Gainsborough (West Lindsey) Growth Point

West Lindsey District Council

Programme of Development 2008-2026 October 2008

GAINSBOROUGH, WEST LINDSEY, LINCOLNSHIRE

Appraisal Template for Programmes of Development 2008

Growth Location: Gainsborough Local Authorities in West Lindsey District Council, Lincolnshire County partnership Council Region: East Midlands Delivery Mechanism (eg LA or LA LDV) Key contact for programme: Suzanne Fysh Lead authority for the West Lindsey District Council payment of grant 2009/10 2010/11 Total Funding Requested: Capital £500,000 £850,000 £1,350,000 Revenue £1,100,000 £155,000 £1,255,000 Total £1,600,000 £1,005,000 £2,605,000

Name Commented Name Commented on draft (Y/N) on draft (Y/N) CLG Assessors GO Assessors GLA Assessors Process Moderator

2 CONTENTS

1 SUMMARY AND FORWARD...... 1

2 INTRODUCTION ...... 3

2.1 BACKGROUND TO THE GAINSBOROUGH (WEST LINDSEY) GROWTH POINT...... 3

2.2 THE PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT ...... 4

2.3 RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER STRATEGIES...... 5

2.4 VISION AND OBJECTIVES FOR GAINSBOROUGH...... 9

3 RATIONALE FOR GROWTH ...... 10

3.1 WHY IS GAINSBOROUGH A NEW GROWTH POINT?...... 10

3.2 REGIONAL & SUB-REGIONAL CONTEXT...... 12

4 STRATEGY FOR GROWTH...... 13

4.1 ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE GROWTH ...... 13

4.2 RESTORING THE HISTORIC GRAIN AND PROMOTING GOOD DESIGN ... 18 4.2.1 Gainsborough’s Historic Streets ...... 18 4.2.2 Restoring the Historic Grain ...... 18

4.3 HOUSING GROWTH AND THE HOUSING TRAJECTORY ...... 20 4.3.1 Background...... 20 4.3.2 Where are we now? ...... 22 4.3.3 Future Plans ...... 24

4.4 COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE AND NEIGHBOURHOOD RENEWAL..... 30 4.4.1 Education and Skills...... 30 4.4.2 Healthcare ...... 32 4.4.3 Leisure and Recreational Facilities ...... 33 4.4.4 Policing...... 34 4.4.5 Multiple Deprivation & Neighbourhood Renewal ...... 35 4.4.6 Waste Management & Recycling ...... 35

4.5 EMPLOYMENT GROWTH ...... 37 4.5.1 Background...... 37 4.5.2 Where are we now? ...... 37 4.5.3 Projects Underway...... 38 4.5.4 Future Plans ...... 38

4.6 TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE...... 40 4.6.1 Background...... 40 4.6.2 Where are we now? ...... 41 4.6.3 Future Plans ...... 44

4.7 COMMERCIAL, RETAIL & LEISURE ...... 48 4.7.1 Background...... 48 4.7.2 Where are we now? ...... 48 4.7.3 Projects Underway...... 49 4.7.4 Futures Plans ...... 50

5 KEY GROWTH AREAS...... 51

5.1 BACKGROUND...... 51

5.2 THE NEW NEIGHBOURHOODS ...... 53

5.3 UTILITIES INFRASTRUCTURE ...... 58

5.4 WINDFALL DEVELOPMENT...... 58

5.5 THE TOWN CENTRE ...... 59

6 DELIVERY PLAN ...... 63

6.1 PARTNERSHIP WORKING...... 63

6.2 GOVERNANCE & DELIVERY...... 66

6.3 SECURING RESOURCES ...... 69

6.4 PROJECTS & PRIORITISATION...... 71

6.5 POTENTIAL GROWTH POINT PROJECTS ...... 72

6.6 PROJECT MANAGEMENT & MONITORING ...... 87

6.7 SUMMARY & NEXT STEPS...... 89

APPENDICES ...... 90

APPENDIX ONE – Housing Delivery Scenarios ...... 91

APPENDIX TWO – Project Prioritisation...... 99

APPENDIX THREE – Gainsborough CIF2 Bid Final ...... 101

2 1 SUMMARY AND FORWARD

Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan, launched in 2007, set out a clear signal of intent both locally and regionally, for the growth and regeneration of the town. Gainsborough Regained outlines an ambitious vision to double the size of the population over the next 20 years and provide a catalyst for a range of necessary investments in the town. The Masterplan identifies the key challenges facing the future regeneration of the town and provides a spatial framework for the development and growth of Gainsborough. This document provides the basis for Gainsborough’s Programme of Development.

Gainsborough’s growth agenda will build on the success of the Riverside regeneration scheme and the recent Marshall’s Yard development – a £39m investment in the heart of the town centre. It will transform the town and ensure Gainsborough’s position as a prosperous and sustainable centre where more people choose to live.

This Programme of Development outlines the scale and focus of investment required to achieve Gainsborough’s growth ambitions. It provides a basis for New Growth Point funding bids to enable development and will also be used as a project management tool to ensure that sustainable growth is delivered within the required timeframe.

The first section of the Programme of Development provides the background and rationale for growth in Gainsborough. It outlines the vision and objectives for the development of the town and highlights the linkages with other key strategies and the 3 existing Growth Points in Lincolnshire and North Nottinghamshire.

The Strategy for Growth details Gainsborough’s current position in relation to the identified objectives and describes the schemes which are already being pursued to stimulate growth and regeneration in the town. This is followed by a description of the Key Growth Areas and finally, the Delivery Plan, which outlines the governance arrangements and the projects for which DCLG funding is being sought.

Key objectives for the growth agenda are:

• Increasing supply and affordability of housing • Developing the community infrastructure • Diversifying the range of new and existing businesses to provide a variety of higher skilled jobs • Improving the transport infrastructure and enabling alternative transport options to the car • Improving the retail and commercial strength of the town centre

Gainsborough is already on its way to achieving its vision of becoming a socially balanced, economically prosperous and environmentally sustainable town where people choose to live. The award-winning Marshall’s Yard development shows how our successful and committed partnership working has helped to kick-start the physical and economic revival of Gainsborough town centre. Substantial investment has now been secured for a number of further initiatives to build on this

1 success, including a £3m public realm improvement scheme to upgrade the traditional town centre and create the ‘right environment’ for future investment.

Despite this commitment, growth cannot be achieved without considerable additional investment from the Government through NGP. A total of £2.605m has been requested from NGP up to 2010/11 to support development in the town, focusing on the following areas:

• Building capacity and providing additional resources to enable the delivery of the growth agenda • Undertaking the necessary feasibility work to provide a sound basis for future growth • Facilitating the development of key sites to meet the regeneration and growth agenda for Gainsborough

A further £8m has been requested to fund the infrastructural developments required to support growth as part of the Community Infrastructure Fund 2.

This level of support will be essential in delivering sustainable growth and ensuring the future prosperity of the town. Gainsborough can realise its ambitions with the ongoing commitment of its partners and NGP funding.

We commend this Programme to you as an ambitious but achievable growth strategy, which we are dedicated to delivering. We look forward to developing a successful partnership over the coming years.

Councillor Bernard Theobald Duncan Sharkey Leader Chief Executive West Lindsey District Council West Lindsey District Council

Councillor Martin Hill OBE Tony McArdle Leader Chief Executive Lincolnshire County Council Lincolnshire County Council

2 2 INTRODUCTION

2.1 BACKGROUND TO THE GAINSBOROUGH (WEST LINDSEY) GROWTH POINT

The majority of growth in West Lindsey will be concentrated on the town of Gainsborough as this is the largest centre with the largest population in the district. There is an extensive track record of regeneration, development and growth, however a number of challenges remain that growth will help to address.

Gainsborough developed as an inland port and witnessed steady growth throughout the medieval period. This influence is still reflected in the Market Place and streets surrounding the town centre.

Major change occurred in the 20th Century when it became an important service centre and sub-regional economic driver with the development and growth of major heavy engineering works. The expectations of expansion and industry on a large scale were clear at this time.

However this stalled after the Second World War when the heavy manufacturing declined bringing with it a whole range of unemployment, economic and social issues associated with the closure of large employers. The town centre was left with a legacy of decay and inner city scale deprivation.

The town experienced a substantial population decline between 1991-2001, which predominantly took place amongst the younger generation. Since then, however, Gainsborough has regained much of its lost population.

