“The central Grimsby skyline continues to radically change as the various regeneration projects progress and we revitalise our town centre,” said Coun Philip Jackson, in his Leader’s Statement at this week’s full meeting of North East Lincolnshire Council.
“The redevelopment of the western end of Freshney Place continues apace. It is on budget and on schedule. Parkway Cinema and Starbucks are already signed up. We have been in discussions with a much-loved restaurant chain to be part of the development; Queensbury, our professional adviser, has now confirmed that we have agreed a deal with Nando’s to become one of the anchor tenants, and they will take one of the prime spots next to the cinema entrance in 2027.
“Abbey Walk car park has been demolished, with plans drawn up for a surface-level car park in its place. As promised, we were able to save one each of the four Harold Gosney reliefs during the demolition process. These are now in safe storage for future use.
“Plans progress for a new transport hub off Osbourne Street to bring together all the town centre bus stops. We are in discussion with the GLMCCA for grant funding to progress the project.
“Horizon Onside Youth Zone opened a few weeks ago and is already spectacularly popular with young people. Membership is already above 2500, with frequent queues at opening times. It is another great asset for the revitalised town centre, too. Building of the new housing on the brownfield Alexandra Dock has also commenced.
“Most Grimsby town centre projects, complete or ongoing, have only been made possible with substantial grant funding from the previous Conservative government – Future High Streets Fund, Towns Fund and Levelling Up Fund.
“On the same theme, Conservative LUF is delivering three projects in Cleethorpes. Clear progress in being made on the reimagining of Pier Gardens: contractors are now working on site at the new build on Sea Road, and the Market Place regeneration will commence on site in May. These projects will be game-changers for the resort.
“The DfE has given approval for us to progress with the new special school for children with emotional and mental health needs on the site of the former high-rise flats. This is great news for local children and their families and will also bring about regeneration within the East Marsh.
“We were recently notified about £270,000 of government Playground Funding for North East Lincolnshire. Plans are being drawn up for how best to use this for the benefit of our children within the given grant parameters.
“The Pride in Place Plan for Grimsby has been endorsed by MHCLG and recognised as best practice notionally. This provides us with £20 million over 10 years for projects to be steered by the community. Thanks go to Our Future and the Great Grimsby Board for their sterling work on this project.
“Our Town of Culture application is rapidly gaining momentum. Local creatives, businesses, organisations, community groups, residents and GTFC are all enthusiastically supporting our expression of interest. This is really galvanising the community!
“Turning now to the Humber. The Humber Economic Strategy has been published and endorsed the four local authorities around the Humber and well as the Mayoral Combined Authorities north and south of the river. It is a prospectus for maximising growth in clean energy, manufacturing and ports and logistics around the estuary, and enjoys full private sector support. The Mayoral Humber Growth Board has also recently been established and will be a single voice championing the HES with government and overseeing its delivery.
“Less positive is the Government’s recently published Northern Growth Plan. The Humber barely features with no mention of the South Humber Bank, even in the context of clean energy. This is very disappointing, and a local response to government is being formulated.
“More bad news was the announcement from the Government that the investment will not be made in the foreseeable future for the return of the through train from London King’s Cross to Cleethorpes despite massive local business and political pressure over many years and several false starts. It seems ironic that we have a nationalised rail infrastructure provider – Network Rail – and a nationalised train operator – LNER – which seem to be putting any and every obstacle in the way of us getting this much needed boost for the borough. But then we have a private sector open access operator – Arriva Grand Central – which is keen to operate a through service via Doncaster and Scunthorpe, but which is struggling to make any headway with its application. We need to keep the pressure on!
“Finally, elected members and local residents are concerned and frustrated about the number of speculative housing development plans that are being submitted on greenfield sites around the suburban southern arc of North East Lincolnshire, where the infrastructure is inadequate. These applications are on the back of the Government’s unreasonable and undeliverable housing target of 622 homes per annum for this borough. At a Full Council meeting last year, it was unanimously agreed to write to government suggesting a more deliverable target of 400 homes per year – 200 market homes and 200 social homes. Unfortunately, this was dismissed by government. We are starting to lose control of housing development in North East Lincolnshire and also losing vital green space – when our focus should be on development nearer the south Humber bank employment zones and on urban brownfield sites.”
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