May 11, 2022 4.30 pm This story is over 22 months old

Inside the decaying Spalding landmark that’s been empty for decades

The former sorting office could soon be turned into shops and flats

The former Spalding sorting office has fallen into a dire state. | Photo: Zeal Wilkes Ltd

For 30 years, the building was a hive of activity as Spalding’s postal sorting office.

But no mail has been handled there for decades, and today it stands abandoned and decaying in the town centre.

The building, which stands on the prominent junction of The Crescent and Spring Gardens, was built by the Royal Mail in 1961. It was used until the sorting office was relocated elsewhere in the 1990s.

It looks shabby from the outside with most of the windows boarded up, and pictures of the interior show the dire state the once productive building has fallen into.

However, it could be on the cusp of rescue.

Plans to rejuvenate the neglected building into shopping space and town centre accommodation are set to be approved next week.

The proposed renovation of the Spalding sorting office. | Photo: Zeal Wilkes Ltd

The application from Mr Sarwar Bareb says: “The proposal seeks to ‘celebrate’ the building and give back life and soul to its former self.”

Drawings submitted with the plans show developers would create a single large retail area on the ground floor, although it isn’t confirmed whether an occupier has been agreed yet.

The upper floor would be divided into nine flats, with access off Spring Gardens.

Council conservation officers have backed the plans, saying the proposal “makes good use of an existing and dilapidated, untidy property which is prominent and holds great sway over the overall character of this portion of the conservation area”.

However, this isn’t the first time plans have been brought forward to rescue the building.

In 2011, plans were given the green light to demolish the former sorting office and built flats in its place. For unknown reasons, these didn’t go ahead, and permission has now expired.

The plans look set to be approved at a meeting of South Holland District Council’s planning committee on Wednesday, May 18.