The latter years of the 20th Century saw a concerted effort on behalf of the public sector to halt the decline and turn around the fortunes of Gainsborough.

Growth Point Status can be seen as the latest initiative in a long line of structured and planned initiatives to tackle the range of issues experienced by the town and its residents.

West Lindsey District Council and its partners, most notably Lincolnshire County Council and in more recent years Lincolnshire Enterprise and East Midlands Development Agency, started the regeneration of Gainsborough in 1995.

1995 – 2003 Gainsborough Riverside Regeneration including flood defence improvements

2004 – 2006 Gainsborough Implementation Plan

2006 West Lindsey Local Plan First Review 2006 Policies to concentrate growth in District towns and continue regeneration in Gainsborough

3 2007 Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan Includes social regeneration initiatives and sets out ambitious plans for growth for the first time.

2008 Gainsborough (West Lindsey) Growth Point

Successive West Lindsey District Council Corporate Plans have identified Gainsborough as a priority for regeneration with the most recent ones concentrating on tackling deprivation in key wards.

The future growth of the town is now critical to the ongoing success of the regeneration programme for the following reasons:

• Growth will create the ‘critical mass’ needed to support future investment across a range of services. It will enable Gainsborough to become a balanced and sustainable town with a strong commercial and employment sector, sub- regional transport connectivity, environmental and cultural assets and a vibrant town centre that provides a range of retail, residential and leisure assets.

• Growth will strengthen the role of Gainsborough as West Lindsey’s principal town and key service centre. It will ensure that Gainsborough’s profile is raised to that of a ‘sub-regional centre’.

• Growth will help prevent the loss of educated young professionals and will attract a skilled workforce to the town by providing a range of employment, housing and lifestyle opportunities within the town.

• Growth will attract new business to the town and provide new opportunities for prosperity to replace the former engineering basis of old.

The growth of Gainsborough is considered in the context of supporting other sub- regional activity and specific policy initiatives in the East Midlands, South Yorkshire and the South Humber region. It will contribute positively to the objectives of the Regional Economic Strategy and Lincolnshire Economic Strategy, increasing Gainsborough’s GVA through enhanced employment provision and an expanding commercial sector.

2.2 THE PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT

This Programme of Development (PoD) is a flexible and evolving document that will be updated regularly as detailed information becomes available and as development progresses.

This PoD will:-

• Become the project management tool for the Gainsborough Growth Point.

• Identify detail and co-ordinate infrastructure requirements.

• Provide a sound basis for making future funding bids with clear evidence of need and project deliverability.

• Highlight issues that will need to be incorporated into the Local Development Framework (LDF) and other policy statements, plans and programmes.

• Ensure that all relevant organisations, bodies and authorities are informed about and involved with the growth of Gainsborough in a co-ordinated and inclusive way.

2.3 RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER STRATEGIES

Growth in Gainsborough fits very neatly with a range of strategies from the local West Lindsey level up to the national growth agenda level.

Over the last decade or so Gainsborough has undergone significant regeneration to address the decline of the mid to late 20th Century.

Regeneration has been based around improving the physical environment and protecting the town from serious flooding and this work has, in turn, brought economic and social benefits to the town.

At the turn of this century a major £14 million flood defence programme was completed on the River Trent which enabled a Riverside Walkway to be developed, allowing residents direct access to the river for the first time for centuries. Other projects to save and restore important warehouse and mill buildings on the riverside have considerably improved this aspect of the town, creating new apartments, an iconic sheltered housing scheme as well as leisure, office and retail uses.

In 2007 a flagship retail development, known as Marshall’s Yard, was opened in the former listed Britannia Works within the town centre. This has had considerable impact on retaining retail spend in the town and has raised the profile of Gainsborough as a shopping and leisure destination for Northern Lincolnshire and North Nottinghamshire.

5 Table: Gainsborough Growth Point Strategic Fit

Policy/Strategy Description Growth Point Strategic Fit

West Lindsey West Lindsey Local This document is currently Sustainable Community Strategic Partnership being refreshed as a chapter Strategy (WLSCS) of the Lincolnshire Sustainable Community Strategy based on 5 themes, the Growth Point fits into all:- strong communities, opportunities for good health people are connected strong diverse economy best use of our environment

West Lindsey Local The LSP is focussing on The Gainsborough Growth Strategic Partnership the following 5 priorities:- Point fits directly into all of the priorities for the LSP and will Reduce Inequalities in have a direct impact on the Health communities of West Lindsey. Gainsborough Regained - the Masterplan Affordable Housing Accessibility Community Engagement

West Lindsey Corporate This document sets out Five themes: of which Growth Plan the corporate priorities for in Gainsborough impacts the period 2008-2011. directly on

1. Regeneration

Building a sustainable Gainsborough Improving skills and removing barriers to employment across the district Tackling deprivation and raising aspirations across the district Developing our approach as a Strategic Housing Authority.

6 Local Development This planning framework The emerging LDF will set the Framework (LDF) to 2026 is currently being planning context within which developed and will the Growth Point will be contain an Area Action delivered. The emerging Plan for Gainsborough Core Strategy will be developed in partnership with City of Lincoln Council and North Kesteven District Council due to the requirements of the RSS and the need for combined strategies to deal with the Lincoln Policy Area. The Core Strategy, Site Specific Allocations, Area Action Plans and Supplementary Planning Documents are being developed to reflect growth in Gainsborough and the Lincoln Policy Area. Gainsborough Regained A Masterplan for the This document adopted in - the Masterplan whole town of 2007 and jointly Gainsborough and the commissioned by WLDC, parishes of Morton and Lincolnshire County Council Lea that covers the (LCC) and Lincolnshire physical and spatial Enterprise sets out a vision growth/regeneration as for the future growth and well as addressing socio- regeneration of economic problems of the Gainsborough. This vision most deprived wards. ensures a ‘holistic’ approach to the expansion of the town that benefits the whole community. Lincolnshire Economic Economic Development This document is currently Strategy 2006 Strategy adopted by going through a refresh Lincolnshire Assembly. process. Growth of employment in all sectors and improvement in skills levels will be central to contributing to the revised strategy. Lincolnshire Local Area County-wide local Area Some elements around Agreements Agreements for delivering growth in Gainsborough will on key outcomes over the feed directly into county next 2+ years. delivery on targets surrounding employment, skills and housing. West Lindsey Cultural This strategy sets out a The four elements of this Strategy 2008 vision for providing strategy incorporate:- cultural activities across the district that improves • Sports development

7 the quality of life for all • Arts development residents. • Play development • Heritage

All of these elements will be incorporated and supported by growth in Gainsborough. Regional Economic EMDA’s regional The Growth aspirations for Strategy economic strategy for the employment and current period. development of skills in Gainsborough contributes directly to key themes in the RES. Regional Spatial Planning framework for The current RSS does not Strategy the East Midlands to take account of the 2006. Consultation Gainsborough Growth point process underway. so responses will be provided by WLDC to ensure that this document gets updated. Regional Transport Plan Planning framework for Gainsborough is not transport infrastructure mentioned directly in this and services. strategy; however the transport infrastructure will be developed with the high level strategic aims in mind. Local Transport Plan LCC’s transport strategy There are no infrastructure (LTP) for the county for the schemes in the existing LTP, period 2007-2011. which was developed prior to the announcement of growth point status. The new infrastructure required to complement growth will be developed in line with LTP and national transport priorities - to deliver accessibility and safer roads, tackle congestion and improve air quality. Regional Energy Framework for a The environmental objective Strategy sustainable approach to of the Gainsborough Growth energy across the East Point will be developed to Midlands. reflect the policies set out in this document.

8 2.4 VISION AND OBJECTIVES FOR GAINSBOROUGH

Growth ambitions for Gainsborough are summarised in the statement below:

That in 20 years’ time, Gainsborough will be a socially balanced, economically prosperous, environmentally sustainable town where people choose to live. The population will have approximately doubled to 36,000, based upon 21st century “green” urban design principles and the revival and integration of the town’s built heritage into its historic form and setting.

There will be a wide range of employers providing high quality jobs that appeal to young professionals and cater for the needs of the wider community.

It will be a town that has embraced the opportunities and challenges presented by climate change. It will have reduced its emissions per head of population, effectively managed its water supply and flood risk, and will be engaged in a low carbon economy.

