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Ambitious Ashfield Council celebrates a year of achievements

Ashfield District Council’s (ADC) Cabinet has celebrated some of its key achievements from the past year.

At Cabinet on 27 July, members discussed the council’s accomplishments over the past year as it continues to move from ‘Good’ to ‘Great’ in 2026.

The council’s ambitious Corporate Plan clearly identifies priorities over 4 years from 2023-27 and has seen some key milestones reached in 2025.

ADC’s Corporate plan includes 6 key priority areas:

  • Health and Happiness - to enable everyone to live healthier and happier lives, to prosper in their communities and remain independent throughout life
  • Homes and Housing – to ensure everyone has access to a suitable and appropriate home.
  • Economic Growth and Place - to drive local growth through innovation via skills and employment, businesses and investment, regeneration, visitor economy, arts and culture, infrastructure and connectivity and towns centres and high streets.
  • Cleaner and Greener - to focus on having green spaces to be proud of, keeping Ashfield clean and decarbonising our social housing.
  • Safer and Stronger - to provide a safer Ashfield where residents, businesses and visitors feel safer in the district.
  • Innovate and Improve - to be innovative and customer focussed, building pride in the area.

In 2025, the council reached significant milestones in each of these priority areas, with highlights including:

Health and Happiness

  • More people are using the council’s leisure centres than ever before, with over 1.7 million visits between April 2025 and March 2026. This is 28% more visits than when the contract started in 2022.
  • ADC helped 1,133 council tenants with money and benefits advice, beating its target of helping 1,000 people.
  • The council’s leisure contract created £6.34 million of social value this year, bringing the total to more than £12 million since 2023.
  • The Discover Ashfield Awards 2026 was the council’s biggest awards event yet, with more than 220 people attending and 59 awards given out across 11 categories.
  • Thousands of people took part in health programmes through the council’s leisure centres, and 1,508 people living with Parkinson’s continued to enjoy free memberships at Lammas, Kirkby and Hucknall Leisure Centres.

Homes and Housing

  • Almost all council homes met the Decent Homes Standard, with just 0.09% classed as non-decent – the best result the council has ever achieved.
  • ADC built 16 new council homes at Adrian Sheldon View, with more new homes being developed at Hardwick Lane, Fairhaven and Southwell Lane. All new homes have the highest EPC A energy efficiency rating.
  • Plans were approved for 12 new apartments in Kirkby Town Centre, helping to provide more homes for local people.
  • The council helped 735 families avoid homelessness during 2025/26. Since April 2023, it has helped 2,114 families stay in their homes.
  • Empty council homes were re-let more quickly, taking an average of 27 days, which is better than the previous year and within target.

Economic Growth and Place

  • Nearly 1,000 jobseekers and 50 local employers took part in the Ashfield Careers Fair 2025, helping local people connect with job opportunities.
  • Improvement projects started and delivered in our town centres including the redevelopment of Portland Square and refurbishment of Cornerstone Theatre in Sutton, and the works to Central Walk in Hucknall.
  • Support for businesses and economic development such as the construction of the Automated Distribution and Manufacturing Centre (ADMC), a new construction skills centre in Sutton with Vision West Notts College, and 29 grants totalling £220k were provided through the Enterprise Development Grant Scheme.
  • The council continued to process planning applications quickly, with 85% of major applications decided within the Government target timescale.
  • Around 34,000 people attended council events during 2025/26, including Hucknall Fest, Ashfield Show, Sparks in the Park, Selston Films in the Park and Christmas Light Switch-On events across the district.

Cleaner and Greener

  • Ashfield’s 7 main parks kept their Green Flag Awards, showing they are among the country's best parks and green spaces. Improvements have also been made to make visits even better.
  • As part of the Ashfield Big Spring Clean, ADC collected almost 12,000 bulky items from residents between April 2025 and March 2026.
  • The council reduced its carbon emissions by 295 tonnes during 2025/26 and by almost 800 tonnes since 2021/22, helping to protect the environment.
  • By using electricity from renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, the council has cut its electricity-related carbon emissions by around 97% over the last five years.

Safer and Stronger

  • Since gates were installed in 8 alleyways across Ashfield, antisocial behaviour has fallen by 34% in the surrounding areas.
  • The White Ribbon campaign helped raise awareness about violence against women and girls and encouraged people to take a stand against it.
  • A new approach to community safety has helped the team deal with requests more quickly, with 60% of enquiries resolved at the first point of contact.

Innovate and Improve

  • An independent review praised the council for the improvements it has made and recognised that it is going above and beyond to deliver for residents.
  • The council saved more than £560,000 through its Service Review Programme, helping to make services more efficient and provide better value for money.
  • Almost all employees (99%) completed their Performance Development Reviews, helping to support staff development and performance.
  • Staff surveys showed that 85% of employees are proud to work for the council and 83% are happy in their job.
  • The number of young people working for the council increased by a third, helping to create more opportunities for the next generation.

To read the full report, which highlights the Council’s full list of achievements in 2025, visit:

Cabinet Corporate Plan Year End Delivery 2025/26

Cllr Samantha Deakin, Deputy Leader of Ashfield District Council, said:

“This report clearly highlights the real difference we are making for residents across Ashfield through our Corporate Plan.
“From supporting more than 1,100 council tenants with welfare advice and preventing 735 families from becoming homeless, to delivering new council homes, investing in our leisure services and driving forward major regeneration projects, we continue to deliver on the priorities that matter most to our communities.
“We are particularly proud that attendances at our leisure centres have reached their highest levels since the contract began, and that we have been able to deliver another year of very successful, free-to-attend events.
“These achievements reflect our commitment to creating a healthier, stronger, greener and more prosperous Ashfield. While challenges remain, we will continue to build on this success and ensure residents see the benefits of our investment and ambition in every part of the district."

Theresa Hodgkinson, Chief Executive at Ashfield District Council, added:

“The progress made over the last year is a testament to the dedication, professionalism and innovation of our employees and partners.
“Whether supporting vulnerable residents, delivering major regeneration schemes, maintaining high-performing services or improving opportunities for local people, our teams have continued to achieve excellent outcomes throughout 2025/26.
“We remain focused on continuous improvement and ensuring we provide high-quality, value-for-money services that meet the needs of our residents, businesses and communities alike.”

Posted on 28 July 2026