Yearly Archive 8 March 2024

If you’re interested in the heritage of North East Lincolnshire and want to get involved in helping to preserve, protect and share our joint heritage, here’s something for you!

With the support of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Heritage Network led by Heritage Lincolnshire has been meeting since 2021, to discuss heritage in all its forms: built, natural, industrial and community.

The Network is being restarted this year with a call for anyone that’s interested in North East Lincolnshire’s heritage including new and unfound or untold stories of our place.

The network usually meets quarterly and brings together people who have an interest in heritage to help build collaborative networks across the borough to showcase our local history, develop new projects and benefit from training opportunities.

Building on the success of the Heritage Starter Fund and grounded by North East Lincolnshire’s status as a Heritage Place, the Heritage Network will also help to administer a small grants pot for local heritage projects, with a few members helping the decision-making process about where those grants should be awarded. More details about the grants available will be released in the future.

Cllr Hayden Dawkins, Cabinet member for culture and heritage, said: “Over the last few years, we’ve really been working on protecting and restoring our heritage across the borough through the Heritage Starter Fund, and supporting people to apply for larger grants to the Heritage Fund and Historic England. The programme helped deliver lots of heritage activities locally, helping the voices of the past come through to educate, inform and inspire the people who live, work and visit North East Lincolnshire.”

Helen Featherstone, Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund said: “We are delighted to continue our support for the Heritage Network in their collaborative approach to celebrating and preserving the rich heritage of North East Lincolnshire – a key location in our Heritage Places initiative. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have seen some amazing projects from local people as a result of the Network in the past and we’re very excited to see what this next phase brings.”

Heritage Lincolnshire said: “Since 2021, we have worked with North East Lincolnshire Council to successfully support local people and groups through projects that have allowed them to access and enjoy their local heritage. Moving ahead in 2024, we are excited to see how the Heritage Network will grow and provide further opportunities to enrich the lives of the local community, all made possible by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.”

The next network meeting is on Thursday 21 March 2-4pm at Central Hall, Grimsby.  Please sign up here: North East Lincolnshire Heritage Network: developing capacity for the sector • Heritage Lincolnshire- external site  if you’d like to come along or if you’d like to find out more or if you’re interested but cannot make that date/time.

If you want to find out more about creativity, culture and heritage across North East Lincolnshire, then visit www.createnortheastlincolnshire.co.uk- external site  – the new hub for information about grants and activities across the area.

Supported by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and National Lottery Heritage Fund, the network will help to place heritage and culture at the heart of communities in the area.

Article and image from NELC.

A “stand on the land” event took place on the site of what will be the new Horizon Youth Zone located in Grimsby town centre in the former West Haven Maltings and Migar House buildings.

Key supporters including Cornerstone and Founder Patrons, and Horizon Youth Zone board members, were invited onto the construction site to take a look at progress being made including visualising the new sports hall and MUGA pitch which are soon to be erected. Guests were given an update by the property team behind the construction of the Youth Zone including milestones over the coming months.

Representatives from North East Lincolnshire Council were in attendance, as well as Horizon Youth Zone’s new Chief Executive Lucy Ottewell-Key.

Horizon Youth Zone is being delivered by national charity OnSide, in partnership with North East Lincolnshire Council which is contributing towards the Youth Zone as part of the Greater Grimsby Town Deal. Other key supporters include Historic England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Ørsted, St. James’s Place Charitable Foundation, The Youth Investment Fund and private donors.

Expected to open in 2025, the state-of-the-art youth centre will provide thousands of young people with opportunities to engage in activities and access support from skilled youth workers, helping them to develop their skills and reach their full potential. It will be open to young people aged between eight and 19 (up to 25 for those with additional needs), seven days a week, for just 50p a visit. Members will have access to an indoor climbing wall, four court sports hall, training kitchen, music room with a recording studio, fully equipped gym, dance and drama studio, 3G kick pitch, arts and crafts room, enterprise and employability suite.

Horizon Youth Zone is an independent charity with a private-sector led board, and once opened will be part of the OnSide Network of 14 Youth Zones nationwide, supporting over 50,000 young people annually.

