Cllr Helen Goral, SKDC Cabinet Member for Growth, pictured in front of new signage at Watergate Car Park in Grantham.
Grantham town centre’s regeneration gathered pace today (Tuesday 12 March) when visuals of a multi-million- pound development were unveiled by South Kesteven District Council’s Cabinet Member for Growth, Cllr Helen Goral.
Artist’s impressions of 15 high quality townhouses for the Watergate car park site were revealed, along with proposals to retain and increase car parking spaces.
Cllr Goral said: “Town centre living helps create life and activity, increasing footfall and supporting the local economy.
“This project gives us the opportunity to provide a high-quality housing development without losing valuable parking spaces.
“High streets are changing and there is a pressing need to adapt our town centres. We are determined to ensure that Grantham moves forward offering a mix of modern living with access to all amenities.”
Cllr Goral said proposals were at a very early stage and extensive consultation will take place with residents, businesses and users of the car park.
“It is important that we engage with people about our proposals,” she said. “We have some fantastic plans for Grantham town centre, but there will inevitably be some disruption as these improvements are brought forward.
“We are in discussion with St Wulfram’s Church to provide alternative parking arrangements through its development plans.”
Plans for the Watergate site come just a week after the council made major announcements about new multi-million-pound leisure centres across the district, including a high-quality indoor facility in Grantham town centre.
Cllr Goral added: “Growth and growing the economy remain our top priorities and I believe they are the most important factors in helping Grantham realise its potential.
“That is why we are investing heavily to stimulate growth, including our new five-screen cinema which will open later this year, to make the town one of the finest places to live, work and visit.”
I hope alternative parking in the Town Centre is provided first!!!!
How can building houses on a car park increase parking spaces? The Watergate Car Park is a very busy area and is the main parking space for regular events at Wulfram’s Church, The National School, the Scout Hut on Broad Street and the Carehome nearby in New Street and 47F Squadron in Triggs Yard off Watergate etc. None of these have any parking spaces for visitors and rely on Watergate for visitor’ parking. Even visitors to the Kings School for school and public events use Watergate. We also need parking for large town events such as the Isaac Newton Festival, St George’s Day Parade Etc. The Council, in their wisdom, have already built a cinema on the popular car park in St Catherine’s Road, which has had a serious effect on surrounding residential roads where residents are no longer able to park near their own properties. Welham Street Car Park is already very busy during events at The Guildhall and the cinema isn’t even open yet! There will be few cinema visitors if they cannot park easily, especially if they receive a parking ticket. Building Houses on Watergate is a very poor idea and will seriously affect local shops and events when no-one can park nearby.
Thousands more homes for Grantham, and a down graded hospital, is that modern living, stroke or cardiac arres, Grantham to Lincoln your chances of surviving must be greatly diminished.
What in holy Zuses name are these people thinking of….how many houses do they think they can build before the whole town grinds to a shuddering halt with the vast increase in the volume of traffic……I can hear the “Clean air brigade”
Not withstanding the previously mentioned groups that will find parking difficult what about the proposed untold thousands that are going to descend on the town to live and work, perhaps they will be able to stick their cars on Lidl or Asda’s carparks, for a fee of course.
What we are witnessing is the total destruction of what was once a very pleasant market town, systematically being given over to developers whose sole aim is to make large sums of cash.
This bunch of incumbents are as foolish and as bereft of common sense as it can possibly be and for some unknown reason they get away with what they want.
Heaven help the people who will eventually reside in the sprawling estates and trendy housing complexes, you may have new houses but you won’t have an hospital, schools that can cope, doctors surgeries or a road system that can handle the volume of cars, but all is not lost, according to the “brains” be hind all this mess you will have not one but two out of town shopping complexes, that’s alright then………………
I totally agree with The Thinker. I have lived in Grantham for over 40:years and in that time it has gone so far down hill as to be out of sight!
SKDC has already built on one popular busy car park in town, so how is building on another going to improve town centre parking? With council-employed parking wardens round every corner waiting to pounce on any unsuspecting potential customer who might dare to park to actually spend money in local shops, how can we really believe that SKDC want to encourage people to come here? Do they not realise that without parking spaces, potential customers will go elsewhere?
But, as The Thinker has mentioned, our esteemed Council has passed plans for two new shopping centres on the edge of town, one of which appears to be funded by themselves. Maybe they are hoping that we will all shop out of town and won’t even notice that we no longer have any town centre car parks, nor any town centre shops. Heaven help all local businesses, as SKDC don’t seem prepared to do so!