New shopping village plans submitted

The plans, submitted to Boston Borough Council, will see 36 Strait Bargate and 2 Wide Bargate demolished, and the NCP carpark on Red Lion built on to create a development linking the two roads with New Street and Red Lion Street as well as provide a new entrance to Central Park.

A statement submitted to the authority says the build will consist of ‘two and three storey’ buildings designed to ‘form small squares and informal spaces’.

The statement says: “The scheme is intended to provide a mix of buildings, spaces and uses which fills an existing void in the urban fabric of Boston and opens up pedestrian links through this space to fragmented areas of the town.

“The design will provide high quality, contemporary buildings which respond and complement the existing conservation area and surrounding historic buildings without resorting to pastiche.”

The scheme will see the Listed building at 4 Wide Bargate refurbished as a continued retail premises.

The supporting documentation says the refurbishment will ‘retain all important listed elements ‘ of the building but will extend it to ‘help define the eastern side of the new development’.

The adjoining Methodist Church will also be taken into account and the boundary will be relocated to its original position.

The statement says consultation with the church was ‘well received and very positive’.

It acknowledges movement of the boundary wall would require listed building consent, and said discussions regarding access for the residents parking for the new scheme had been 
proposed.

The council’s Economic Development Officer Clive Gibbon has already made comment on the plans.

In a comment submitted to planning he said: “The council’s economic plan clearly sets out a vision ‘to create a strong, successful and resilient economy that works for all by positioning the borough as a destination of choice for investing, working, living and visiting’.

“Our plan clearly supports this level of investment and the employment growth leveraged through the application, and if successful will have important benefits not just for the town of Boston, but shared more widely across the whole local economy”