Lucy Ottewell-Key, Horizon youth Zone Chief Executive, said: “This is a really special day for everyone involved in Horizon Youth Zone as it’s an opportunity for supporters and trustees to see firsthand the progress that has been made on site. I want to thank everyone that has been part of Horizon’s journey so far, because of your support we will soon be able to transform the lives thousands of young people living in Grimsby and North East Lincolnshire. If you would like to be part of this inspiring charity, please do reach out as we are keen to work with anyone who is passionate about providing our young people with the opportunities and support they need to flourish.”

Cllr Philip Jackson, the Leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, said: “What we will have in this new Horizon Youth Zone is a fantastic venue for the young people of our borough. It will offer opportunity for sport, for social events, for learning and to give our adults of tomorrow inspiration, and encouragement for their futures. It also offers a fantastic new use for these historic and prominent buildings within our town centre. We are delighted to be a part of it, and I would like to thank all the other partners involved for their support.”

Construction of Horizon Youth Zone is well underway and contractors Hobson and Porter continue making good progress against plans for the build. [what is next on the list in terms of the build]. Behind the scenes, the Youth Zone team is starting to take shape and a number of new roles will be going live as we move closer to opening in summer 2025. Funds continue to be raised for the running costs of the Youth Zone and anyone who is interested in supporting

For further information, please visit: https://www.horizonyouthzone.org/support-us/- external site 

Article and image from NELC.

On Thursday 2 May people in North East Lincolnshire will have their say at local elections on who represents them locally, along with voting for the Police and Crime Commissioner. Residents must be on the electoral register to be able to vote in May.

With the registration deadline approaching, North East Lincolnshire Council is urging those who are not registered at their current address to make sure they are registered before it is too late.

British citizens living abroad are also eligible to register to vote in UK general elections, regardless of how long they’ve been living outside the UK. A new law has removed the previous 15-year time limit. Applicants will need to provide details of the address and time they were last registered or resident. North East Lincolnshire Council must be able to verify an applicant’s identity and past connection to the area.

More information is available on the Electoral Commission’s website- external site , along with a post code lookup tool- external site  that helps voters living overseas find the contact details for their local authority, using the postcode of the last place they lived in the UK. Many voters living abroad choose to vote by post or proxy. Applications for absent votes can now also be done online.

The deadline to register to vote is Tuesday 16 April. It takes just five minutes to apply online at gov.uk/register-to-vote.

This year residents in North East Lincolnshire will be voting to select:

• Councillors in 12 of our 15 Wards, who represent their local area and residents, and will help shape the future of their local area by making plans and taking decisions (there are no elections in Waltham, West Marsh or Wolds this year).
• Humberside Police and Crime Commissioner, who is responsible for holding the police to account and for policing as a whole in our area

Rob Walsh, Returning Officer for North East Lincolnshire Council, said:

“Local elections are an important opportunity to make your voice heard and have a say on who makes decisions about issues that directly affect day-to-day life here in North East Lincolnshire. If you have recently turned 18 or moved home, it is particularly important to make sure you are correctly registered to vote. If you’re in doubt, you can check with us by contacting us on 01472 324160 or by emailing elections@nelincs.gov.uk.”

Those intending to vote at polling stations in May will need to show photographic ID. A list of accepted forms of ID is available on the Electoral Commission’s website- external site . Those that do not have eligible ID can apply for a voter authority certificate – which can be done online- external site .

Jackie Killeen, Director of Electoral Administration and Guidance at the Electoral Commission, said:

“If you’re not registered by 16 April, you will not be able to vote this May. Registering to vote only takes five minutes and can be done online.

“Voters should also remember that they will need to bring photo ID to the polling station to be able to vote. Anyone that does not have an accepted form of ID can apply for Voter Authority Certificate.”

Article and image from NELC.

Work has started on converting five units in Freshney Place Shopping Centre into a bespoke Community Diagnostic Centre that will help to transform healthcare in North East Lincolnshire.

Once complete, the centre will allow us to offer around 150,000 additional diagnostic appointments a year to patients at a convenient, central location, rather than travelling to one of our hospital sites.

Due to open to patients in autumn this year, we will be able to offer a range of services, including ophthalmology, non-obstetric ultrasounds and a mix of pathological and physiological tests, such as ECGs and X Rays.

GPs will be able to refer patients to a centre, which are not only more convenient for patients but are also more efficient for staff and free up clinicians’ time to help further cut NHS waiting lists.

Now the demolition phase is underway and details of our plans are on display within the shopping centre, Leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, Cllr Philip Jackson and Deputy Leader Cllr Stan Shreeve, who is also the Portfolio Holder with responsibilities for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care, joined NHS project leads for a tour of the facility.

