Agenda item

Presentation by the Grantham Town Centre Manager on the draft Grantham Masterplan.

a)                 The Economic DSP will lead discussion on the content of the draft Masterplan document.

b)                 The Resources DSP will lead discussion on financial implications of the draft Masterplan document.

Copies of the Draft Masterplan for Grantham town centre have been circulated on CD for Panel members and Grantham members only.

The Grantham Town Centre Manager gave a presentation on the final draft of the Grantham Town Centre Masterplan.

·         This was the draft final stage of the document. The masterplan process had started in September/October and funding had been received from Lincolnshire Enterprise. Consultants had been appointed following a tender process and they had completed a baseline review of the town. This had been completed in February 2006, and had identified areas for potential significant step changes for Grantham to succeed as a sub-regional centre.

·         The second stage had been about design and development in core areas of the town.

·         The third stage had been masterplanning, based on conclusions of the previous two stages.

·         The current masterplan had reviewed the previous initial plan. Some proposals had been carried forward but several were out of date and had been discounted. 

·         The strategic element of the plan included the need to be incorporated in the council’s Local Development Framework and creating areas for development that would protect the town centre and its future.

·         The key issues in the plan were:

oDesign: to align with historic themes (e.g. education); address poor arrival points (e.g. railway station); over dominance of traffic; poor connectivity; one dimensional retail offer (which needed to be diversified with leisure and community provisions); and pedestrianisation.

oEconomic and market concerns: potential in Grantham should be taken advantage of; there was a shortage of opportunity sites and stock; office space was an untested market but the baseline review had identified a lack of quality office accommodation.

oTransport: heavy congestion, poor signage etc.

·         The vision was to achieve a bustling and lively centre with an emphasis on traffic calming, generated sites with mixed use; and an alternative transport system.

·         Vision objectives:

obuilding on a connected Grantham (economic, physical, social).

oproviding an exemplary public realm (setting and pedestrian experience).

oImproved east-west linkage.

oCreating a sustainable transport approach with public transport, walking and cycling.

oConsolidating, improving and diversifying the town centre.

oCreating a town of different parts: commercial, historic and natural

oProviding a clear delivery strategy: a robust policy, reduced investment risks, governance and management, key components and developer engagement.

oAppointment of a business champion to champion development across the town. Grantham needed to have a brand to demonstrate that it was going in a forward direction with a coordinated approach.

·         Various groups had been consulted on the masterplan: business club, Grantham Future, the National Trust, civic society, tenants associations, independent retailers and developers.

·         Key projects were:  station point, Grantham Lanes, Green Mile, Car Park Management, Traffic Management, Reduction of Through Traffic, Public Transport, St Peter’s Hill, Market Place, Guildhall, High Street & Westgate, Castlegate square and station square. All were detailed in the masterplan document. 

·         Although not all the projects would be funded by the council, with funding sought from other public organisations and the private sector, the council may want to consider a separate fund to contribute to delivering the strategies. It would also need to provide strategic leadership of the overall project.   

·         There was already budget allocation within the Lincolnshire Enterprise plan for public realm projects and a few projects within Grantham had been identified to be of interest to them.