The City Council approved plans to transform the east of the city centre into a shopping complex and new bus station on Wednesday evening.
The £100 million Lindongate plans from Lincolnshire Co-operative seek to demolish the existing bus station, the Oxford Hall hotel, and several retail units on Sincil Street and Norman Street and replace them with a shopping complex and department store.
A new bus station will be built next to the train station as well as 900 parking spaces, and there is a possibility of 21 residential units in addition to retail space.
Planners noted that Cathedral views will be blocked on Tentercroft Street, but the increase in the retail offer in the city won over the Planning Committee.
The project is expected to take around 30 months to complete and would create 3,250 direct and indirect jobs in the region.
An overview of the plans for the new shopping centre and bus station
While the public consultation in 2011 resulted in generally positive feedback from residents, a number of retail businesses had objections to the build.
Retailers with objections included Curtis of Lincoln and Age Concern, while some businesses had comments of the plans, like Oxfam and Pepperdine Butchers.
Comments included the building not fitting in with surrounding buildings, obscuring the view of the cathedral, traffic congestion, potential loss of existing trees and concerns for the small businesses currently in the area after the project is complete.
Despite the concerns, city planners recommended to pass the the Lindongate plans, but with a number of conditions.
Conditions on the build include further surveying for contaminated land and flooding risks, plus detailed plans for parking provisions, and various management plans for the likes of the bus station, waste and public areas.
Lindongate aims to be completed by 2015.
— Later update: Following the approval, the next stage of the work will be to meet the planning conditions set down by the council.
Ongoing negotiations with prospective new retail tenants will form the basis of the detailed planning applications needed for specific parts of the project.
Lincolnshire Co-op Chief Executive Ursula Lidbetter said: “We have continued to work on the Lindongate scheme because we believe it will bring many benefits for people who live, work and shop in Lincoln city centre. We’re pleased that the planning committee has agreed the principle of Lindongate.
“Lindongate will breathe new life into an important part of the city centre, it will create jobs and more retail and leisure facilities. The new transport interchange is something that Lincoln needs and we were pleased to get positive feedback on this after our public consultation last year.”
Agent Banks Long & Co has been leading the scheme on behalf of Lincolnshire Co-op, working with planning consultants Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners and architects Lyons + Sleeman + Hoare.
Banks Long & Co Partner Peter Banks said: “Lincoln is fortunate that despite the economic climate, and the pressures on retailers generally, there are still national names keen to find the right space in the city centre.
“There is a lot more to do before work can start on site but by granting outline planning permission, the City of Lincoln Council has enabled us to take a massive step forward with this project.”
Lincolnshire Co-op hopes that within the next six months it can appoint a new development partner, which would manage and deliver the scheme.
The earliest phase of work likely to commence would be the proposed new footbridge over the railway from the Tentercroft Street car park, by arrangement with Network Rail and East Midlands Trains.
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Encanto, Harry Potter and West Side Story will all be shown during a three-day outdoor cinema experience at Lincolnshire Showground in September.
Tickets are on sale for West Side Story (2021) (September 16, gates open 6.30pm), Disney’s Encanto (September 17, gates open 6pm), and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (September 18, gates open 6.30pm) priced at £14.50 for a standard adult ticket, with customers advised to bring their own blanket and camping chair.
A VIP ticket priced at £20.50 includes a ‘luxury deck chair in a prime position’ and a 90g bag of sweet and salty popcorn, while child tickets cost £9.50.
Standard tickets are available for all three film showings at the time of publication, but the VIP tickets for Harry Potter have sold out, so it is advised to book quickly. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
Hot food, snacks and a bar will be available on site, as well as toilets including accessible facilities. Picnics are welcome, but alcohol must be purchased on site only.
There will be music to enjoy before all three films with soundtracks of specially curated songs for Harry Potter and Encanto. There will be a soundtrack of songs from musicals over the years before the showing of West Side Story.
The events are run by Adventure Cinema and will go ahead even if it’s raining, but the organisers are hoping for a nice dry weekend.
An overnight road closure will be in place next month as a level crossing in Boston is upgraded to improve reliability for key freight services travelling to and from the town’s port.
A section of the A16 (Spalding Road) will be closed from 7pm on Saturday, June 11 until 2pm on Sunday, June 12 to allow engineers to safely replace over 140 metres of rail through the Boston Bypass level crossing.
Teams will work through the night to get the road ready to reopen for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists as soon as the upgrade is complete.
A signed diversion will be in place throughout to help people get to their destinations.
Vincent Briggs, East Midlands Route Level Crossing Manager for Network Rail, said: “This essential work will allow us to reliably transport vital freight goods to and from the town’s port for many years to come.
“We will need to close a major road into Boston to complete the upgrade safely, and I’m sorry for any inconvenience this causes.
“We’ll be doing the work overnight and have worked with Lincolnshire County Council to keep the impact as low as possible.”
Andy Lawrence, Port of Boston Director for Victoria Group, added: “The Port of Boston are delighted that the upgrade is taking place. It is great for the network connection we have from the Port of Boston and the 260,000 tonnes a year of cargo that we put over it.
“This enables us to keep lorries off the road and dramatically reducing our carbon footprint by utilising rail.
“Rail Freight was important for the Port in 1884, when it was built, and it remains equally, if not more important in 2022, and the future, as we strive to divert even more cargo to the rail mode of transport, direct from a seaport.”
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