They were guided around the site by Ivan McConnell, our Group Director Strategy and Partnership, Mark Edgar, Associate Director of Estates Projects, and Helen Kenyon, North East Lincolnshire Place Director for Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Mr McConnell said: “It’s been a pleasure to take Cllr Jackson and Cllr Shreeve around the site today and explain more about our exciting plans for the site.

“It was also great to see so many members of the public stopping to read our information boards and find out more about the benefits this new centre will provide.

“Having this new facility and the capacity to conduct so many additional tests will be incredibly beneficial to the health of people across the area, as it will help us to detect and treat serious conditions such as cancer, heart disease, and respiratory conditions.”

Cllr Shreeve said: “As a council, we are delighted to see this development start and cannot wait to come back at stages during the development in the coming weeks and months.

“As the owners of Freshney Place, the council is extremely supportive of this. It will bring health care closer to the people, with thousands of residents within our communities having easier access to vital care. This is extremely important when we look at our priorities of working with partners to improve people’s health and wellbeing in the long-term.

“The new CDC also helps the council to realise its vision of supporting retail in Freshney Place and the wider town centre with a number of diverse leisure and community uses, which will drive footfall and help to create social and community hubs,” added Cllr Shreeve.

Article, image and video from NELC.

Work is now underway to do essential works to the three key bridges into Grimsby and Cleethorpes and protect them for the future.

Starting with Gilbey Road bridge, then Cleethorpes Flyover and followed by Alexandra Dock Bridge, there are works on both eastbound and westbound carriageways of each bridge which will be completed in phases.

The first few weeks:

From 26 February, there were overnight closures from 8pm to 6am on Gilbey Road flyover to enable contractors, VSL, to construct the crossovers between the carriageways. Traffic was diverted between Pyewipe and Westgate roundabouts around localised diversion routes during the closure.

The road over the Gilbey Road flyover (between Pyewipe and Westgate roundabouts) was opened up again during this first week through the daytime to normal traffic, but with a lowered speed limit of 30mph, which will be in force throughout the duration of the construction works for safety reasons.

On Sunday 3^rd March, there will be an overnight closure to implement the contraflow that will be used as the traffic management for the construction works and will come into force on Monday March 4. 

Once the contraflow has been implemented, traffic will be diverted onto the opposite side of the road, allowing one side of the flyover to be worked on at once during the main project. It is advised not to enter the coned work zones for the safety of the construction workers. Free recovery will be provided within the contraflow should any vehicles be unable to proceed with their journey. The recovery vehicle will place broken down vehicles at the nearest available place of relative safety to allow the driver to call their breakdown service.

Additionally, earlier this year, a “Bridgology” survey was completed by contractors, VSL. This was a GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar) survey of the structure of the bridges and gave a good indication of the construction layers of the structures. In order to confirm some unexpected results recorded by the survey, trial holes need to be dug to expose a few areas on both Alexandra Dock Bridge and Cleethorpe Road flyover in the early weeks. These will be done during an overnight lane closure in the first few weeks, which will be lifted as soon as practical, and should not affect traffic flow. The holes will be backfilled overnight, and then normal traffic will resume.

The main project:

Once underway, the main project work will involve removal of the existing carriageway surface to get to the lower layers to start to inspect and repair the waterproofing layer of the bridge. Removing the concrete cover of the bridge deck to get to the reinforcement bars that are to be replaced, is unfortunately a noisy operation, and whilst noise reduction measures are being put in place, these will not completely mask the sound of the works.

Extra lighting will also be brought in for the project, which will remain on throughout the night to ensure safe working areas.

Once the works are underway, they will be operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to try to get the project completed in the shortest possible time.

Cllr Stewart Swinburn, Cabinet member for Highways, said: “These are critical elements of our highway system in North East Lincolnshire. If these fail, there would be significant impacts, both economically in terms of the amount of trade that use the route, but also for local people going about their everyday lives.

“If we don’t do the repairs soon, the structures will only get worse, meaning larger scale repairs, and potentially complete closure of the route in the future.

Cllr Swinburn continued: “Given the scale of the programme, it’s inevitable that there will be disruption to the highway network. VSL will be working 24 hours a day on the project to get this done as quickly as possible.”

If anyone has any queries about the works, please contact ProjectManagementTeam@nelincs.gov.uk.

