We have had some interesting news in Nottingham over the last few weeks. Most of the news has been positive – with plenty of coverage in blogs and the press. But I think we have some real challenges, which I have prioritised. These are personal views and others will have a different view…

#1 – Shopping. Nottingham has great shopping (ranked 5th in the UK). And we have two shopping centres vying for position. In the last few weeks both Victoria Centre and Broadmarsh have announced ambitious extension plans. On the face of it this is great news – and should cement the City’s position. But … there is a danger that the extensions will suck the lifeblood out of the rest of the City. It already has a linear shape, we need to carefully manage the rest of the shopping – to avoid what we know locally as the Sadler Gate effect. The latter is what happened to Derby after Westfield opened the new centre.

#2 – High Speed Train. I have blogged about this on numerous occasions. In my view the City should be lobbying hard for a Station and I will continue to say so. This would put us on the map, Nationally and Internationally. The ability to get to London in under and hour will help the City. It doesn’t have to just be for the benefit of Nottingham. If located on the West of the City Derby can benefit too – as can those with access to the M1 motorway.

#3 Robin Hood. We need to adopt Robin again. A myth he may be, but Nottingham Castle and The Sheriff of Nottingham are not. We can use the story to benefit the City. It needs some new thinking and a complete overhaul of the tourism offer. Robin Hood has the capability to be a world-class brand which can be owned by the City. We need to sop being embarrassed by the story.

#4 Universities. We have two world-class Universities – who both do really excellent work and turn out brilliant students. We need to embrace the Universities and work with them. They give us great profile in the World. Keeping the students here adds to the pool of talent in the City.

#5 – Crime. Our crime statistics are getting better and they are nowhere near as bad as they are portrayed in the press. But we need to keep working on the figures and on the perception. The latter is just as important as the former. It is going to take some time to rid ourselves the unfounded titles of ‘Gun Crime Capital of the UK’.

Some of the se challenges are easy, others more difficult. All have the capability to make Nottingham a better place if we can sort them out?