The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
The wait for a new store on a derelict piece of land that’s turned into an eyesore will go on.
Blakemore Retail owns the land on the corner of Bourne Road and Carrington Road in Spalding which received planning permission for a Spar back in 2009.
Despite Spar pledging to start work back in 2015, the site remains vacant.
This week the company told The Voice it still intends to build the store, but no start date has been confirmed.
And concerns have been expressed over the state of the land.
Recent complaints from neighbours and Coun Angela Newton led to it being cleaned up last week.
Jill Wozniak says she moved to her Meadowgate Lane home partly because of the plans for the store nearby.
“This part of Spalding has deteriorated and is being allowed to become an environmental hazard,” she continued. “I moved here ten years ago when it was vacant but since then it has been allowed to fall into disarray resembling a ‘slum’ in the making.”
Coun Newton, reported the site in August before the land owners said they would clear it within a month.
After representations from the district council, the land was partially cleared last week.
Coun Newton said: “I noticed that all the green stuff has gone but the ground is absolutely full of cans and other debris.
“I am not sure if Blackmore intend to remove all the rubbish on the ground at this time but I am told they will put up fencing, hopefully this week.”
A spokesman for Spar said: “We can confirm that the area in Spalding is owned by Blakemore Retail and it is still our commitment to develop the land to build a convenience store in the future but are unable to confirm detailed timings at the moment.
“We will continue to keep local residents and authorities up to date on plans as they develop while maintaining the upkeep on the land.”