Timeline in brief: project starting on the structures on 26 February

Week 1-2:

• Underneath Gilbey Road Flyover: contractor compound set up on the cyclepath.
• Crossover creation on Gilbey Road Flyover (overnight closures 8pm to 6am – localised diversion)

Week 2-3 Gilbey Road Flyover Traffic in contraflow 24/7. Speed restriction: 30mph

• Alexandra Dock Bridge: overnight lane restriction on a single night to allow for “window survey”. Speed restriction during works.
• Cleethorpe Road Bridge: overnight lane restriction on a single night to allow for “window survey”. Speed restriction during works.

Article and image from NELC.

THE future of children living in North East Lincolnshire is a priority under the Council’s new vision for children’s services, according to new Director, Ann-Marie Matson.

Ms Matson spoke with staff last week at an event to unveil the Council’s new vision for the service.

During the event, the new director of children’s services described the ‘transformational journey’ that the service has been on since 2019, and outlined her ambition for the service to become confident but compassionate, with leaders at every level – a workforce that focuses on the needs of children and their families and creates change where change is needed.

The vision was first published last December in an event for Councillors, stakeholders and partners, and forms the basis of the Council’s work with Ofsted and the Department for Education.

Ann-Marie Matson joined North East Lincolnshire Council last December, going on to quickly recruit a new, permanent leadership team.

Speaking at the event, Ann-Marie Matson said:

“Our offer has to be about helping children to be the best that they can possibly be. As a service, we must be compassionate, but confident, and our work must always be about making a real difference”.

“We want a service that has leadership at every level that empowers our staff to provide the best outcomes for the children and the families that we’re working with. That means compassionate leadership, clear leadership and confident leadership.”

Speaking about the desire to avoid sending children with complex needs out of the area for their care and education, Ms Matson went on to add:

“We must always seek to gain the best outcomes and that means wherever possible keeping children here, in North East Lincolnshire –  in their community, their homes with their families and friends.”

Finally, Ms Matson spoke about the desire to attract new staff. In recent years, a national shortage of skilled positions such as social workers and education psychologists has seen the Council struggling to manage complex cases.

“We want to create a skilled, stable and confident workforce which are focused on identifying and meeting need early”.

“This will mean an increase in apprenticeships, growing our own social workers, and developing those relationships that we have with universities in and around the region.”

If you’re interested in joining our team, we’re hiring now to a range of new Practice Supervisor and Service Lead roles across Children’s Social Work. Closing date 10 March 2024.

Practice Supervisors Social Work – find out more at https://bit.ly/3SFDsF2- external site 

Service Leads Social Work – apply now at https://bit.ly/3OGExve- external site 

We’re also recruiting Social Workers at all levels of experience. Apply now at https://bit.ly/3tXn2jf- external site 

The event was held at Grimsby Town Hall on the same day as the Council’s latest Ofsted Monitoring Report letter was published, showing further improvement in the service.

Councillor Margaret Cracknell, portfolio holder for children and education, said:

“We have made a tremendous amount of progress. Our service has grown in capability, and continues to grow.

“Ann-Marie has brought with her a significant amount of experience of what an Ofsted-rated outstanding local authority looks like, and that will be intrinsic to our own journey in the years ahead.’

“We want the very best outcomes for our children. They are our future and we are prioritising every stage of their development, whether that be through activity and networking groups at our seven family hubs, through mental health support for school-age children, or through careers advice for school and college-leavers.

“We want to work with our partners in the community to make sure that children and young people have access to the best support possible.”

Article and image from NELC.

North East Lincolnshire Council have received more than £1 million in funding from the Government to help with the implementation of separate collections of food waste for recycling.

The investment comes as part of the 25 Year Environment Plan by Central Government to leave the environment in a better condition for future generations.

In April 2021, the council carried out a pilot scheme in which about 4500 households across five different wards took part in food waste collections. The aim was to reduce household waste by raising awareness about the amount of food waste we throw away and increase recycling.

In March 2022, a further 850 homes were added to the pilot, including a mix of urban, suburban and rural neighbourhoods.

Most people felt the scheme was beneficial and supported it being rolled out permanently.

The full scheme rollout, planned for 2023, was delayed nationally due to issues such as the coronavirus pandemic. All Councils in England are now expected to roll the scheme out by April 2026.

