Guest columnist: Children's ward closure is a big concern

Bassetlaw is a very rural district and for families in certain parts of the district to be faced with the prospect of travelling all the way to Doncaster with a sick child late at night must fill them with fear and dread.

There seems to be a different story in the news each week of service cuts and closures within the NHS and I’m extremely worried that this decision is the thin end of the wedge, especially as the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Sustainability and Transformation Plan is developed further.

I believe this is the wrong decision for Bassetlaw residents and the council will be holding hospital bosses to account.

This week we have launched a Dragons’ Den-style event that will ultimately provide a Bassetlaw business with £5,000 to help it launch a new product or idea.

It’s a fantastic way of getting behind local aspiring businesses or entrepreneurs who may need a helping hand to get their plans off the drawing board and out into the real world.

However, the successful business will be made to work for their investment and face our formidable ‘Bassetlaw dragons’.

I can’t wait to see who makes it into the final three and encourage local businesses to get their application in.

Full details can be found on the council’s website.

Finally, I was disappointed to see this paper’s front-page story last week.

As a council, we are working extremely hard behind the scenes to ensure that a successful bid for £1.28 million is put to the Heritage Lottery Fund to kick-start regeneration projects at the top of Bridge Street.

This is in addition to the guidance we have provided to landlords who have already smartened up their properties in this area.

Unfortunately, securing significant funding such as this take time and while you may not see any major changes overnight, we are working hard to bring significant regeneration to this area of Worksop.