Gainsborough Town Council’s Planning and Development Committee approved a substantial response to the Draft Central Lincolnshire Local Plan (CLLP) public consultation.
Back in April, the Town Council produced a Design Guide for Gainsborough as an appendix to the Town Plan and has requested that the CLLP adopt it as a reference document to be considered by all developers in Gainsborough.
The Town Council response addresses the absence of any role for Gainsborough’s railways in the plan beyond an allocation of £1m for works at Lea Road station.
The possibility of linking Lea Road and Central Station in Gainsborough would be hugely advantageous in terms of regenerating Gainsborough, and the Town Council encourages the CLLP to, at the very least, recognise the desirability of such a project.
The Town Council broadly agrees that the majority of Gainsborough’s housing growth should be focused on two housing development sites to the North and South of the existing settlement boundaries. However, the council considers that each development could be a village in its own right as it is larger in scale than the existing villages of Lea and Morton, which adjoin Gainsborough.
The council states, “We believe that a village identity will help in the marketing of such developments, enhance property values, promote locally led governance, and create a sense of community spirit, which in turn can help in achieving the five guiding principles of the UK Sustainable Development Strategy. “
The response to CLLP also states: “The Gainsborough Riverside is an area that should be identified as a critical focal point for the regeneration of Gainsborough. “We feel the Gainsborough chapter of the Plan and Policy LP40 fails to demonstrate the ambition for the Riverside area’s regeneration.”
“We agree that a continuous pedestrian/cycle route from Lea to Morton is required but that the wider opportunities the area presents need to jump out of the page and grab the reader’s attention.”
The CLLP contains £25m for upgrading the Belt Road, which the Town Council considers not a priority for the plan.
The council said: “Some modest improvements to the existing Belt Road, notably the creation of a footway and cycle path, would be more beneficial to the community in the short term. Gainsborough Town Council thinks that other infrastructure projects in Gainsborough will be more beneficial to achieving the Plan’s vision of a Prosperous, Stronger and Sustainable Central Lincolnshire.”
A second Trent Bridge will bring significant economic benefits to the area, making Gainsborough and Central Lincolnshire more attractive to businesses and investors.
The Town Council considers: “In order to drive the growth of Central Lincolnshire, its managing authorities must pitch themselves as part of the wider East Midlands region and free themselves from the political boundaries that have, in the past, created an impenetrable invisible barrier preventing cross-border partnership working between authorities that is critical to the successful development of Gainsborough and Central Lincolnshire.
“Aiding the free flow of goods, services and people between West Lindsey and Bassetlaw via Gainsborough’s bridges will only help to facilitate this.”
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