Back to the drawing board for developers of Spalding grot spot

The people behind a bid to convert a ‘blot on the landscape’ into a care home have been told to go back to the drawing board.

Crispin Holding’s application to demolish the derelict Bull and Monkie site in Spalding to make way for an 88-bed care home has been deferred to ease South Holland District Council’s planning committee’s concerns.

The size and scale of the four storey building along with its impact on the historic street scene in Churchgate were highlighted but members were also told to be ‘realistic’ about the viability of the proposal.

Coun Paul Redgate said that the Bull and Monkie site has been a challenge for the council for at least 17 years and did not want to ‘knock the developer’.

During Wednesday’s meeting he said: “I am concerned about the size and scale and appreciate the developer has had discussions with us. I seriously don’t want to see the last of what could have a positive impact on the town.

“I would welcome the opportunity for the developer to come back to talk to us more of what we could do to work with them to push it forward. I would like this to be deferment rather than a refusal.”

Coun Andrew Woolf said that he could not live with St Mary and St Nicolas Church being hidden and seconded Coun Redgate’s proposal to defer the application.

Spalding councillor Gary Taylor said the Bull and Monkie had been a ‘blot on the landscape for far too long’ and that this site needs to be developed.

The deputy leader of the council said that this was not a ‘quality development’ and had highways safety concerns for this part of Spalding. The county council’s highways department had not lodged any objections or concerns.

He said: “There is no pedestrian crossing either side of the Taku Bridge.

“13 car parking spaces for 40 staff is clearly a problem.”

Long Sutton councillor Jack Tyrrell said he had serious concerns about how emergency services would access the site while Sophie Hutchinson said she did not feel the proposal reflected the character of the surrounding buildings.

A call to be ‘realistic’ about the viability of developing an difficult site was made by Coun Bryan Alcock, after several previous applications had been made in the past.

He said: “We have just got to accept the fact that at some stage something has to be built on this site. If you believe that it is going to accommodate on site parking for occupants and users for whatever is proposed - we are kidding ourselves. There is not going to be sufficient space for parking and to develop a viable development.”

Coun Alcock also expressed his disappointment that MP Sir John Hayes had sent in a ‘reasoned letter on the last minute of the 12th hour’ and that the authority had previously a rule that late letters would not be taken into consideration.

The MP has sent in a letter to stated that he had not objected to the site being used for residential but said the proposal was too large for the site.

Coun Henry Bingham said the proposal is close to the ‘abomination’ county council building and that the site has been derelict for a long time.

He said: “Are we deferring and then come back and we are still not happy? Personally it is a site that needs to be developed.”

Ward member Dave Ashby said: “I think we are lucky that someone wants to build on this plot. It looks a shambles along there and this development would make it look quite smart.”

Prior to the start of the debate, officers stated that highways had not objected to the application and 55 further letters of objection had been made.

A spokesman for the applicant said that the design had drawn inspiration from the Georgian architecture and modernity and that the project needed to be commercially viable.

Chairman of Spalding Civic Society John Bland started off by saying that it was ‘disappointing’ that the officer’s report to the committee contained statements which were ‘seriously misleading’.

He said: “A building the size of the proposed care home would be alien to the pattern of decreasing heights.

“The scale will utterly dominate the street scape of the conservation areas and listed buildings.”