Our regular readers will know that we are supporting the Heanor Task Force, a proactive group of local traders and businesses from Heanor Town Centre committed to improving the look and feel of our town centre.

It was great, therefore, to be invited to attend the first meeting of another group also working to drive improvement in the area, the Heanor Development Trust.

The meeting was attended by around 50 people, many of whom had come along to also hear more about plans for Housing Growth in the area, including a proposed development of over 500 houses between Breach Road and Hardy Barn.

The Trust has been set up by local residents Judy Woolly, Simon Minto, Jess Hartley, Ella McManes and Anne Needham, and they are aiming to use the Government's Localism Bill to turn the trust into a fully registered Charity. They have some great ideas and plans for bringing the community together to work alongside each other and to develop a much louder voice.  

At the forefront of their plans is the development of a new Community Wellbeing Centre for Heanor, serving to give a focal point for local people, provide a venue for local groups and organisations and generally be a meeting place for the residents of our area.  They are even thinking of adding a cafe to the centre to add to its appeal and bring in an amount of income towards its upkeep.

They are also helping to give a voice to opposition to the proposals for building more houses on the outskirts of Heanor, claiming that this will detract from the investment needed within the town itself to restore the town centre and existing empty residential properties, instead turning Heanor into a satellite commuter town for the larger cities of Derby and Nottingham.

Through projects like this and others, they aim to restore the community spirit that exists in Heanor, (although through my travels with thebestof I already know that our community spirit is alive and kicking - check out our events pages to find out all of the amazing things going on within the community in the area!)

In order to bring these plans forward and become a fully fledged Development Trust, the team need to show the authorities that they have the backing of the community.  To do that, they need as many people as possible to become members which you can do by registering through their website at www.thecog.me.uk.

They also have a short questionnaire which they'd like you to complete, and a 'catch the comment' initiative, which is a vehicle which will be used to capture views, feelings and requests from local people about what they want to see in Heanor!

For more information, contact any of the team at mailto@thecog.me.uk  or let us know what you think using the comment section below.