Care home for derelict pub site

A Spalding eye-sore is set for demolition, 14 years after permission was initially granted.

The former Bull and Monkie pub on Churchgate will be knocked down to make way for an 88-bed care home if new plans are approved by South Holland District Council.
Owners Crispin Holdings Ltd had received permission in 2009 to demolish the pub and replace it with a care home.
But the work was never carried out and the site has become known as an eye- sore in need of some attention.
“This planning application has arisen from the site owners Crispen Holdings Ltd, revisiting their aspiration to deliver a care home at the site that meets the care and design of other homes in their portfolio,” says a design and access statement submitted with the new application.
The 2009 plan was renewed in 2012, but work has never started. The plan had included an application to use the site, in a conservation area, as a temporary car park.
If the new scheme is approved, the home will be operated by Abbey Healthcare which has a group of 16 homes across the country and employs around 1,400 staff.
“The greatest demand of care home placements are from the higher acuity cohorts.
“A home with a focus on complex nursing and dementia care needs would be well positioned to meet a growing area of demand,” says the statement.
The proposed home will have 88 bedrooms with en suite wet rooms along with a range of communal areas.
The development would also create a number of permanent jobs across a range of job types.
“Secure landscaped gardens will surround the home, with beautiful sensory gardens providing safe wandering pathways and areas where residents and visitors can enjoy the surroundings.
“Areas throughout the home are designed to rival a comfortable hotel where residents are surrounded by welcoming colour palettes for walls and soft furnishings,” the statement continues.
The site has been the subject of many council discussions and South Holland District Council even tidied up the site in 2015 and presented the owners with a £13,000 bill for the job.
In 2008 planning permission was granted for 11 town houses and 11 apartments on the site but work never started. The owners submitted no further planning applications for almost ten years.