Gainsborough will have an enlarged high quality, well-designed town centre; based on a restored historic urban core that re-connects with, and capitalises on, its ancient relationship with the River Trent. A network of Greenways for pedestrian, cycle and bus routes within a landscaped setting will have been created, taking advantage of the compact form of the town.

In order to deliver this vision, a total of 5 objectives have been developed and these will provide the focus for future investment in the town. Running through these objectives are two cross-cutting themes, which will be considered for all new development in the town. The themes and objectives are detailed below.

Cross-cutting Theme A: All developments and regeneration in Gainsborough will be environmentally and economically sustainable.

Cross-cutting Theme B: All developments will ensure that good urban design principles are followed including the need to respect, repair and enhance the historic fabric and reinstate frontages and legibility where appropriate.

Objective 1: Increased supply and affordability of housing

Objective 2: Developed community infrastructure, which includes education, healthcare, policing, leisure and recreation.

Objective 3: Diversification of the range of new and existing businesses based in Gainsborough providing a variety of higher skilled jobs

Objective 4: Improved transport infrastructure that enables alternative transport options to the car

Objective 5: Improved retail and commercial strength of the town centre

9 3 RATIONALE FOR GROWTH

3.1 WHY IS GAINSBOROUGH A NEW GROWTH POINT?

Gainsborough’s regeneration-led growth status is a culmination of initiatives by the District and County Councils, together with partner organisations, aimed at arresting and reversing the long period of decline in the town’s prosperity, environment and social condition. On the back of approximately 10 years of regeneration West Lindsey District Council, in conjunction with Lincolnshire County Council and Lincolnshire Enterprise commissioned and launched, in 2007, Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan. This identifies Gainsborough as a suitable location for long term major growth in order to support the ongoing regeneration of the town and ensure its future viability.

Alongside this, the Government’s “Sustainable Communities Plan” 2003 promotes the need for an acceleration in housing provision in England to tackle significant housing needs and affordability. West Lindsey has an excellent track record of housing growth delivery over the past 5 years.

Gainsborough has recently experienced a population growth (estimated to be 8.27% between 2001-04) that is in stark contrast to the previous population loss of 5.6%1 experienced from 1991 – 2001, which took place predominantly amongst the younger generation. Nevertheless, figures for the District show that there are still noticeably fewer young adults and a greater number of older people compared with regional and national averages. Redressing this population imbalance and taking account of the projected reduction in household size over the next 20 years as well as accommodating growth from inward migration, means that Gainsborough will need to increase both the housing stock and its affordability.

Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan identified a need for more leisure, retail and employment in the town to provide facilities for young people to encourage them to return to the town after higher education. In order to support these services it will be important to grow the critical mass of population in Gainsborough; hence the aspiration in Gainsborough Regained to approximately double the population of the town to 36,000 – 40,000 over the next 20 years.

This will also strengthen the role of Gainsborough as West Lindsey’s principal town and key service centre enabling its profile to be raised to that of a ‘sub-regional centre’.

Accelerated and sustainable growth in Gainsborough will also bring economic, social and environmental benefits, and will help to regenerate some of the town’s most deprived communities. Gainsborough Regained outlines the actions necessary to ensure the regeneration of existing neighbourhoods of poor-quality industrial terraced housing, along with tackling many issues of socio-economic deprivation. West Lindsey District Council and its partners such as Lincolnshire County Council, the Learning and Skills Council, the Primary Care Trust are already working together delivering on detailed action plans around developing neighbourhood management, improving the health of residents and addressing low

1 Census 1991/2001/Mid- 2004 Population Estimates (National Statistics Office) 10 skills and educational employment in the most deprived wards in Gainsborough. Gainsborough will be the focus for much of the housing growth and there are many assets that can be built on:-

• the extensive physical regeneration that has taken place for the last decade – along the Riverside and near the town centre

• Further investment of £19m by the Environment Agency to extend the River Trent flood defences to the south and north of the town centre area, ensuring that these areas retain their economic and social structure

• Significant investment in servicing employment land, much of which has now been developed

• The presence of international and national employers that are looking to expand their businesses in the near future.

• The investment by Lincolnshire County Council and Lincolnshire Enterprise in the provision of a new Innovation Centre and business park.

• Substantial investment by Lincolnshire County Council and DCSF in the provision of a new co-located Trent Valley Academy and secondary SEN school on a new site with a state of the art building.

• Marshall’s Yard – a £39 million retail regeneration scheme of a large, listed engineering site within the town centre.

• Strong community and voluntary sector support and involvement in the development of Gainsborough as a place where people choose to live through the Gainsborough Stakeholders Network and Gainsborough Town Centre Partnership.

• The compact form of the town which means that even the new neighbourhoods being planned will not be more than 2.5 km away from the town centre, thus reducing the requirement for car-based transport and infrastructure.

• Regional developments such as the new Robin Hood Airport – 30 minutes away from Gainsborough.

11 3.2 REGIONAL & SUB-REGIONAL CONTEXT

Regional planning policy context for Gainsborough and West Lindsey is provided by the East Midlands Regional Plan (RSS8). The East Midlands Regional Plan, Proposed Changes (July 2008) identifies Gainsborough as a ‘Main Town’ that should continue to be the focus of regeneration initiatives.

There are only four stated priorities for determining the strategic context for housing provision in the Central Lincolnshire Housing Market Area (HMA). Of these, two are:

• Supporting the regeneration of Gainsborough • Strengthening the roles of (Sleaford, North Kesteven), Caistor and Market Rasen

The Proposed Changes also state that regeneration activity should be focussed on those areas of greatest identified need which include the ‘economically lagging’ rural areas of West Lindsey and the town of Gainsborough in particular.

The Proposed Changes refer to those settlements in the East Midlands that have been accepted as New Growth Points. At the time of publication this included Lincoln, Grantham and Newark but did not include Gainsborough/West Lindsey.

The Proposed Changes do state however, that in line with national planning policy and the Regional Assembly’s Integrated Regional Strategy, regional priorities for housing should seek to ensure that, sufficient additional housing is provided to meet requirements, taking into account anticipated growth based on past trends and future prospects in the Region, and Government policies for Growth Areas and New Growth Points’ including consideration of ‘emerging ‘New Growth point’ designations.

Past trends and future prospects all indicate the potential for Gainsborough to grow significantly. Increased market interest has led to rapid housing growth in the town over the past 5 years and this has been supported by major commercial development in the town centre, employment growth on the outskirts of the town and a developing community infrastructure.

Gainsborough is the geographical focus for growth in West Lindsey, occupying a strategic position on the western boundary of the district and county, as the gateway into Lincolnshire and at the northern tip of the East Midlands ‘Growth Diamond’ with Newark, Grantham and Lincoln. Whilst the majority of future growth will be centred on Gainsborough, reference will be made to the wider District, particularly in relation to the housing trajectory.

12 4 STRATEGY FOR GROWTH

4.1 ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE GROWTH Cross-cutting Theme A: All development and regeneration activity in Gainsborough will take into account social, economic, environmental and natural resource considerations, including their inter-relationship, in order to achieve sustainable growth.

Central to the Council’s ambitions for growth is the creation of a sustainable Gainsborough, with social, economic, environmental and natural resource wellbeing built in. This does not only apply to new development but also regeneration activity within the town, growth providing enhanced opportunities to address Gainsborough’s existing sustainability issues.

Sustainability Appraisal The Council commissioned Faber Maunsell in 2007 to produce a Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report to provide a framework for assessing all documents and action plans produced as part of the Sustainable Communities Strategy, the Local Area Agreement and the Local Development Framework

The scoping process involved identifying and reviewing existing plans, programmes, policies and sustainability objectives of international to local level policy documents. Sustainability objectives for West Lindsey District were then developed, and agreed by the Council. These objectives are set out in the table below under four themes: social, economic, environmental and natural resources.

Sustainability Appraisal Objectives

1 Social progress which recognises the needs of everyone

• Encourage quality of life by supporting vibrant and diverse communities. • The creation and enhancement of safe environments by design. • Encourage and support healthy lifestyles through locally accessible services and green infrastructure. • Ensure that appropriate housing needs are met.

2 Economic growth that is sustainable and progressive

• Attract and support economic diversity to promote a range of employment opportunities and appropriate business growth across the district. • Encourage and support the re-use of land and buildings to reflect regeneration priorities. • Encourage and support sustainable modes of access to employment, local services, and green infrastructure.

