Tongue End cottage demolition plans raise concerns in village
Plans to demolish a house on land where a historic railway line linked Spalding and Bourne are raising concerns in Tongue End.
Villagers are worried about plans to replace Railway Cottage, off Counter Drain Drove, with a new four-bedroom house on the same site as the former Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway, which operated from 1893 until 1959.
The plans were raised at a virtual meeting of Deeping St Nicholas Parish Council on Monday when members were told about the potential loss to Tongue End of a "heritage asset".
Tongue End ward parish councillor Ric Chapman said: "There's some noise about the historic nature of the building and the general feeling round here is that residents want to preserve as much of it as possible.
"Whilst the building certainly isn’t part of the original railway structure, it did house the signal box attendants and, as such forms, part of the village's history.
"There’s an argument that the cottage is in desperate need of work, but points raised in the village around keeping the original structure as part of the improvement, and the safeguarding of protected species on site, must be taken into consideration."
South Holland District Council is yet to decide on the plans, but Lincolnshire's historic environment officer Ian Marshman urged planning officers to "consider all options for retaining and extending the cottage".
In a statement, Mr Marshman said: "The existing cottage is one of the last surviving elements of Counter Drain Railway Station and it would have served as the crossing keeper's cottage for the level crossing that formerly stood directly outside.
"The cottage is an attractive building of local architectural and historic interest and can be considered a non-designated heritage asset."
Tongue End villagers have also given their views on turning the village playing field into a woodland area.
Coun Chapman said: "The Welland Rivers Trust has helped to secure a donation from the Woodland Trust of 400 trees and bushes, to arrive in March or April 2021.
"We’re also discussing the filling in of a section of the dyke to allow for a parking area as one of the issues with the playing field was ease of access and so this should be a significant help."