The food waste is deposited indoors in small bins called caddies before being emptied into slightly larger food waste bins stored outside. These are collected by operational crews weekly. After collection, the waste is often taken to anaerobic digesters and transformed into different forms of energy.

The £1.2 million funding is to be used for procuring the bins and caddies as well as the vehicles to help collect them. North East Lincolnshire Council is currently conducting research into how the scheme will operate with a view to provide a further update in autumn this year.

Portfolio Holder for Environment and Transport, Coun Stewart Swinburn, said: “This is a great opportunity for North East Lincolnshire Council to make further advancements in waste reduction and recycling.

“As well as this, it will be a massive step forward in our goal to be carbon neutral by 2030. We want North East Lincolnshire to have a green future with a focus on achieving a circular economy, rejecting a throw-away society and making recycling a priority.

“Although this won’t be fully rolled out until 2026, there are a lot of positives to take from the successful pilot carried out in 2021 and I look forward to watching this take shape in the coming months.”

Article and image from NELC.

The leader of North East Lincolnshire Council outlined the refreshed Council Plan in a speech at last night’s Full Council meeting.

Here is Coun Philip Jackson’s speech in full: “The Council Plan was originally agreed in February 2022, setting out our aspirations, aims, and objectives for the three-year period from 2022 to 2025. The plan is focused on our priorities, with a clear agenda to protect our children and young people, improve the lives of all our residents, aspire to our low-carbon agenda, and provide a sound economy where aspirations are nurtured and where people can live better lives. None of this has changed. We remain committed to our vision for ‘stronger economy, stronger communities’.

“This refresh of the Council Plan recognises the challenges in North East Lincolnshire and our response to them. We continue to move forward with our plans and support the continued development of the renewable and low-carbon energy sectors, alongside investment in ports and logistics and the on-going importance of our flagship seafood sector.

“For our borough to grow and for our people, especially our children, to reach their full potential, we will continue to focus on inward investment, skills, innovation, and job growth.  Coupled with the Greater Grimsby Town Deal and the awarding of many millions of pounds of grant-funding for our urban and coastal areas, we are making real progress.

“Cleethorpes has a vibrant future ahead and the next three years will see more positive change thanks to the awarding of £18.4-million of Levelling Up Fund monies. The successful Levelling Up Award for Grimsby of £20-million and the 10-year Long-Term Plan for Town endowment of £20-million, coupled with our ownership of Freshney Place and the ex-House of Fraser store, will build on the ambition of the Town Deal and deliver major improvements to Grimsby Town Centre.

“We are accelerating our contribution to tackling the effects of climate change, with a target of achieving a net-zero carbon impact by the council and its assets by 2030. We will work with partners, communities, and businesses to achieve this ambition across the whole borough in the longer term.

“We must continue to work together to ensure that those living within our communities can benefit from the opportunities we have – raising aspirations across the board. We know the most significant challenges will be in our more deprived wards.

“This refreshed plan continues to recognise the need to balance economic growth and the green agenda, making sure that we take our community with us and enable the best outcomes for the families that live, work, and visit here.

“I want to see North East Lincolnshire become a more prosperous and attractive place to live, work and visit. Our ambition for Greater Lincolnshire Devolution, along with continued pan-Humber collaboration and the new Freeport arrangements, will also make major contributions.”

As reported here, the delivery of a balanced budget, with improved frontline environmental services and continued investment in urban regeneration and support for young people, has been announced by North East Lincolnshire Council for the 12 months starting in April.

The delivery of a balanced budget, with improved frontline environmental services and continued investment in urban regeneration and support for young people, has been announced by North East Lincolnshire Council for the 12 months starting in April.

Councillors attending last night’s Full Council meeting, when the budget report for 2024/2025 was discussed, also heard leader Cllr Philip Jackson announce an extra £250,000 investment to improve the street scene in Grimsby Town Centre and the main resort of Cleethorpes.

In his budget speech at Grimsby Town Hall (pictured), Cllr Jackson revealed how an environmental ‘hit squad’ would focus on clearing streets in key resident and visitor areas of the two towns, with other improvements.

“This investment will make a visible difference to some of our key town centre and resort areas, and in announcing this we all recognise just how important it is to improve public places both for our residents and visitors,” said Cllr Jackson.

The budget report itself contained details of how the council will continue to take a ‘more commercial approach’ with investments, such as the redevelopment of Freshney Place, progressing. This, adds the report, will support the ambition of the borough at a time of ‘significant economic challenge’.