13 3 Effective management, protection and enhancement of the natural and built environment

• Protect and enhance biodiversity and geo-diversity resources throughout the district. • Protect and enhance the quality and distinctiveness of the area’s landscapes. • Protect and enhance the quality and distinctiveness of the area’s townscapes and historic environment.

4 Effective management and use of natural resources

• Manage and protect natural resources (e.g. air, land and water) from over- exploitation and pollution. • Promote the use of sustainable and energy efficient design, construction and operation of development. • Positively promote initiatives to address predicted climate change impacts at a local level.

Existing sustainability issues Key issues that need to be addressed in achieving a sustainable Gainsborough are:

• The population imbalance between below average numbers of young adults and above average numbers of older people. • Low life expectancy. • Low educational attainment and low expectations resulting in a workforce dominated by low skills and limited qualifications. • Despite low house prices, housing affordability is a problem due to low wage rates. • A higher than average proportion of terraced housing, of which much is in poor condition and/or privately rented. • High crime rates. • Higher than average unemployment, including long-term unemployment. • Significantly above average numbers employed in manufacturing, which is in decline. • Significant areas of Gainsborough are within Flood Risk Zones 2 and 3. • A fragmented green infrastructure network.

Sustainability cuts across each of the objectives in growing Gainsborough and the sections elsewhere in this document outline how the key issues listed above and others are being tackled in order to meet the Sustainability Appraisal (SA) objectives.

Natural Environment The majority of Gainsborough lies within an Area of Great Landscape Value. The characteristics of this are defined in the Landscape Character Assessment and Countryside Design Summary for West Lindsey. As such the landscape of the area has been identified as sensitive to change from development proposals. Therefore growth in Gainsborough will need to be integrated into the landscape in order to minimise its impact. Detailed landscape appraisals have been undertaken by

14 Nicholas Pearson Associates (2008). The retention of existing landscape features including trees, hedgerow remnants and ponds, form the basis for the landscape structure within each of the planned new neighbourhoods. These neighbourhoods will be sited as logical extensions to the urban form of Gainsborough, are outside floodplains and sit within natural topographic bowls with existing woodlands on higher land helping to define their boundaries.

On the periphery of Gainsborough are nine sites designated as having bio-diversity interest and three designated Historic Parks and Gardens. The bio-diversity sites are being re-surveyed in connection with producing the evidence base for the emerging LDF. Whilst the Gainsborough area has a relatively substantial network of such spaces, they are fragmented. The development of the town’s green infrastructure should provide opportunities to create habitat corridors linking these sites.

West Lindsey District Council are in discussions with Natural England to develop the Gainsborough Bio-diversity Strategy and ensure that the natural assets are protected and utilised to the benefit of the local community.

Climate Change West Lindsey District Council has acknowledged the impact of climate change, and has signed up to the Nottingham Declaration which is a public statement of its commitment to tackle this most significant challenge at a local level. This includes cutting greenhouse gas emissions and preparing for the changes climate change will bring. Developing an approach to climate change is a key part of the Council’s Corporate Plan. Leading by example, the Council moved within the past year to a new ‘green’ building in the heart of Gainsborough.

Recent examples of achievement in this area include:

• The Epic Centre, Lincolnshire Showground – this building is a visitor centre, an educational hub, a business office, an exhibition hall, a ballroom, conference centre that has been built to the highest environmental standards. Its vision is: A future where there is balance between the exploitation and conservation of Lincolnshire’s environment and its resources. Its mission: To motivate individuals, businesses and communities within Lincolnshire to recognise their ability to mitigate the global effects of humanity’s activity on the environment, especially carbon gas pollution and climate change.

WLDC officers sat on the project board and WLDC planners worked with the project managers as a development team to ensure that planning permission was granted within the timescales required for draw down of public funding. This is a highly successful project and is a good example of multi-disciplinary and cross-organisational team working to achieve all the outcomes of the project and the Council with regard to sustainable developments.

• Guildhall, Gainsborough – the Council re-built and re-located its offices to a Marshall’s Yard, a key regeneration site in Gainsborough. This building was developed to incorporate key sustainability features such as rain water

• Small-scale village schemes that take advantage of the bio-mass potential of local agricultural land and fuel availability to create live-work units that ensure sustainable village development eg Harpswell.

Environmental issues are a fundamental feature of the Council’s current adopted planning policy, the West Lindsey Local Plan First Review 2006. This includes policies with an emphasis on promoting energy conservation, recycling and sustainable patterns of development; minimising pollution to air, land and water and reducing the need to travel.

The growth of Gainsborough will be pursued within the framework of policies set out in the East Midlands Regional Energy Strategy. This will also inform the spatial sustainability policies being developed for the LDF Core Strategy. An over-arching theme addressing climate change and sustainability will be included within the Development Plan Document (DPD). The Council will seek to mitigate the effects of climate change through the formulation of detailed DPDs. All development proposals will:

• Ensure adequate protection from the risk of flooding both on and off site by making use of sustainable urban drainage systems wherever practicable; • Incorporate facilities for recycling of water and waste (including building materials); • Utilise sustainable construction technologies whilst making the best use of natural resources, including water, materials and energy. This will be done by incorporating conservation measures and using renewable resources. • Support measures for improving the energy efficiency of new and existing developments by adopting the Code for Sustainable Homes, with all new housing meeting Level 3 of the code by 2010 and Level 6 by 2016 and that new buildings (other than dwellings) are compliant with a BREEAM building assessment rating of at least ‘very good’. • Support the development of new sources of renewable energy generation where there is no significant impact with other LDF policies; and • Encourage the generation of renewable energy in all new developments. Larger schemes will be expected to incorporate on-site renewable energy generation capacity.

Flood Risk and Water West Lindsey District Council is acutely aware of the impact of flooding as parts of the district were significantly affected by flooding in June and July 2007. The Council is therefore pursuing initiatives to provide appropriate preventative action to reduce the severity of flooding in the future.

Flood risk is a key challenge for Gainsborough as large areas of the lower town are identified within Flood Risk Zones 2 and 3. A £14m flood defence scheme for Gainsborough was implemented in the late 1990s. A Strategic Flood Risk Assessment was completed in 2004 for the Lincoln area which included

16 Gainsborough as a specific study area and confirmed that the town was adequately defended to the appropriate standard of the time. This is in the process of being updated.

In 2007 Gainsborough was not affected by flooding from the River Trent, however, there was significant localised flooding from surface water in the lower town.

LDF consultation responses by both the Environment Agency and Anglian Water have highlighted the need for a Water Cycle Study for the town to be undertaken in order to gain a thorough understanding about water supply and disposal. This will include existing capacities and assess the needs arising from the growth of Gainsborough. This is one of the priority projects for which CLG funding will be sought as part of the growth agenda.

Sustainable Neighbourhoods Growing Gainsborough is about the creation of sustainable neighbourhoods that will endure. This will be done by balancing social, economic, environmental and natural resource objectives.

The new neighbourhoods will be sited as logical extensions to the urban form of Gainsborough. They are outside the floodplains and sit within natural topographic bowls with existing woodlands on higher land defining boundaries.

Each neighbourhood will be centred on community facilities including a primary school and a neighbourhood centre. Employment and recreational facilities will be provided in close proximity to each neighbourhood ensuring amenities will be within a ten minute walk for all and a five minute walk for most residents.

Housing will be delivered to at least Level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes with Level 4 and above aspired to; CABE’s Building for Life guidelines will be followed. The contribution from renewable energy sources will be above 10% (measured in annual CO2 reductions or annual operational energy demand).

Travel by car will be a lower priority in the planning of the new neighbourhoods than the objective of enabling safe and convenient trips by more sustainable modes of transport, both within them, between them and also with the existing town. Car parking strategies within the neighbourhoods will be used to discourage unnecessary single car occupancy trips.

Sports and recreation will be integrated with habitat creation and surface water drainage as part of the proposed landscape structure. Further details on the specifics of the proposed development areas are provided in Section 5.

17 4.2 RESTORING THE HISTORIC GRAIN AND PROMOTING GOOD DESIGN

4.2.1 Gainsborough’s Historic Streets

The core of Gainsborough is based on the medieval street patterns established during the 14th century when the town benefited from the expansion in the wool trade and its flourishing port on the River Trent. The medieval settlement was small in scale covering the areas bounded by the 4 main thoroughfares – Silver Street, Lord Street, Church Street and Market Street with the Market Place at the junction. High density street frontages, now populated by a wealth of brick 18th and 19th century buildings, were developed on typical long, narrow plots.

