Once the finances are sorted out, Nottingham's leaders have their eyes set on something far more ambitious. Among the plethora of pledges made by the city council's current leadership when they were chosen back in May 2024 was a plan for Nottingham to regain its 'Queen of the Midlands' status.

It is a pledge which may have raised eyebrows among many given the turmoil that Nottingham and other core cities like it across the country have been through in recent years. Yet the current leadership is intent on returning Nottingham to a growing and thriving city with a much more stable future - not least by working on plans to expand the current boundaries.

It will be a rather Herculean effort to get to that stage for many reasons, but I've previously argued here that the city will not be able to move forward without unblocking three major sites that have been a source of some uncertainty for years - the Guildhall, the City Ground and the Debenhams building.

In my regular interviews with Nottingham City Council's leader, it has often felt like groundhog day as I ask her questions on the three sites above in the hope of some sort of tangible update. Debenhams has been empty since May 2021, the Guildhall for much longer, and talks have been underway on the City Ground's future for years.

Without wishing to jinx anything, though, it seems that 2025 is finally bringing a real sense of movement on these three crucial sites,........

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