Drawings prepared on behalf of the Keep Scunthorpe Alive campaign group show how the former Scunthorpe Leisure Centre and Carlton Street multi-storey car park site could be transformed.
The plans have been prepared as a potential alternative to the controversial Simons Developments Ltd proposal to create a retail park in Doncaster Road, which would include a flagship Marks & Spencer store.

Objections to the out-of-town plan centre on its perceived negative effect on the town centre, as well as other issues such as traffic.

Now, town centre businesses have thrown their weight behind the alternative regeneration scheme, which they claim could revive the High Street and safeguard its future.

Andrew Mortimer, director at the Specsavers branch in High Street, said: “I think these plans offer a viable alternative to the Simons development out of town.

“It is what the High Street needs these days. It needs something that is exciting, vibrant and offers the public activities as well as retail, which is where I believe town centres are going for the future.

“The plans are vital for the town centre and this is the last chance to revive the town centre for future generations.”

Tony Coe, director at High Street-based Coe & Co jewellers, said: “This would bring the town back to life.

“It would be fantastic for Scunthorpe to develop this area and it would give us a chance again.

“We want to try and keep people in the town and attract people to visit the town and with a scheme like this, that is achievable.”

Mr Coe urged the council to fully consider the town centre plan, which was revealed less than a week before the authority’s planning committee is due to vote again on the Simons scheme.

He said: “It does not want brushing under the carpet, it needs a lot of thought and needs to be considered extremely well.

“The planning committee should look at every angle.

“The land is available, it is at the bottom of the town centre and the infrastructure is ideal. It would take traffic congestion away from Doncaster Road.”

North Lincolnshire Council leader, Liz Redfern, said: “The council is already working on significant proposals to attract investment on the same site.

“We hope to be launching these in the coming weeks.

“We have met with the Keep Scunthorpe Alive campaign group in preparing these proposals. However, it should be noted that North Lincolnshire Council is not able to dictate where retailers choose to build their stores.”

The council’s planning committee will discuss the Simons scheme on Wednesday, March 7 at the Civic Centre, Ashby Road, Scunthorpe, from 2pm.

Article courtesy of the Scunthorpe Telegraph.

North Lincolnshire Council’s planning committee will discuss the Simons Developments Ltd plan, earmarked for land currently occupied by the Stephen Smith Garden Centre in Doncaster Road, at a meeting on Wednesday, March 7.

The committee voted in favour of granting permission for the five-unit development in December but was asked to reconsider the plans after the Keep Scunthorpe Alive campaign group took the first steps towards a legal challenge.

Campaigners have now delivered new plans to the council, showing how a similar amount of retail space could join cafés, bars, apartments and leisure space on land made vacant by the demolition of Scunthorpe Leisure Centre and the Carlton Street multi-storey car park.

Des Comerford, chairman of Keep Scunthorpe Alive, said a key objection from the group related to a sequential test which must prove no alternative town centre site can be found before allowing out-of-town retail parks to proceed.

He said: “Where Simons said there are no other viable sites, this scheme clearly shows that is not the case.”

Mr Comerford said he felt the alternative scheme, which could also see Church Square transformed with fountains and seating areas, represented a big opportunity to regenerate the town centre.

He said: “Not only do these plans show a comparable amount of retail space to the proposed Simons development, we have also included the redevelopment of Church Square, which would include apartments with balconies looking over the square.

“Below them would be cafés, bars, bistros and a leisure area with seating, tables and a fountain and also included in the proposals will be public toilet facilities.”

Under the plans, the current Scunthorpe Bowls Centre would be relocated to what Mr Comerford described as a “purpose-built, state-of- the-art” facility elsewhere on the former leisure centre site.

And he said the scheme, which could create hundreds of jobs and improve footfall in the High Street area, had already attracted the interest of developers.

He said: “We have been in negotiations for the past two months with developers who are very interested in developing this site. However, it is clear that if the Simons development was allowed to go ahead, these developers have indicated they would not wish to proceed with this town centre development.

“It is a mixed use development and it is about rejuvenating the whole of that area, which would lead to the rebirth of retail in the town centre.”

