Council launches consultation for Spalding public space investment

Posted 3 October 2023

South Holland District Council is seeking the views of residents, businesses and local representatives in a consultation around investment in three areas of public space in Spalding town centre, which comes after its Cabinet approved a £280k investment into physical enhancements to the town centre earlier in the year.

The consultation aims to gather public thoughts and opinions of the concepts for the project, which has been developed by the Council alongside a steering group of representatives, partners and businesses.

Hall Place, the Riverside and Red Lion Street are the three key areas of the public realm in which the Council's plans aim to make improvements, which includes planters and year-round planting schemes, de-cluttering of street furniture, replacement of trees and potential for a reconfigured design of seating in Hall Place.

Alongside the project the authority is working with the Spalding and District Civic Society to secure funding for their Market Art project which proposes investment and improvements on New Road.

This consultation follows the recent town centre access survey, which received a fantastic response of over 815 local residents. As part of this 69.8% of respondents expressed a strong desire for improvements to the town centre to make it more desirable and attractive.

The survey comes at a time when the Council is also actively working with town centre property owners to support improvement works to their shopfronts and the overall appearance of the area. This collaborative approach has been well received, with shop front improvements already applied to several businesses including Co-Op Travel, Superdrug, Mobile Master and Ladbrokes.

Councillor Gary Taylor, Deputy Leader at South Holland District Council, said: "We recognise the importance in consulting our residents, local businesses and partners, particularly with projects that affect the public realm.

"I hope that with this consultation we can gather the views and opinions of those who use the Spalding town centre and begin to progress this project as soon as possible so that we can add a fresh touch to the public realm and make it a more desirable place to visit."

If you're interested in having your say, please visit www.sholland.gov.uk/PublicRealm to fill out the survey, which will have descriptions for each area along with concept pictures. There will also be physical copies of the survey available in the Priory Road offices, South Holland Centre and Boston College's Spalding Campus.