This nucleated settlement persisted during a dramatic population expansion of the 19th century. Rather than extend the boundaries of the town, the existing medieval plots were in-filled to the rear with rows of cottages, creating the distinctive ‘yards’ and alleys which strongly characterise the high density urban grain of Gainsborough.

Today, some of the medieval pattern of narrow streets, alleys and courtyards are still evident. Curved street alignments and tall, built-up frontages create a sense of enclosure and draw the pedestrian on.

However, the 20th century also great change. Wholesale clearance of many of the historic 18th and 19th century yards, road extensions and realignments resulted in loss of street frontages. Cleared areas are often underused and do not provide for the characteristic street scene and building grain. The historic east/west orientation of the town towards the river has been lost, traditional pedestrian routes through the old yards and alleys have been stopped-up by the use of many of these areas as service yards. Additionally, a new main thoroughfare has divorced the town from its riverfront, which means that the town now has its back to one of its greatest assets.

4.2.2 Restoring the Historic Grain

Taking the town forward into its next stage of development is an opportunity to firmly establish Gainsborough an attractive, high quality, sustainable town with a keen sense of identity in its townscape, landscape and culture. Re-establishing the historic linkages across the town, revitalising existing historic fabric and working towards informed new urban design are all crucial elements in creating a lively place with a distinctive character.

Creating a quality townscape will also provide the ‘right conditions’ to attract future investment. A recent report into the economic impact of the public realm, commissioned by EMDA revealed that the quality of the environment is now one of

18 the top priorities for businesses choosing a location, often more important even than the transport infrastructure.

Similarly, the CABE report The Value of Public Space (2004) acknowledges that ‘the presence of good public spaces becomes a vital business and marketing tool as companies are attracted to locations that offer well-designed and well managed public spaces and these in turn attract customers, employees and services.’

The Council has consulted with CABE on major planning proposals in the past to ensure quality of design and ‘fit for purpose’ developments.

In striving to achieve high quality design and restoring the historic fabric of the town, WLDC will seek to follow CABE guidance and the new Streetscape Design Manual for Lincolnshire as well as the English Heritage Streets for All guide.

These focus on enhancing accessibility, promoting simplicity and reducing clutter, and providing high quality design in order to improve community pride, reduce crime and attract new business.

As a first step, a proposed public realm scheme will upgrade the traditional town centre environment, improve pedestrian linkages across the town and reinstate the Market Place at the heart of Gainsborough, helping to attract new retail, commercial and leisure investment to strengthen the town centre. This project is discussed in more detail in Section 4.7.

Once this Programme of Development is agreed, the intention is to invite CABE to become an observer and stakeholder as part of the Growth Board to ensure high quality design that reflects local aspirations.

19 4.3 HOUSING GROWTH AND THE HOUSING TRAJECTORY

Objective 1: Improved supply and affordability of housing

4.3.1 Background

A key objective for the Growth Point Board of the West Lindsey Local Strategic Partnership is to facilitate population growth within Gainsborough (and to some extent the wider district), to sustain and enhance basic service provision and to act as the catalyst for the attraction of increased and higher value employment. Housing growth is required not only to facilitate population increase, but also to maintain existing levels of population, taking into account forecast decline in household density.

Housing Market Performance The West Lindsey District falls into the Central Lincolnshire Housing Market Area. Looking beyond administrative boundaries is a way of examining the dynamics in the housing markets which is explored in more detail in the Central and Coastal Lincolnshire Strategic Housing Market Assessment 2007.

West Lindsey has experienced high levels of housing delivery in recent years as the table below illustrates. This market interest is largely guided by the strategy of the Adopted Local Plan First Review 2006 which focussed new growth within Gainsborough, Market Rasen and Caistor by allocating sites for residential development. This interest relates to the Council’s regeneration agenda for the district and the town of Gainsborough in particular, as expressed through the recent masterplanning process. The emerging Regional Spatial Strategy for the East Midlands (RSS8) also identifies Gainsborough as a regeneration priority.

West Lindsey Housing Completions 2003/4 to 2007/8

2003/4 2004/5 2005/6 2006/7 2007/8 Total Gainsborough2 208 125 238 138 284 993 Growth Point 427 465 592 519 559 2,562 Area3 Total

West Lindsey 878 809 897 873 668 4,125 District (Source: West Lindsey Annual Monitoring Reports – financial years)

The above table illustrates that within the designated Growth Point Area, an average of approximately 512 housing completions per annum has been achieved

2 The figures for Gainsborough also include completions in the adjacent parishes of Morton and Lea, as they form part of the contiguous built up area of the town. However, Lea and Morton have been classified within the Local Plan First Review as ‘subsidiary’ and ‘primary’ rural settlements respectively, and sit within the ‘Rural Area’ in policy terms, which has a different strategy to the towns.

3 The New Growth Point Area for West Lindsey comprises of most of the district including the three towns of Gainsborough, Market Rasen and Caistor, but with the exclusion of the Lincoln Policy Area (LPA) in the south of the District. 20 over the past five years to March 2008. The district as a whole has seen delivery of an average 825 dwellings per annum over the same period.

Gainsborough (including Lea and Morton) accounted for 39% of the total completions within the Growth Point Area during the period April 2003 to April 2008. The trend illustrated above is new market interest in the Gainsborough area. Prior to 2003 housing completions were very low in the town, with an average of only 42 completions per year between 1994 and 2003.

The percentage of housing completions accounted for in the Gainsborough area is likely to rise further as the Adopted Local Plan First Review strategy of focusing housing growth on the town works through the planning consent process into completions, and will be further bolstered by the town’s (and wider district’s) designation as a New Growth Point, which will enable the aspirations expressed through Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan to be implemented.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that West Lindsey’s Local Plan Allocations across the district are gradually being built out, so in order to allow the market to continue (and increase) recent levels of growth and delivery, more sites need to be identified for future residential development in order to meet our aspirations. The key areas for development are outlined in Section 5.

Past Development Control performance at West Lindsey sets a favourable precedence, which should therefore enable the required levels of future development to be brought forward promptly.

West Lindsey Planning Performance 2003/4 to 2007/8 (Major Planning Application Decisions)

2003/4 2004/5 2005/6 2006/7 2007/8 No. of Major 51 60 37 32 39 Decisions No. determined 34 42 33 29 30 within 13 weeks % determined 67% 70% 89% 91% 77% within 13 weeks

The above table illustrates that over the past five years, an average of 44 major planning decisions (as classified by BVPI groupings) were taken per year, with an average of 79% of these decisions being made within the targeted 13 week period.

Housing Types/Profile Figures from the 2001 Census show that some 41.8% of all homes in Gainsborough (excluding Lea and Morton) are terraced, which is very high compared with a national average of 26%, regional average of 21.3% and the district average of 16.7%. The South West Ward has the highest proportion of terraced properties, making up 56.9% total stock.

21 In terms of other types of housing stock in Gainsborough, semi-detached dwellings account for 33.3%; again this is above both the national (31.6%) and district (27.5%) averages. The proportion of detached homes, flats and maisonettes is low in Gainsborough by comparison. This is a reflection of the historical origins of the Gainsborough area as an industrialised market town, and is consistent with a traditional concentric urban form with the terraced housing in the centre close to large employment sites with larger houses located on the outskirts.

The 2001 census figures do not take into account dwellings completed as part of recent regeneration projects in Gainsborough which have brought forward a number of apartment schemes since 2001.

The geography of the current housing stock shows that the East and South West wards of Gainsborough have a particularly high proportion of terraced properties, and this is an established contributory factor to the poverty outlined in these areas. Taking account of the above information, future growth in Gainsborough therefore needs to give consideration to the overall distribution of house type/size across the town as a whole.

House Prices/Affordability Although West Lindsey has experienced considerable levels of housing delivery in recent years in line with market demand, the relative affordability of dwellings is still a concern across the district. The key issue for West Lindsey, as illustrated in the Central and Coastal Lincolnshire Strategic Housing Market Assessment, is the income to price ratio. In particular, the Assessment notes that when comparing mean and median annual earnings to mean house prices for the Oct-Dec quarter 2006, West Lindsey had the greatest difference between mean house prices and annual earnings, at a ratio of 8.34:1. When considering the ability to afford entry level property, West Lindsey fares somewhat better within the Lincolnshire context, second only to the City of Lincoln.