Councillor Liz Redfern, the leader of North Lincolnshire Council, said: “We welcome any proposals that will help regenerate the town centre.”

M&S bosses have previously indicated their belief the Doncaster Road development would be the only viable location for the firm to return to Scunthorpe.

Chris Newsome, development director for Simons, said: “Although we haven’t seen the plans, it does not change the fact that the leisure centre site is not commercially suitable, available or viable for our application.

“Our site in Doncaster Road also categorically represents the only option for M&S to return to Scunthorpe.

“The leisure centre site has been earmarked by the council as forming part of a cultural quarter for some time. This is a very different type of development to our purely retail proposals in Doncaster Road.”

Article courtesy of the Scunthorpe Telegraph.

L to R, Martin Vickers MP, Des Comerford Chairman of KSA, Nic Dakin MP

Following the visit of Brigg and Goole MP Andrew Percy on 13 February, the next day we were pleased to welcome two other regional MP’s to visit KSA, Scunthorpe MP Nic Dakin and Martin Vickers, MP for Cleethorpes, Immingham, Barton and the Wold Parishes.

Both Nic and Martin agreed to visit us after we raised our concerns with them over the Simons Developments Ltd proposed out of town retail development on the Trent Valley Garden Centre site.

As we did with Andrew on the previous day, we presented the same concerns, the vast number of local residents objecting to the proposed development, their fears over increased levels of traffic congestion, concerns for the safety of children walking to and from school, health fears over pollution levels rising and the negative effects that a large development of this nature would have on the vitality and viability of Scunthorpe town centre.

Andrew, Nic and Martin collectively listened to the points and concerns we raised, we were extremely encouraged by their responses and their contributions to the meetings and we sincerely thank them for their time.

Andrew Percy MP (pictured left) and Des Comerford KSA Chairman

KSA were delighted to welcome Andrew Percy MP, who represents the Brigg and Goole constituency, to Scunthorpe town centre on 13th February 2012 to discuss the proposed Simons Out-Of-Town retail development.

The site of the proposed development is within the boundaries of Andrews’ constituency.

During the meeting many subjects were discussed such as, the impact of the proposed development on his constituents, the vast number of local residents objecting to the proposed development, their fears over increased levels of traffic congestion, concerns for the safety of children walking to and from school, health fears over pollution levels rising and the negative effects that a large development of this nature would have on the vitality and viability of Scunthorpe town centre.

We were also able to make Andrew aware of various issues that had not previously been  brought to his attention regarding this application for which he thanked us and in turn we would like to thank Andrew for giving up his valuable time to visit us for what was a very constructive and informative meeting for all.

Since planning permission was granted, the KSA group have sought professional advice, and on the 23rd December 2011 we issued a letter before claim to North Lincolnshire Council. After correspondence between ourselves and the head of legal services at NLC, we can inform you that the democratic and legal services department at NLC are referring the planning application back to the committee to be heard at the next planning meeting on the 7th March 2012.

This is an opportunity to ensure the correct decision will be made this time, and that the planning committee, when presented with ALL the accurate and relevant facts, will reject the application.

Further details of the planning meeting will be published on this site once confirmed.

A recent front-page article in the Scunthorpe Telegraph on 09 February 2012 can be viewed on the link below:

Scunthorpe Telegraph Legal challenge throws M&S retail park plans

Since the launch of the KSA Campaign group the level of support received from thousands of people has been phenomenal and clearly shows the true feeling of our community and their concerns that our town centre could be killed off forever should this development be allowed to go ahead in that location.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our supporters for your continued support and should you wish to contact us please e-mail on contact@keepscunthorpealive.co.uk or use the contact form on this website.

KSA – Keeping Scunthorpe Alive for future generations.

The project, brought forward by Simons Developments Ltd, has been earmarked for land currently occupied by the Stephen Smith Garden Centre on Doncaster Road, Scunthorpe.

It is set to include a flagship M&S store and four other units and North Lincolnshire Council’s planning committee voted in favour of granting permission in December.

But opponents say it was contrary to national planning policy and have taken initial steps towards a legal challenge of the decision.