The transformation journey of the authority’s Children’s Services is also remaining a priority, with both that, and regeneration, being central to the growth and prosperity of the borough. It was also confirmed there would be no cuts to frontline services, and went on to detail how the council is going to build up its reserves. Like a savings account, this is money that the council must set aside in case of emergencies or unforeseen costs, and is a legal requirement.

The report adds how the transformational change in certain areas is being supported by what is called the ‘flexible use of capital receipts’.

As reported in December, North East Lincolnshire Council exchanged contracts with ABP on the purchase of 200-acres of land for a number of new warehouses and distribution centres. Under Government rules, council monies raised from such purchases, called capital receipts, can be used to fund transformational change.

Cllr Jackson, said: “For our borough to grow and for our people, especially our children, to reach their full potential, we will continue to focus on inward investment, skills, innovation, and job growth.  Coupled with the Greater Grimsby Town Deal and the awarding of many millions of pounds of grant-funding for our urban and coastal areas, we are making real progress.

“This is a journey that does not happen overnight but the work we are leading will make a difference and this budget enables us to continue to do so during the next 12 months. This is, I must stress, without making any cuts to our frontline services, and providing the extra environmental investment.”

At the meeting, the North East Lincolnshire councillors voted to approve the budget report, which also confirmed the setting of the council tax for the 12 months from April. This will see an increase for the coming year of 2.98% with a further 2% ringfenced to support investment in adult social care.

However, in doing so, councillors also committed to an increase in its Council Tax Hardship Fund from £50,000 to £100,000 for the 12 months from April – reflecting the current challenges for lower-income households.  The scheme has been developed by Local Authorities across the country to support residents who are suffering hardship and need assistance for a specified period to pay their Council Tax.

The increase in Council Tax, coupled with the various grants, the annual Government settlement, and one-off extras, which include the recently announced additional social care funding, has provided an uplift in council income of 7.5% for the 12 months, adds the report. And that has been further supported by its decision to implement the flexible use of capital receipts.

The aims and ambitions of North East Lincolnshire Council are laid out in its refreshed Council Plan, which is available to read online at Council Plan – Our vision and aims | NELC (nelincs.gov.uk)

Article and image from NELC.

A design architect has been appointed for Market Place as part of the Cleethorpes Levelling Up Fund projects.

Gillespies will play an integral role in the rejuvenation of the historic square, adding space for social interaction by reconnecting our busy seafront and town centre, creating jobs, and boosting the economy.

These improvements will re-balance the relationship between traffic and pedestrians, encouraging wider circulation of people through the town by providing a safer, healthier, and more pleasant environment for pedestrians, encouraging a circular route from the seafront through to Market Place and to the town centre.

Gillespies is a diverse, free-thinking team of landscape architects, masterplanners and urban designers based in the UK. Established 60 years ago, the practice is committed to designing intelligently with nature to build exceptional places for unique stories to unfold while reflecting local character and history. From small community parks and market squares to regional city masterplans, every project delivers unique settings that bring people together to share meaningful experiences.

North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC) has been awarded £18.4m of Levelling Up Funding (LUF) to transform Cleethorpes seafront. This includes three key areas – Market Place, Pier Gardens and Sea Road.

The council’s delivery partner Equans and NELC’s project management team will work in partnership with the successful design consultancy to develop designs. Community engagement events will be undertaken with local businesses, the wider community, and residents within the vicinity of Market Place. These events will be designed to generate interest and ideas which will assist with the development of concept designs for Market Place.  Once designs are finalised, a main contractor will be appointed during the summer, with works starting thereafter.

Tom Walker, Partner at Gillespies, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be helping NELC, local businesses and residents rethink and redesign the Market Place at Cleethorpes. This project is an incredible opportunity to transform a space with enormous potential. What is particularly pleasing is working at a seaside resort and space, where joy, richness, and fun can be the focus. It’s important work, but not too serious. There are some excellent businesses around the area that will significantly benefit from the redesign, which could also transform the lives of local people and the visitor experience.”   

Councillor Philip Jackson, Leader of the council, said: “North East Lincolnshire Council has an ambitious vision for the growth and regeneration of the resort, diversifying Cleethorpes’ offer and extending the season, both to support the local economy and local people. We’re working hard to make sure that the money spent in this borough is to the benefit of everyone living and working here.”

Article from NELC.