4.3.2 Where are we now?

Housing Delivery/Requirements The Draft Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS8) set a housing delivery requirement for West Lindsey of 552 dwellings per annum, of which 170 would be in that part of the District identified as the Lincoln Policy Area (not included in the West Lindsey Growth Point Area). Therefore, 382 dwellings per annum would need to be provided in the rest of the district in which Gainsborough is located.

This level of development represented a substantial growth on the previous West Lindsey Local Plan Review figure of 350 dwellings per annum district-wide, and therefore took into account the changing market activity in the district. However, during the Examination in Public for the Draft RSS, West Lindsey requested that this requirement be further increased to support our growth aspirations, and to reflect the greater levels of development being achieved in recent years (circa 800+ dwellings).

22 The Secretary of State has since published her Proposed Changes to RSS8, and Policy 13 ‘Regional Housing Provision’ encompasses some key changes to West Lindsey’s housing delivery requirements. Overall, West Lindsey’s total requirement for the plan period 2001-2026 remains the same (13,800) as it was in the Draft Regional Plan. However, the way in which housing requirements are spread out over the plan period has changed. Rather than overall annual averages (552 dwellings per annum), the requirements are now divided into a number of smaller time periods, each with their own phasing. The 2001-06 figures are said to take into account previous build rates.

Central Lincolnshire Housing Market Area (HMA) Delivery Requirements

2001-06 2006-11 2011-15 2016-26 Total Lincoln 400 640 870 1,230 21,850 N Kesteven 550 550 560 570 14,000 West 840 690 550 340 13,800 Lindsey HMA Total 1,790 1,880 1,980 2,140 49,650 (Source: RSS8 Proposed Changes - Policy 13)

It is notable that due to previous levels of development, West Lindsey’s annual requirement gradually declines over the duration of the plan period in order to retain the same total as the Draft. However, the Council’s recent achievement of New Growth Point status is not taken into account in the latest figures, and so will need to be considered in the next review of the RSS in order to ensure our growth aspirations are incorporated into the Planning Policy Framework, and the figures amended accordingly.

The Lincoln Policy Area (LPA) requirement for West Lindsey has been updated to a total of 3,420 over the plan period (2001-26) in the Proposed Changes, therefore leaving 10,380 for the rest of West Lindsey (Gainsborough) Growth Point Area. This, of course, is before deducting all completions and commitments in this area over the 2001-06 period, which is then likely to have the same effect of gradually reducing the annual requirements.

West Lindsey have agreed with CLG a figure of 8280 dwellings to be delivered through the Growth Point over the period 2008/09 to 2016/17, equating to an average of 920 per annum. In percentage terms 8280 net additions by 2016/17 is 32% uplift against existing stock in the Growth Point area (all of West Lindsey excluding the Lincoln Policy Area).

Whilst the above figures show a substantial uplift from RSS figures, it should be noted that, the RSS figures are comparatively low when compared to recent levels of development and recent market activity in the district, therefore showing that anticipated levels can be achieved, with the support that New Growth Point status brings.

23 4.3.3 Future Plans

Distribution of Homes Based on the consultations underpinning Gainsborough Regained - the Masterplan, and consideration of environmental, infrastructure and sustainability issues, the proposed location of new housing sites (as identified in Section 5) has been established to reflect the following principles:

• To increase the vibrancy and sustainability of the town centre by introducing new high quality housing onto existing poor quality town centre industrial sites. • To significantly increase residential land to the south and east of the town close to but not encroaching on the proposed green corridor around the town. These sites will take advantage of proximity to the A631, reducing vehicular traffic through the town centre. Enhanced pedestrian and cycle routes will link these new areas to the town centre. • To build family housing in the vicinity of the new Educational Village. • To retain the identity of Morton and Lea by avoiding large scale residential development. • To integrate the existing housing allocation and allocated sites.

Furthermore, the former RAF bases at Brookenby and Hemswell, are identified as having their own specific regeneration requirements, and an element of housing renewal and growth in these areas may be beneficial as part of the Growth Point Initiative. A feasibility study is currently underway to determine future development in these areas.

Types of Homes In order to address issues such as the tenure balance in Gainsborough, a strong emphasis will also be placed on the need to create a balanced community, with a range of dwellings types and tenures all built to high design and energy sustainability criteria.

24 The Housing Trajectory 2001 - 2026 The Housing Trajectory is shown below. It covers the period from 2001 to 2026 in order to coincide with the plan period for the emerging Regional Spatial Strategy for the East Midlands (RSS8).

1500

1300

1100 Total Past Completions

900 Total Projections 700

500 PLAN - Strategic Allocation (at Oct 08) Dwellings 300

100 MANAGE - Annual requirement taking into account previous -100 years' performance

-300 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26

-500 Year

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000 MONITOR - A mount above or below 500 cumulative allocation Dwellings

-500 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 -1000

-1500 Year

The above graphs illustrate the uplift from recent delivery to that proposed through the New Growth Point, whilst also taking into account the likely implications of the current economic downturn. Consequently, net additions over 2008/9 to 2010/11 equates to 16% of total net additions to 2016/17. Post-2017 (the end of the Growth Point Period), housing growth is anticipate to gradually tail off as strategic sites approach capacity.

As shown above, the Strategic Allocation varies over the course of the Trajectory; firstly, from a Draft RSS8 requirement of 382, up to an agreed Growth Point delivery requirement (2008/9 to 2016/17) of 920 per annum. Secondly, because the Growth Point requirement has only been agreed with central government till 2017, the Strategic Allocation then drops back down to the residual requirement of the recently published RSS Proposed Changes, which equates to just 239 per annum once completions since 2001 have been taken into account (hence, there is actually a decrease from Draft RSS figures, which provided a straight forward annual requirement rather than a residual one).

The post-2017 drop in the Strategic Allocation is therefore what has contributed to the trends seen in the Monitor and Manage lines in the above graphs, which suggest that West Lindsey will deliver considerably more development than will be required towards the end of the trajectory. However, to reiterate, New Growth Point status is not yet recognised in the RSS Proposed Changes figures. As such, in due course it is anticipated that the RSS figures will indeed take account of West Lindsey’s New Growth Point status, and so are expected to increase. In future reviews of this trajectory, the post-2017 Strategic Allocation should therefore increase, and as a result, our projected delivery will also fall more in line with the overall requirement.

It is important to note that whilst allocations and commitments are currently projected to be built out by end of the Growth Point period (2016/17), by this time West Lindsey will have gone through the process of identifying and allocating new sites for development, which will therefore form part of future delivery. As such, the above trajectory is purely intended to be only an illustrative guide to future development in the West Lindsey Growth Point Area. The further along the trajectory you get, particularly past 2017, the less accurate the projections will be, and the more change is likely to be seen as planning policy evolves and the Local Development Framework progresses.

Recent changes in the wider economy have the potential to impact upon our growth assumptions. We have therefore tested alternative scenarios for the Gainsborough Urban Extensions, the major source of new housing supply, in order to reflect more pessimistic assumptions about market conditions. A report for Thonock and Somerby Estates is contained in Appendix One.

The Council recognises that the delivery of balanced communities requires a range of housing types and tenures at prices affordable to all sections of the community. To this end, contact has already been made with the Housing Corporation and ATLAS in order to establish a continuing working relationship with the new Homes and Communities Agency. Negotiations are underway to ensure the bringing forward of affordable housing schemes in conjunction with local registered social landlords.

Developers of current sites in and around the district, including Gainsborough are in discussion with the Council to ensure continued delivery of affordable housing in this difficult time. Innovative schemes are being negotiated including ‘Try Before You Buy’ – an intermediate housing scheme.

