Minutes from Spalding Town Board reveal they may have plans for the derelict Johnson Hospital site - as survey respondents want to see action taken on the grot spot

The public have made it clear that investing in a derelict old hospital site should be a priority for the £20million Levelling Up money earmarked for Spalding - and those calls have been heard by the people dishing out the cash.

More than 500 people took part in a survey conducted by Spalding Town Board earlier this year as part of its work to compile a vision for the town and a three-year investment for the money which was awarded last year.

Spalding has been chosen as one of the places that had been ‘overlooked and taken for granted’ and so in need of extra investment as part of the former government’s Long Term Plan for Towns over the next ten years.

A total of 507 people took part in the survey which revealed that people value Spalding’s waterfront area but want improvements to enhance the town and tackle anti-social behaviour.

More than 350 of those called for ‘fixing up and improvement of the town’s historic sites and buildings’ — and one in ten specifically mentioned the former Johnson Hospital building , which has been allowed to rot in Priory Road since it was sold off by the NHS in 2010 for just £180,000 and has now become one of the area’s worst grot spots.

A draft plan was presented to the board meeting of July 8 by Ivan Annibal, of Rose Regeneration, and the details can now be revealed.

Minutes of the meeting, which have been published on the board’s Love Spalding website, state: “The plan included a high level allocations table which unpacked the allocation of funding to each relevant theme from the public consultation and took into account other strategies in play at the current time.

“Whilst, at this stage, funding has not been committed to projects, there was a first draft indicative allocation to certain projects that fitted into the three themes. These included the Johnson Memorial Hospital and the Spalding Gentlemen’s Society Museum.”

Other projects included in the plan, according to the minutes, include possibly extending the Spalding to Holbeach cycleway to take in the town centre and railway station.

The minutes go on to state: “CCTV project (£747,000) - Spalding already had very high quality CCTV, so unless it was going to be enhanced to include any blind spots, the allocation could go towards hotspot policing.

“Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field was home to Spalding United. The owners of the club had just entered into a 25 year lease and were putting in capital investment - therefore there could be an opportunity to match fund and provide a football stadium similar to Boston United.

“Volunteering was a vital component, however nearly £900,000 had been allocated over 10 years for volunteering groups and further discussion was required.

“There should be an emphasis on encouraging employment in the town centre to increase the footfall and economic prosperity and to increase the night time economy.

“Better accommodation was required in the town centre which would encourage further footfall.”

And our survey says…

The 18-strong board aims to bring together representatives from the community, business, culture and heritage, as well as the public sector, local authorities, and MP Sir John Hayes. Having the MP serve on the board is a requirement of the fund.

Spalding Town Board, which held its first meeting in March, ran the survey from May 17 to June 21 - however concerns have been expressed locally about the delivery of the paper forms to homes.

A total of 442 responses were made via the website with a further 65 responses via the paper format.

A report on the consultation findings states that interviewers went around door to door in streets where residents said they did not receive the form and that 19 people also took part in Heritage Lincolnshire’s two feedback walkabouts.

The committee has now released a snapshot of findings from the survey following a request by this website.

A total of 71% of respondents want to see the fixing up and improvement of the town’s historic sites and buildings.

A clear desire for a ‘better town centre experience’ has come through in the survey with people expressing a desire for improvements such as better retail offering and market along with ‘smartening up’ Spalding.

When directly asked, tackling anti-social behaviour and improving community safety was the most commonly chosen top priority, picked by a quarter of respondents (25%).

The second most important priority for the investment is more attractions and things to do in the town, with 23% of respondents opting for this.

Respondents feel that the best thing about Spalding is the river area but feel that the potential of this area is not being utilised. Ayscoughfee Hall, community spirit, and the people are also valued by respondents.

There is also a call to invest in community facilities and resources, and interest in support for volunteering.

Around two thirds of respondents (64%) want to see support for people to volunteer and set up community projects that make a difference whilst roughly half of respondents (52%) would like to see the provision of funding for local volunteering groups.

Robin Hancox, chair of Spalding Town Board, said he is looking forward to sharing the next steps in due course.

He said: “We are really grateful to everyone who took the time to share their views in our consultation.

“The feedback that has been shared with us has been invaluable, and has allowed us to understand what matters to the local community, and what people’s priorities are for investment in Spalding.

“It has been great to find out what people really value in the town, such as the riverfront and our heritage, but also focus in on what could be better.

“We are committed to continuing to involve and listen to local people, and will offer more opportunities for the public to have their say - the consultation is just the start of our conversations with the community.”

The board was due to submit its vision and investment plan to the Government in August but this has been put back due to the General Election. There is currently no new timeframe for action.

What do you think of the plans? Post a comment below…