that exists for it to become a dual carriageway, providing two lanes in each direction between Farndon and Winthorpe roundabouts near Newark-on-Trent.

The last update given on the National Highways website said to expect more information on the time scales of the work in the Government’s Road Investment Strategy which was published in March 2026.

But the start and end dates of the project is still registered at ‘TBC’ on the website, along with the scheme’s cost.

Cottam Solar Project: This proposed solar project is set to become one of the UK’s largest solar farms and could generate enough clean energy to power 180,000 homes with a capacity of up to 600MW and save 400,000 tonnes of carbon a year.

The plans aligned with the decommissioning of the Cottam Power Station outside of Retford in the Bassetlaw district, where renewable energy developer Island Green Power is seeking to ‘repower’ the region with clean energy, replacing 30 percent of the former coal station’s capacity.

The solar farm and battery storage was given a DCO by the government in September 2024, with land parcel one to the east of Willingham by Stow, Normanby by Stow and Stow.

The scheme crosses the county border between Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, where the main element of the solar farm will sit in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, with the cabling element and connection to the grid coming from a substation at the former power station in Bassetlaw.

Gate Burton Energy Park: Similar to the Cottam project, Gate Burton Energy Park – put forward by renewable company Low Carbon – is a cross-border solar farm with battery storage.

Located on land near Gate Burton, Lincolnshire, the site could generate up to 500MW, providing clean energy to more than 160,000 homes and saving more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon each year.

The site was approved by the government in 2024 and is listed as “in development” on the energy company’s website.

While the main element of the solar farm is within the Lincolnshire West Lindsey district, the cabling element and connection to the grid will come from a substation at the former Cottam Power Station in Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire.

Great North Road Solar and Biodiversity Park: Energy company Elements Green is developing plans for a new solar and energy storage park to the north-west of Newark-on-Trent near the A1.

The project has the potential generation capacity of around 800MW of solar energy which is said to meet the power needs of around 400,000 homes.

Its site is spread around the villages of Caunton and Ossington, forming an incomplete ring shape and the scheme aims to include green enhancements.

This includes 64,500 new trees and 50km of hedgerow, along with 22 footpaths and six bridleways which totals 34.8km of new recreational routes.

In late April 2026, the planning inspectorate completed its examination phase of the proposals, meaning the examining authority has three months from then to put forward a recommendation to the government on whether to grant a DCO for the works – this will be sent to the Secretary of State by July 28.

North Humber to High Marnham: Around 90km of 400kV new overhead line is proposed to be installed between two new substations in Birkhill Wood, Yorkshire and High Marnham, Nottinghamshire.

Both of these substations will need planning permission from their respective local authorities but the aim is to reinforce the electricity transmission network between the north of the country and the Midlands.

While appearing like a simple powerline, the project – headed by the National Grid – is also needed to help with the connection of proposed new offshore wind farms planned in the area.

According to the National Grid’s website, the application to the government is expected in 2026 which the goal of starting construction in 2028.If the timeline goes as planned, it could be fully operation from 2031.

One Earth Solar Farm: On the Lincolnshire-Nottinghamshire border, the One Earth solar farm would cover the equivalent of 2,800 football pitches around the River Trent, and would be capable of powering 200,000 homes.

The site, which would produce more than 50MW of energy, would cover 3,954 acres of land surrounding the River Trent, north of South Clifton, east of Skegby and west of Thorney.

The government is set to make a decision on the project by July 2026.

A motion was brought before Newark and Sherwood District Council members in May 2026 seeking assurance the government would have considered “all information necessary to reach a safe recommendation”, should the project be approved.

It noted how questions, such as why DEFRA and the Drinking Water Inspectorate were not consulted on plans and if impacts on the environment were assessed, had not been answered during consultations and the examination period.

Steeples Renewables Projects: Developer RES wants to build a new solar farm and battery storage development near the decommissioned West Burton Power Station near Retford.

If the government gives the green light it could export up to 600MW of energy, which RES says is enough to power around 180,000 homes each year – around 50 percent of all homes in the county.

The project is said to deliver around £320,000 a year in community benefits – approximately £13 million over the scheme’s lifetime – which could include the developer’s electricity discount scheme which gives a minimum discount of £350 on the electricity bills of the closest homes and businesses each year.

RES is expecting a decision by the government on whether to approve the project by October 2026.

Tillbridge Solar Project: Energy developers Tribus Energy and Recurrent Energy were given permission in October 2025 for a new 500MW solar farm development east of Gainborough, Lincolnshire, that will produce clean energy for nearly 300,000 homes.

While based in the neighbouring county, the project includes works for the connection to the National Grid at Cottam substation in Nottinghamshire.

West Burton Solar Project: Similar to the Cottam Solar Project, green energy developer Island Green Power is set to build a new solar farm with a grid connection to a decommissioned power plant.

Given government approval in January 2025, it will use the connection point at the West Burton Power station which was decommissioned in 2023 and will also include energy storage.

The scheme is cross-border with Lincolnshire and is said to generate enough clean energy to power 144,000 homes and replace around 24 percent of the generation capacity of the former coal power station.

Thanks so much for reading our local newsletter and for supporting us. We’re committed to providing Bassetlaw with the quality local news service it deserves, but sustaining this work may come with some challenges. Our team is currently discussing how to make Bassetlaw Today financially viable in the long term, and one option we’re considering is introducing a subscription model to help cover our costs.

We want to be open with you about these conversations so you’re aware that a fee may need to be introduced in the future. If that happens, we hope you’ll continue to stand with us and support the publication.

Have a great day and I look forward to seeing you read our next newsletter.

Justin Doddy, Editor