Nottinghamshire councillors have questioned why a village in their borough has been given a huge cash boost for the new financial year – but others have missed out. Rushcliffe’s Conservative cabinet announced in its 2026/2027 budget papers that Radcliffe-on-Trent will benefit from a healthy £1 million, to progress a “masterplan” for the rapidly-expanding locality. But at a meeting of all of Rushcliffe’s councillors last month, a number of members raised concerns about the injection of finances into the area and queried why their own wards were missing out. Labour group leader councillor Jen Walker said: “I do welcome the £1m. Radcliffe is a growing and ambitious community. But if we can commit £1m for the future there then we should also be looking to do the same for the other major growth areas across our district. “Ruddington, East Leake and Keyworth are experiencing significant change and development pressures. They too deserve clear, well-funded masterplanning process. “A more transparent and collaborative exercise with all councillors in this chamber over the strategic investment of funds would’ve ensured it was not predominantly concentrated in one location alone but distributed much more fairly. “We have no evidence before us as to why Radcliffe was the only village in this budget to be granted such a large windfall but it does lead to much speculation in this chamber and beyond.” All three of Radcliffe-on-Trent’s ward councillors – Roger Upton, Abby Brennan and leader Neil Clarke – are members of the Rushcliffe cabinet – something which independent councillor Keir Chewings sarcastically suggested was a “coincidence”. But council leader Neil Clarke said that other areas would have got money – if the ward councillors had submitted proposals for a plan. He said: “(It’s) completely irrelevant that the three ward members for Radcliffe-on-Trent are cabinet members because (we) actually drew up a proposal and put it forward. “There could be equal sums – but the point is that Radcliffe-on-Trent actually put forward a proposal. “If all other large settlements do the same then those proposals will be considered. Draw it up, put it forward and I can assure you we’ll be happy to look at it.” What exactly the money will be spent on is uncertain. The details were discussed at a cabinet meeting on March 10, the week after the full council met – but for financial reasons, the public and press were excluded under the Local Government Act 1972. The only information available, from documents, is that the £1m will go towards “the acquisition of land or property”. The £1m comes from the council’s pot of reserve money – notably, the £8m they’ve saved up from their “New Homes Bonus” (NHB), received from the government over the past few years for building properties. The NHB was brought in by the coalition government in 2010 but has recently been merged with other financial provisions to give local authorities one singular block of cash, called a Revenue Support Grant (RSG), rather than multiple small payments. The changes are part of the Labour government’s “Fairer Funding Review”, which means that while local authorities such as Rushcliffe still benefit from bonuses for new homes, the money they get for other things will be reduced as a result. In Rushcliffe’s new budget, only one other community has been designated any cash – East Leake, which will get £50,000 in order to “support master planning work” – with “further funding” able to be provided “if necessary” for “key settlements” such as Ruddington and Keyworth, with some of the larger populations in the borough. But East Leake Independents councillor Carys Thomas expressed dissatisfaction with the proposals. She said: “We agree that the new homes bonus that Rushcliffe has received over the past 10 years should be used to improve infrastructure local to the places where the homes have been built. “(But) we’ve made enough fuss over the years and East Leake’s infrastructure hasn’t had a penny from the substantial (NHB) sum Rushcliffe received. “We’re not going to begrudge Radcliffe new infrastructure. But by way of crumbs, we’ve been thrown £50,000 to help us progress a masterplan. We feel that equal sums should be put aside for Keyworth and Ruddington so that going forward this whole process has some solidity.” And East Leake independent colleague councillor Lesley Way said that the £1m for Radcliffe was a “surprise” and noted how the reason for it had not been detailed in the papers. Independent councillor Andy Edyvean agreed, saying: “Of course I welcome investment in our communities but I think (this) came as a surprise to a lot of us. There has been mention of the other communities but there’s no fixed amounts. “East Leake, Keyworth and Ruddington in my mind are those that are missing out. I just find that deeply saddening. Radcliffe is already fairly vibrant. There are other communities that need that investment more. I’m disappointed that money for (the aforementioned places) is not there in black and white.” Radcliffe-on-Trent’s masterplan has been in development since 2017, and has included an economic development plan, a parking and transport survey and a retail review. Councillor Roger Upton said: “This is a village where population growth is rising, we need more parking and we need to support our businesses, (just like in) many of the key settlements and others. “But Radcliffe councillors have spent years – I personally have been on it for about 10 years – drawing, sketching and working with the parish council and other partners on a plan and getting it to a point where a consultant was appointed under the master planning budget to come up with a scheme. “We support the other settlements doing the same. We are putting money on the table for them. It’s something we really want to do. We’re ready. Others can be helped as well.” And fellow Radcliffe councillor and deputy leader Abby Brennan said: “The masterplan is well advanced and hasn’t come out of nowhere as Councillor Walker suggested. Local members have worked for several years to realise an ambition to resolve these issues and to make better and more productive use of land within the village centre that is currently not well-used or usable. “The town centre suffers from a lack of parking and the layout – a linear main street – has no real town centre or marketplace for town centre events. It has no central space where the growing community can meet and come together. “This has both a social and economic impact as people choose to go to neighbouring villages and towns.” Councillor Brennan noted that neither she, as portfolio holder for business and growth, or the council’s economic development team, had been approached to discuss masterplans for other areas since the council’s latest economic growth strategy was published last year. She also said she had recently written to all ward members and relevant parish councils inviting them to begin a masterplan process, funded by the borough council and supported by external expertise, to then support areas’ bids for council money in the future. At the cabinet meeting on March 10, the cabinet approved the acquisition of land and work to deliver the first phase of the masterplan.