Bid to improve town centres

South Holland District Council says it’s set to spend nearly half a million pounds on improvements for Spalding and Holbeach town centre while the latter could be set for a between £5m and £10m facelift.

A programme of work costing under £500,000 over three years is due to go before the authority’s cabinet next week.

The allocated SHDC funds do not include the £150,000 funding that’s been awarded to Holbeach through the Future High Streets Fund.

That will instead go towards trying to source further funding for a multi-million pound renovation of the High Street.

The report to SHDC’s cabinet recommending they approve the £500,000 says of the Holbeach High Streets fund: “This funding will be used to provide resources and technical surveys to develop a robust evidence base.

“The business case will be seeking to secure capital funding in the region of £5-10m to make significant improvements to the high street in Holbeach by reducing the dominance of the traffic in the town centre.

“It is expected that we will be notified about whether we are successful in later 2020.”

The SHDC pot of money will be shared between the towns and includes £210,000 for changes to the public toilets (see right), £13,750 for information boards and signage and £10,000 for street furnishings, such as benches, bollard, planters and bins.

A heritage/arts trail has also been planned for both towns at a cost of £5,000.

Both Spalding and Holbeach markets are to be reviewed with £46,500 allocated for that. Proposed changes include a ‘local food zone’ and a bid to encourage start-up businesses.

Websites proposed to promote the town centres are estimated to cost between £5,000 to £10,000.

In Spalding there’s a plan to spend £55,000 on installing free Wi-Fi in the town centre.

Ayscoughfee Hall is to be given £19,982, which is “to review the current activities within Ayscoughfee gardens and seek new opportunities to improve community participation in the gardens,” the report to cabinet states.

There’s also a policy to turn vacant or derelict properties into housing developments, potentially using compulsory purchase orders. The council pledges to “review the mechanisms” to support housing developments and change of use planning applications in the town centre.”

Stating the current plan is just a starting point, Coun Nick Worth, South Holland District Council deputy leader and portfolio holder for growth and commercialisation, said: “This plan lays out a really positive and exciting series of improvements for Spalding and Holbeach, which will play a crucial part in cementing their position as the primary destinations for retail, entertainment, markets and events in the district.”