26 Gainsborough (West Lindsey) New Growth Point - Housing Trajectory (Excludes Lincoln Policy Area) Oct 2008

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026

Allocated Sites 33 88 235 357 446 398 476

Unallocated Sites 107 44 192 108 146 121 83 Total Past Completions 140 132 427 465 592 519 559 Allocations & Commitments (Excl. rural windfall) 220 270 300 350 350 350 350 350 350 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Gainsborough Extension 0 0 200 340 500 500 500 500 500 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 Market Rasen Extension 0 0 0 40 50 65 75 80 72 70 45 28 20 20 15 10 5 5

Rural Sustainable Development 0 0 20 30 30 50 50 50 50 45 20 10 10 10 10 5 5 5

SHLAA Sites and Windfall in Gainsborough and Market Rasen 25 25 85 110 110 118 140 120 55 25 40 39 25 25 25 25 25 25

Rural Windfall 50 50 100 100 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120 120

Total Projections 295 345 705 970 1160 1203 1235 1220 1147 560 525 497 475 475 470 460 455 455 Cumulative Completions 140 272 699 1164 1756 2275 2834 3129 3474 4179 5149 6309 7512 8747 9967 11114 11674 12199 12696 13171 13646 14116 14576 15031 15486

PLAN - Strategic Allocation (Oct 08) 382 382 382 382 382 382 382 920 920 920 920 920 920 920 920 920 239 239 239 239 239 239 239 239 239

MANAGE - Annual requirement taking into account previous years' performance 524 540 558 564 569 567 570 571 587 602 595 568 523 466 396 314 221 179 129 68 -13 -135 -337 -736 -1926

MONITOR - Amount above or below cumulative - - - allocation -242 -492 -447 -364 -154 -17 160 -465 1040 1255 1205 -965 -682 -367 -67 160 481 767 1025 1261 1497 1728 1949 2165 2381

27 Affordable Housing The delivery of affordable housing will form a key component of future growth in West Lindsey. The Central Government Planning Policy Statement 3 on Housing (PPS3) definition is: “Affordable housing includes social rented and intermediate housing, provided to specified eligible households whose needs are not met by the market.”

The Draft RSS set out that within the Central Lincolnshire Housing Market Area (HMA) which includes West Lindsey, 29% of all new dwellings should be affordable housing. This was then split into 27% social rented and the remaining 2% is intermediate (shared ownership).

Policy 14 of the Proposed Changes; ‘Regional Priorities for Affordable Housing’ sets out indicative affordable housing targets for monitoring purposes only. These targets for 2001-2026 are now expressed as numbers for each Housing Market Area rather than as percentages, and no distinction is made regarding the proportions for different types (i.e. Intermediate Ownership / Rented).

The total number of affordable homes to be achieved in the Central Lincolnshire Housing Market Area is 14,400, which breaks down to 576 per annum between West Lindsey, Lincoln and North Kesteven.

Policy 14 of the Proposed Changes states that Local Planning Authorities should adopt targets in line with the most up to date Housing Market Area Assessment. The Central Lincolnshire Strategic Housing Market Assessment was published in the Autumn of 2007 and identifies a current need for 518 affordable dwellings per annum within West Lindsey. This is a substantial component of overall provision as pursued through the emerging Regional Plan and is unlikely to be achievable in practice. Therefore WLDC is looking to follow the RSS in its emerging Local Development Framework, and through the Growth Point Initiative, by setting an affordable housing requirement of at least 30%.

As part of its analysis, the Housing Market Assessment also broadly suggests that across the breadth of the Central and Coastal Lincolnshire Area, 32% of new affordable homes should be 1 bed, 42% should be 2 bed, and 20% should be 3 bed with the remainder four or more.

Gypsies and Travellers The Housing Act 2004 requires Local Housing Authorities to undertake an assessment into the accommodation needs of gypsies and travellers. The Government Circular 01/2006 requires the Regional Plan to specify pitch numbers for each Local Planning Authority Area.

Within Lincolnshire there are four existing authorised sites owned and managed by the County Council; one site is at Summergangs Lane, Gainsborough. The Summergangs Lane site is currently fully occupied; nearly 75% of occupants utilise the site as their main home. This site is currently in need of relocation for a variety of reasons. Identification of a new site is currently being undertaken in conjunction with Lincolnshire County Council.

28 Proposed Changes Policy 16 ‘Regional Priorities for Provision for Gypsies and Travellers’ is supported by revised minimum pitch requirements in the Proposed Changes. The RSS targets are derived from up to date Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessments. The Lincolnshire Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment which was published in September 2007 sets out a need for 22-26 pitches from 2007-12. These figures are still under negotiation with partners.

29 4.4 COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE AND NEIGHBOURHOOD RENEWAL

Objective 2: Developed community infrastructure, which includes education, healthcare, policing, leisure and recreation

This section summarises the most important elements of the community infrastructure which will be required to ensure that Gainsborough provides the necessary services and facilities to support its growth aspirations.

Providing infrastructure is key to underpinning sustainable communities. The Council will work with partners and other stakeholders, using the legislative framework and best practice, to address the challenge of infrastructure and affordable housing delivery. A flexible and innovative approach using a robust suite of tools across the range (eg health and urban planning toolkit) will be used to ensure needs are defined and justified enabling vehicles such as Community Infrastructure Levy and S106s to properly address the challenges of feasibility and delivery. This multi-faceted approach will ensure the planned provision of infrastructure and affordable housing.

Lincolnshire County Council Education Service has developed a method for ensuring S106 contributions. This will be used to inform part of a larger strategy that ensures that all tools are utilised to the full to deliver sustainable community infrastructure contributions from the private sector.

The Council will be carrying out an Independent Land Valuation and Planning Gain Assessment early in the Growth process to advise and inform the necessary agreements with land owners/developers prior to planning permissions being granted. See also Section 5.

4.4.1 Education and Skills

Background In Gainsborough, a long period of low educational attainment and low expectations has resulted in a workforce dominated by low skills and qualifications. This conflicts with the need for economic growth and diversification.

Where are we now? There are 3 secondary schools within Gainsborough. The Queen Elizabeth High School, a selective grammar school, performs significantly better than the national average, ranking within the top 10 secondary schools in Lincolnshire. Research carried out for Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan indicated that many of the pupils attending this school are not from Gainsborough.

The other two secondary schools, Castle Hills and Middlefield, perform below the county and national averages. These schools have traditionally received their pupils from the most deprived areas of the town, whose parents are unable to afford the transport costs of sending their children to better performing comprehensive schools in Lincoln, Market Rasen and Kirton-in-Lindsey. However, due to a recent re-organisation, Castle Hills and Middlefield schools amalgamated to become the Trent Valley Academy in September 2008. Performance has improved dramatically

30 over the last 2-3 years. They will re-locate to a new flag-ship school off Corringham Road in September 2007.

There is a range of primary schools within Gainsborough, the majority of which perform well. Currently there is spare capacity within both primary and secondary schools.

Skill levels amongst the adult population are particularly poor in Gainsborough. To give an example, 93% of the working age population in Gainsborough East ward have numeracy skills below Level 14 and 72% have literacy skills below this level. Similarly unemployment levels are above national averages. Clearly this needs to be tackled to reduce deprivation, increase employment and improve the aspirations of local people in order to support the growth aspirations.

Projects Underway A substantial change in Gainsborough’s Secondary education infrastructure is now taking place to address the issues identified above through the creation of the new Educational Village in Gainsborough. The Educational Village combines all secondary aged pupils from the existing Castle Hills and Middlefield schools, together with two smaller special schools to provide 1,200 mainstream and 80 special pupil places with 32 special 16-19 years places. The two secondary schools combined as the Trent Valley Academy on 1 September 2008 with the new building due for completion in 2009.

The Gainsborough Educational Village project offers excellent opportunities for partnership working together with Queen Elizabeth High School, John Leggott College in Scunthorpe, Lincoln College, the University of Lincoln and other providers. The co-operation and effectiveness of this Partnership between education providers is crucial, enabling local people to have local flexibility and choice regarding post 16 education provision.

Improved connectivity between local businesses and the Educational Village will also be important to ensure that courses, training and skills development are meeting the needs of employers.

In terms of addressing low skill levels, a Skills Forum has been established as part of the West Lindsey Local Strategic Partnership. It includes partners from WLDC, LCC, Job Centre Plus, the schools and a range of training providers. The scheme is supported by a dedicated Employment and Skills Project Manager with the aim of improving skill levels and the employability of local people and breaking the cycle of dependency on benefits through a range of measures to be implemented over the next five years. West Lindsey District Council has committed £300,000 to ensure co-ordination and community leadership.

4 Level 1 equivalent = fewer than 5 GCSEs at Grades A* - C; NVQ 1

31 The types of measures being implemented include:

• The establishment of ‘learning communities’ in the most deprived areas. • Working with local training providers to ensure that very basic skills courses are on offer. • Develop the range of child care facilities that are available. This has been identified as a barrier to people who want to improve their skills and return to the job market. • Wheels 2 Work – a scooter loan scheme to enable people to access training, education and employment opportunities that they have previously been unable to access due to the lack of public transport provision.

