Spalding leaders reveal how Springfields funds have been spent on the town
Shoppers, traders and market stall holders in Spalding are all asking what has happened to a £1million investment in the town by an expanding retailer.
Confirmation that Springfields Outlet Shopping has given town leaders the seven-figure sum after its opening in 2004 to spend on projects in Spalding came after plans to expand the Camelgate site were approved.
Eighteen new outlets, 15 of them for clothes and household goods, can now be added to Springfields after South Holland District Council’s planning committee backed its expansion at a meeting last Wednesday.
In return, a further £200,000 “for measures to help the council deliver improvements to Spalding town centre” will come from Springfields, according to a planning committee report.
A statement on Monday from Ian Sanderson, director of Sanderson Leisure and Retail which runs Springfields, said: “ In the 15 years since Springfields Outlet first opened its doors, we have contributed around £1million that has been spent on town centre initiatives and the extension will also lead to a further £200,000 being invested.”
But responding on social media, reader Geraldine Scholes said: “If that amount has been spent in the town centre can someone enlighten us as to where it has been spent?
“There are no visible signs, companies are leaving the town, shops are closing and the people Springfields promised have never arrived in town.”
Kate Robb, owner of family-run Gibbs Shoes, in Hall Place, said: “I wasn’t aware that Springfields had put any money into the town centre and how it’s been allocated.
“They are trying to run their own business, but I don’t know what they would be doing to promote town centre businesses.”
Julie Newman, vice chairman of South Holland’s Market Traders Association branch, said: “I’ve no idea where that money has gone and you never hear about it.
“But regarding the market in Spalding, we’ve never seen any of the money, not even for Christmas lights.”
According to a May 2013 report for district council cabinet members, Springfields first opened in 2004 with a condition that its owners should invest an initial £900,000 into “projects that have greatest benefit” to Spalding town centre.
Further investment came after improvements to the site in 2006, with an estimated £150,000 set aside for a “Partnership Scheme in Conservation Areas to improve historical buildings in the town centre.
Another cabinet report in February 2014 showed that £133,000 was spent on a town centre manager, hired by Spalding and District Chamber of Commerce, £11,000 on a mooring for Spalding Water Taxi and £57,000 for a bandstand and refurbished aviary at Ayscoughfee Gardens.
A South Holland District Council spokesman said: "Over the last 15 years the s106 contributions from Springfields have been spent gradually on continuing support for Spalding through a wide range of town centre initiatives and events, community projects, heritage, personnel, tourism and transport.
"Regular payments have been made to organisations and attractions, such as Chain Bridge Forge and Spalding Water Taxi, to help them continue to provide a quality offer to residents and visitors.
"Community initiatives like Tulip Radio also received contributions, as well as annual celebrations, such as previous Christmas festivities in the town centre.
"Other historical uses of the money include local, regional and national marketing campaigns to help advertise the town centre’s offer, refurbishment work in Ayscoughfee Gardens, contributions towards staff employment, with a specific focus on the town and conservation and project grants for the community’s ideas designed to improve, promote and attract visitors to the town centre."
