Nottinghamshire to bid to host part of 2040 Olympic games
We don't yet know if the event will be held in the UK
Nottinghamshire will push to host the 2040 Olympics in the region – if the games come to the UK.
The government announced this week that it will assess whether the north of England could be a suitable place to host the event, after mayors of regions such as Yorkshire, Liverpool and Lancashire came together earlier this year to suggest the idea.
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy – who is from Manchester – said that the government “don’t accept” that the Olympics is “not for” the north of the country, with only London having ever provided the stage for the games when they’ve been held in the UK in the past.
But, while southern and northern leaders have bickered this week about the exclusion of the capital from the plans and “missed opportunities”, the Midlands, including the East, has not been mentioned.
At the Leeds-based UK Real Estate, Infrastructure and Investment Forum on Wednesday, May 20, East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward was asked about whether she’d put Nottinghamshire’s case forward to host events at the National Watersports Centre at Holme Pierrepont, on the edge of West Bridgford.
She said: “I’m really clear that we may not be in the north, and we’re not in the south, but we’re definitely not going to miss out. If the Olympics come here I will be pushing for us to have our part in that because we do have great assets.
“And by that point we’ll have even greater ones that will be key to what I think should be a UK bid for the Olympics. Instead of, as we always do in this country, start in London and never quite get out of there – (like with) HS2 – we need to start somewhere else and work our way south.
“That will give all of us an opportunity to see the regeneration that we should have and deserve to have in our communities.”
The National Watersports Centre at Holme Pierrepont, which opened in 1971, was built as a potential Olympic venue and was pushed as a potential location for events such as rowing and canoeing for the London Olympics in 2012.
But instead of adopting the site, a new one was built in 2006 in Dorney, near Eton in Buckinghamshire.
The Mayor was talking on a panel about the launch of the new ‘Trent Sports District’ – a plan to bring together sporting venues and organisations based near the River Trent – along with other local businessmen and leaders such as Rushcliffe Borough Council leader Neil Clarke.
The watersports centre is within the Rushcliffe borough and Cllr Clarke said the area should be pushing to host.
He said: “It’s called the National Watersports Centre. It’s a brilliant rowing course, so I share the view that it should be used for the next Olympics.”