A 3,700-home garden village on the edge of Grantham which will include shops, schools and a health centre has been approved.
Spitalgate Heath is one of 14 government-backed urban expansions planned across the country by the government.
Passing the outline plans, however, councillors called on the developers to build a community centre and local shop included earlier than planned.
Councillor Robert Reid said: “As a community starts there, it needs to be able to live and do its own checks and balances.
“By doing it from the beginning it will grow and it will grow with community strength and spirit.”
The layout of the Spitalgate Heath development.
Councillor Judy Smith said: “If we’re going to do it, then do it right from the beginning.
“It could be seven years down the line, by which the you would want to have created some sort of community,” she said.
They have also added in extra protections, calling on the cabinet members for housing, growth and finance to be consulted.
Councillors raised concerns over the number of houses and its effect on the infrastructure of the town, as well as the number of affordable homes – which has been reduced from 35% to 10% as developers argued the costs involved in the project.
Councillor Michael King called on applicant Buckminster to be bolder in bringing community facilities forward in an attempt to encourage residents to move in.
However, he acknowledged: “Huge progress has been made on this project since 2017.
“It hasn’t been easy but there’s been a real improvement in aligning that 10% affordable housing deal”.
An aerial view showing the boundaries of the proposed development.
Councillors were also told an application for the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund could also see the number of affordable houses increased.
The Garden Villages project is an offshoot of government’s Garden Cities such as Letchworth and Welwyn, which aims to create new communities with green spaces, good transport links and aspirational homes.
During the meeting councillors were told the development’s “wider benefits” would include new customers for the existing shops and services and support for the delivery of the Grantham Southern Relief Road.
Representatives from applicants Buckminster said SKDC officers had “squeezed” them during discussions on the plans, with Andrew Russell-Wilks adding: “The pips are really squeaking.”
The 224 hectare village, which was already earmarked for new housing, will also include 110,000 square metres of employment space, creating up to 3,000 new jobs, a primary and secondary school, a health centre, sports facilities and shops.
A new riverside park, outdoor sports and play areas, community orchard and allotments will be connected by footpaths, cycleways and landscaped corridors.
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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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