Cleethorpes masterplan has a fresh vision for resort town

Cleethorpes could become the premier destination on the Lincolnshire coast under proposals that would bring big investment to the North Promenade.

Award-winning designer Wayne Hemmingway MBE has unveiled his exciting masterplan to rejuvenate the resort.

From a trendy town centre to a youth-orientated North Promenade, the vision lays out how to make it a year-round resort.

Facilities including a big seafront event space, an amphitheatre and a skate park are suggested.

The plan will be used to attract investment from government and private sources, and guide the resort’s development over the next decade.

A survey completed by over 2,000 people has been collated into a vision for the future.

The Town Centre has a very different feel.

The draft masterplan, which was commissioned by North East Lincolnshire Council, will go before Cabinet next month.

“Cleethorpes has probably got more opportunity than any other place I have worked before. It has flown under the radar, but this couldn’t be a better time to talk about it,” Wayne said.

“The town has got every aspect you could want in a resort – it has every type of experience available.

“The positivity from the suggestions has been a designer’s dream.

“We want to create a new legacy for Cleethorpes as the Victorians did before us.

“The North Promenade in particular is in need of some love, but everything that is set out in the masterplan is deliverable.”

Every idea has been proposed by Cleethorpes residents or those connected to the town.

Green images of the South Beach area.

North Promenade – family-friendly regeneration

The area most in need of regeneration would become a youth and family-orientated area attracting new businesses.

The designs imagine the former Wonderland area redeveloped into a beach hut community, and a skate park built in vacant areas.

An event space would also provide space for big events and travelling fairs.

“Achieving something dynamic and forward-thinking would help support Ebb and Flo and other progressive businesses which are building up in the area,” Wayne said.

Central Promenade – improved beach holidays

Improvements would make the most of the Central Promenade’s Victorian heritage.

It would preserve the ‘bucket and spade’ holidays that draws people to the area, while potentially creating an amphitheatre and making the Pier Gardens a more welcoming area.

Wayne said that the area could make better use of the views out onto the sea, and could create an entrance to the town centre in Pier Gardens.

Town Centre – ring of shopping and hospitality

A ‘loop’ of shopping, independent businesses and cafés would create a circuit leading visitors through the town centre.

Visitors would be guided through the Market Square, down St Peter’s Avenue, along Sea View Street and back down Alexandra Road.

The proposed improvements focus around showing tourists what is on offer and encouraging them to move through the connected environments.

“People kept asking ‘Can we have our market square back?’” Wayne said.

“It is functioning more as a car park at the moment. We could see it pedestrianised and becoming a Euorpean-style outdoors dining area.

“It could be an ‘entrance to the town centre’, leading people from the seafront to the areas that they might not see.”

South Beach – a nature haven

Popular requests were to help people enjoy the south beach’s natural scenery.

Outdoor gyms, a visitors centre and rentable beach huts would draw people to the area, and encourage them to venture beyond the leisure centre.

Wayne said: “There is more that can be made of the area without impacting on the natural beauty. It is about enhancing that.”

Councillor Philip Jackson, leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, welcomed the imagination and ambition of the plan.

“We won’t be able to deliver everything overnight, but we will begin with the easiest and most achievable projects.

“I imagine that the government will be really excited by what is contained in the masterplan when we submit a Levelling Up Fund bid next year, and how it can transform Cleethorpes.

“Staycations are becoming extremely popular, and Cleethorpes is in a great position to take advantage of that.

“If we can offer a wider range of attractions, we can deliver what the public are really looking for.”