The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Proposals for an over-55s housing development on a Spalding town centre brownfield site look set to be approved.
The application to transform a car park and buildings at Drapers Place was sent back to developers for fine-tuning earlier this year.
But a meeting of the planning committee at South Holland District Council is recommended to approve the proposal on Tuesday night.
The application was submitted by Taylor Pearson Development and sees a four-storey residential development of apartments with 15 car parking spaces.
The plan also includes demolishing disused buildings on the site, which is within the conservation area.
“The proposal represents a modern example of a classic courtyard development with minimal impact in terms of scale and massing to fully respect the surrounding built form,” said a report presented to the committee.
An amended set of plans, including “added interest” to the design and including an area for cycle storage were submitted on March 13.
The report to councillors added that the brownfield site had been used as a private car park for many years.
“It includes remnants of former buildings upon the site including a small number of derelict buildings in a poor state of repair.”
“The site has been prone to episodes of anti-social behaviour, including vandalism and graffiti, and in light of this, the current use of the site as a private car park has gradually diminished and is now notably under-used.
“The proposal is for a contemporary design that has been developed to fit into its environment in a sympathetic and controlled manner. The design respects the character of the conservation area in terms of scale, massing and materials,” said the planning officer’s report.
An archaeological evaluation on the site concluded that there were no features attributed to the nearby Priory or the development of the medieval town.
