'Broken promises at Nottingham Castle mean it will never fulfil its potential'

Nottingham City Council has undermined efforts to make Nottingham Castle worthy of the city's history and reputation through a series of broken promises, according to the chair who led its refurbishment. Professor Ted Cantle CBE, who in 2021 stepped down from chairing the trust which ran the historic structure before liquidating in 2022, has claimed the city council consistently failed to support a masterplan to turn it into a nationally significant attraction that would draw in visitors from around the world.

Mr Cantle, who worked as chief executive at Nottingham City Council between 1990 and 2001, has said the authority did not deliver important improvements around the castle that had been promised, stunting its appeal and related economic benefits. These included the pedestrianisation of Castle Road and improvements to the public realm, a new public square opposite the Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, and the replacement of the former Central College on Maid Marian Way with more suitable buildings that reflected the area's history.

"Had the full scheme been implemented as all partners had agreed, together with the wider improvements to the city, Nottingham would have begun to attract many visitors from other parts of the country and a good number of international tourists who visit Britain," Mr Cantle said, outlining the issues with the project on his website. "The aim was to put Nottingham on the tourist circuit [for people] who generally only visit London and a few other areas, for example Stratford-upon-Avon and York, creating new investment and jobs for local people."

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The decorated public servant added the plan to use the attraction's caves and Brewhouse Yard folk gallery to tell the story of its 1,000 year-long history, including details on how Edward lll entered the castle through its cave system to take his rightful crown, had not been completed. This resulted in the coach drop-off on Castle Road, which he said had been opposed by the council, never being used.

The site's land train was never used to its full potential either, as the route was not completed.

Mr Cantle explained the trust's original target of 300,000 visitors a year would have been achievable if the attraction had been fostered into national prominence by the council's promised improvements - and if not for the ruinous Covid pandemic. The castle had been run since 1878 by Nottingham City Council until 2018, when it closed for its £31 million transformation.

Control was then handed over to the Nottingham Castle Trust in May 2019, with the venue reopening in the summer of 2021. After just over a year of operation, with issues including an alleged racist incident and complaints over ticket prices, the trust went into liquidation in November 2022 and the council took back control - reopening the site in the summer of 2023.

Mr Cantle said the city council's decision to run the castle itself came as a surprise as it had to write off millions of pounds that it had loaned to run the trust - which could have been repaid by the trust or another operator. "While the castle has so much more to offer as a result of the work by the trust, the city council still has no intention to create a scheme worthy of Nottingham’s history and reputation around the world," he added.

Mr Cantle also denied the accusation of previous city council leader Councillor David Mellen that the trust had been "hostile" while running the castle, with the former chair stating the council had undermined the trust and partly contributed to its problems. A spokesperson for Nottingham City Council claimed the castle had been improved since being "on the brink of collapse" under the trust, but did not contest Mr Cantle's claims that important parts of the original project had been abandoned.

“We’re proud of the way we’ve made Nottingham Castle bigger and better since we took back control," a city council spokesperson said. "This is the jewel in Nottingham’s crown and makes a massive contribution to the city’s wider visitor economy.

"We’re packing people into the castle, with visitor figures since re-opening surpassing our expectations." The city council previously lowered its annual visitor target to 200,000 a year, which was 100,000 less than had been hoped for when the trust reopened it three years ago.

The spokesperson continued: “The castle now hosts lots of events and activities throughout the year. Plus, since we introduced a ‘pay once but visit all year’ ticket and an ‘under 15’s go free’ ticket we have seen more local people coming back to visit time and time again and for an affordable price.

“The masterplan to transform the Broad Marsh area was unveiled earlier this year and we expect, as the re-development of the area starts to grow and we see further developments in the southern gateway of the city, this will further enhance the importance of the castle for years to come.” The authority provided no information about the redevelopment of the former Central College next to castle.