And now the council has agreed to refer the application back to the committee in March.

Original objections to the retail park focused on its potential negative impact on Scunthorpe town centre, as well as issues such as traffic.

Des Comerford, chairman of the Keep Scunthorpe Alive (KSA) campaign group, said: “We were extremely disappointed at the original planning committee decision on December 14, given the very strong and valid objections that were made to the proposed out-of-town development.

“As was well-publicised, KSA had serious misgivings about the decision-making process and, following the planning meeting, took professional advice, which clearly confirmed our misgivings were justified.

“Having expressed our concerns to the head of legal services at North Lincolnshire Council, we are delighted that they propose to refer the application back to the planning committee, as this will provide an opportunity to ensure the correct decision is made this time.”

Marcus Jolley, managing director of Limes Developments, which owns the Lakeside Retail Park on the outskirts of Scunthorpe, urged the planning committee to reconsider its decision.

He said the Lakeside Retail Park, which includes Morrisons supermarket and outlets including Currys and Argos, would face extra competition from the Simons development. But he said the town centre would suffer a bigger blow .

He said: “If you create an M&S and four other units, that will get all the fashion retailers, together with the Gallagher Retail Park off the motorway junction, nobody will come into Scunthorpe because you won’t need to.

Chris Newsome, development director for Simons, said the council wanted more information on whether other potential sites had been considered.

“The officer’s report, presented to the committee in December, outlined a rigorous examination of our proposals, including a summary of the detailed appraisal by the council’s independent retail consultants England & Lyle,” he said. “The conclusion of the report was clear in its recommendation to councillors that the application should be approved.”

Mr Newsome said he believed the project had widespread public support and added its benefits to Scunthorpe, including £20 million investment, 300 new jobs and a drop in the money going out of the North Lincolnshire economy, remained unchanged.

A North Lincolnshire Council spokesman said a potential legal challenge to the planning decision had been received.

“Following legal advice, the council will now refer this application back to its planning committee in March,” he said.

An M&S spokeswoman added: “M&S remains fully committed to the proposed site on Doncaster Road.”

Article courtesy of the Scunthorpe Telegraph.

Leisure Centre Being Demolished

The company who are behind the proposed massive out-of-town Marks and Spencer development have discussed one of the main reasons why they believe that the Doncaster Road site is the only viable option for the proposed retail park.

Head of Development, Mr Chris Newsome, has told KSA that the Simons Group ‘require’ a larger catchment to make the business viable. They do not believe that the old Leisure centre site, on Carlton Street, has the correct catchment area or required transport links for their proposed development.

In the planning application that was submitted to the council by Simons on the 31st of August, an entire section was dedicated to the issues surrounding public transport. The public transport that is currently in operation around the proposed site, that links through to the town centre and also to the Isle of Axholme, has been described by many users as ‘poor’. In addition, as Keep Scunthorpe Alive has already reported, there are numerous – seemingly unsolvable - problems already with the volume and management of traffic descending on Doncaster Road and surrounding areas on a daily basis.

This immediately begs the question: Why not choose a site that is close to public transport systems and can handle an increase in traffic?

The much talked about old Leisure Centre site is next to the bus station, literally a stones throw away from it and is easily within walking distance of the train station that is situated around 400 metres away. It would be an extremely sensible decision for the Simons Group to propose this site that has great transport links, no environmental issues or residents in the immediate vicinity whose properties would be affected.

Bridge To Nowhere

In addition, if this site is at first considered not to be large enough to accomodate a development, the multi-storey car park is earmarked with demolition and if talks with the local council were to be started, it has been suggested this site could also be dedicated to a development and thus increase the space that is available.

There are several options to explore that would help SAVE our town and Keep Scunthorpe Alive for future generations, most important of which is to bring Marks and Spencer back into our town centre!

Have your say and Keep Scunthorpe Alive.

Libby from BBC Radio Humberside interviews Des Comerford live on air

We received an overwhelming amount of support today as Radio Humberside joined us this morning down at the site of Trent Valley Garden Centre, the proposed site for the new Out of Town Retail development including Marks and Spencer along with another 5 retail units.

The radio show was hosted by David Burns, the reporter on-site was Libby along with our Chairman Des Comerford. Also down onsite were:

Paul Rhoades – Local resident and businessman
Alan Bell – Local Resident
Mark Fish – Local Trader
Local business owner from Rainbow Fireworks Shop
and Some local residents from the surrounding area

Also Councillor Rob Waltham and Councillor Neil Poole (Branch Chairman for the Federation of Small Businesses) visited the Keep Scunthorpe Alive campaign team just after they came off air, and enjoyed a very interesting conversation.

Nic Dakin was excellent in representing the issues in his interview, talking about many aspects including the impact of the additional units, the traffic incurred by the proposed retail park, and the effect it will have on the town centre.

Local trader Mark Fish, who trades from within the grounds of the Garden Centre stands to lose his livelihood along with the rest of his family, if this development goes ahead. It will mean that the plot that he currently trades from will no longer exist, and with planning permission already denied him to expand on the current site, will he get planning to trade from another local site?

Mark Fish will loose his business if the retail development goes ahead

There are too many points and contributions to list here so we really do recommend a listen over on the BBC Radio Humberside iPlayer website where you can catch up from on mornings show.

The radio show can be heard on the BBC iPlayer here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/p00k1qxt/

The feedback we have received from the press, such as the BBC news service, is that they have not seen a campaign group work at this level in the Scunthorpe area before. Well done all… but wait… we have only just started!

Des Comerford (right) thanks Nic Dakin MP for supporting local High Street retailers, outside the Fallen Hero Fashion Store

The campaign is gathering momentum and people are taking notice. Today we have had interviews with Radio Humberside, and will feature on Calendar news this evening. With local persons such as Neil Poole (Branch Chairman for the Federation of Small Businesses), Nic Dakin (Member of Parliament for Scunthorpe Labour Constituency), Alan Bell (Local Resident), and Mark Fish (Local Trader) joining our chairman Des Comerford it showed a good representation of the issues at hand and made sure the point was heard. Read here for more about the Radio Interviews today: http://www.keepscunthorpealive.co.uk/?p=347

It is evident there is a lot of support for the campaign, and a lot of people are coming forward to have their voice heard. We intend to drive forward even further with the new information and points of view that are being provided by our supports daily.

Please let us have your comments by posting below and contacting us if you have a confidential point of view and information. We will respect your privacy.

We have come a long way and we’re not about to stop now.

Marks & Spencer trade here on Scunthorpe High Street before abandoning the town in 2011

In fantastic news for the Keep Scunthorpe Alive Campaign the coalition government has launched a campaign to bring shoppers back to the town centre as high streets continue to struggle across the country.

This news comes as KSA are campaigning against the proposed massive out-of-town Marks & Spencer development, underlining how the health of our high street is at the forefront of the Governments current agenda. In a much needed move, the Government has outlined that town planners will be told to ‘put the town centre first’ in a move to give the great British High Street a chance against out-of-town retail parks like the one M&S are proposing to build.

Eric Pickles, Communities Secretary, is set to get rid of car parking charges in towns in a move to create more spaces for drivers and free up existing spaces for parking close to our high streets. For many years out-of-town retail parks have lured shoppers away from the High Street by offering long periods of free parking but the Coalitions new National Planning Policy Framework is going to remove restrictions ensuring that more free parking spaces next to town centre shops will be catered for.

Mr Pickles called the current town centre parking situation a “parking nightmare” and agreed that drivers will definitely become “stressed out” with the on-going problem. These issues have hit small shops the hardest and have created ‘ghost towns’ all across the country.

If Marks & Spencer are allowed to develop their proposed massive out-of-town site our town centre would immediately feel the hugely detrimental impacts, as Eric Pickles has talked at length about. The out-of-town retail parks have decimated our high streets and the proposed M&S retail park will do exactly that to Scunthorpe’s High Street. Our community needs to bring M&S back into our town centre to improve maintain its health and in addition bring more people into the town.

Have your say and Keep Scunthorpe Alive.