4.4.2 Healthcare

Background Healthcare is a fundamental community facility required to support the wellbeing of residents within the Gainsborough area. It is important that the facilities within the town are accessible to, and have the capacity to support the local population.

Where are we now? Gainsborough is a Local Area Agreement intervention area for 2008/9 and a health improvement programme targeted area for Lincolnshire PCT. The indicators for health inequalities show that Gainsborough wards have significantly lower life expectancy than the England average, with high rates of premature cancer mortality, and common disorders such as diabetes, asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Cardiovascular Disease.

Concerns brought up by the consultation process for Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan included the lack of an NHS dentist in the town, and the absence of any 24-hour accessible medical facilities. One NHS dental practice has recently opened in the town signing up 7,500 patients in 3 months; the practice is still growing. The WLDC Chief Executive and Leader of the Council were instrumental in lobbying the PCT to ensure that this facility was provided as historically there has been a chronic lack of NHS dentists in the town.

The need for 24-hour medical facilities remains an issue to be monitored as part of the growth agenda.

The Accessibility Study as part of the Second Local Transport Plan for Lincolnshire also identifies that Gainsborough, and the North West Lincolnshire area as a whole, suffers considerable problems relating to the distance to doctors surgeries. The level of non-attendance at hospital appointments for this area is amongst the highest in Lincolnshire.

Projects Underway Two full time Health Trainers have been employed jointly by West Lindsey District Council and Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust. Health Trainers are part of a new public health workforce, specifically employed to work with marginalised and excluded communities. They will support people to adopt healthier lifestyles and employ evidence based techniques to change behaviours. Health Trainers use a client centred approach, supporting clients with their own decisions to change.

4.4.3 Leisure and Recreational Facilities

Background The availability of leisure opportunities is important for the wellbeing of the local community, and thus an improved leisure offer within Gainsborough, particularly for families and youngsters will be an important part of the growth agenda.

Where are we now? The most high-profile leisure opportunities within Gainsborough are undoubtedly the two golf courses located on the edge of the town, and their incorporation with the nearby PING (Europe) headquarters and factory. These facilities are an important asset for the town, attracting national and international visitors, as well as those from Gainsborough and its surrounding hinterland.

The town has a football club; Gainsborough Trinity FC who were formed in 1873, but it was not until 16 years later, in 1889 that the club started playing competitive fixtures, when the Midlands Counties League was formed.

The Club have an impressive historical FA Cup record, having reached the Second Round Proper eight times in twelve years between 1927 and 1939.

At the end of the 2003-4 season, the club finished in a high enough position to become founder members of the newly-created Conference North now Blue Square North division, where they are currently placed 7th.

Gainsborough Trinity, also known as the Holy Blues, play their football at their home ground, the Northolme, which holds 4,304 people and is nicknamed the chapel.

Other significant leisure and recreational opportunities within the town include the WLDC leisure centre and swimming pool, the Trinity Arts Centre, a theatre and community arts facility owned and operated by West Lindsey District Council and The Sands music venue. Whilst provision in this sector has improved recently with the addition of restaurants and private gym and swimming facilities at Marshall’s Yard and the new State Club music venue in the town centre, there is still significant scope for development in this sector, as identified through Gainsborough Regained - the Masterplan and the recent Retail, Commercial and Leisure Study.

Improving the provision of leisure opportunities will be a key priority under the new growth agenda.

Projects Underway A multi-use sports pavilion is being developed on the District Council’s Marshall Sports Ground in Gainsborough which will service the expansion of the bowls, cricket and football clubs as well as provide potential for the development of rugby clubs. The Council has been liaising with the Sports Council about this facility and others including Gainsborough Educational Village. The new Educational Village will also improve sporting facilities for school and community use, which should help to address deficiencies in this sector.

33 The development of key town centre sites such as the former Guildhall will aim to attract new leisure and recreational uses to Gainsborough to address the lack of these facilities.

Further Studies and Feasibility Work In order to better inform the growth proposals and the emerging LDF, a PPG17 Study into West Lindsey Open Space, Sports and Recreational Facilities will be required and it is intended to carry this out in conjunction with City of Lincoln and North Kesteven District Council in 2009.

4.4.4 Policing

Background Making sure that the district is a safe place to live, work and visit is a key priority for West Lindsey District Council. The Council is a main partner in the West Lindsey Local Strategic Partnership, (chaired by a representative from the Fire Service) together with health agencies, the Police, the Fire and Rescue service and other public, private and voluntary organisations who play an important role in promoting a safer community in Gainsborough and the rest of the district. It ensures that the challenging needs identified in specific areas of the town, where crime rates are relatively high, are addressed in the most effective manner.

The Council worked in partnership with Lincolnshire County Council, the Police, and the Fire and Rescue Service in Market Rasen to provide a joint fire station/police station as a planning gain project co-located with a Tesco store.

Where are we now? Crime rates in Gainsborough have been considerably higher than the district and county averages. Between 2003/4 and 2004/5 the rate in Gainsborough was almost double that of the district and county5. A comparison of the latest figures for 2007 and 2008 (year to date April – July) show a decline in 2008 of 2.1% with the main criminal activities being criminal damage and violence against a person6. Gainsborough’s significant crime rate is reflective of the higher deprivation levels experienced in certain parts of Gainsborough compared with the rest of the district. Tackling deprivation as a whole, which will in turn reduce crime rates, will form a key aspect of Gainsborough’s growth plans, with a specific focus on the South West Ward – the most deprived ward in the district.

Projects Underway A dedicated Community Safety Team is active in Gainsborough, working with the WLDC Street Force wardens to patrol the area and deal with environmental crime and anti-social behaviour. Communication and information sharing is also managed effectively through a multi-agency Joint Action Group (JAG).

The Anti-Social Behaviour Team is also working to introduce summer play schemes to get children and young people engaged in positive activities whilst the District Council is currently pursuing plans to upgrade CCTV provision in the town.

5 Lincolnshire Research Observatory (2006) 6 Lincolnshire Police (2008) 34 4.4.5 Multiple Deprivation & Neighbourhood Renewal

Background Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan notes that the highest concentration of socio-economic problems in West Lindsey is found in Gainsborough East and Gainsborough South West wards. In particular, the South West ward performs poorly in terms of living environment, with a high proportion of poor quality, high density housing with little or no open space, children’s play facilities or secure car parking.

Projects Underway WLDC is currently developing its partnership working relations with the SW Ward community and a number of initiatives are now being investigated to improve conditions in this area. This includes a project to develop a disused piece of land within an area of dense housing for public recreational use. Inter cultural events and conversation classes have also been organised to engage the Eastern European community and promote social inclusion.

Future Plans Gainsborough Regained identifies the need for considerable physical regeneration of this area to improve conditions and this will form part of the growth agenda, with the proposals based on the following principles:

• Improving the quality of the housing; • Improving the quality of the wider physical environment and creating open space within the community. • Addressing the problem of crime and anti-social behaviour; • Address the problem of empty dwellings and absentee landlords possibly through introducing licensing for private landlords. • Introducing a tenure mix through high quality private ownership, affordable, social and privately rented with introduction of shared ownership and Homebuy • Address the issue of health inequalities and quality of life challenges

4.4.6 Waste Management & Recycling

Background Waste containment and reduction in domestic dwellings is not an integral part of the design of housing and neighbourhoods. This is now seen to be an important part of developing strategies that incorporate features that ensure that waste is kept to a minimum but managed and contained appropriately.

Future Plans The Council is continually reviewing its waste management strategy with a view to minimising the demand for collection and disposal (landfill) e.g. the use of the triple bin system. It is essential that growth in the district takes full account of this. Therefore a Gainsborough Waste Management Strategy will be undertaken and is referred to in the list of projects in Section 6.4.

35 Thonock & Somerby Estates are working with White Young Green Environmental and have begun discussions with Severn Trent and have received information on the service infrastructure provision associated with energy and waste.

36 4.5 EMPLOYMENT GROWTH

4.5.1 Background

Objective 3: Diversification of the range of new and existing businesses based in Gainsborough providing a variety of higher skilled jobs.

Gainsborough experienced significant economic decline as a result of the loss of traditional engineering and manufacturing industries during the 1970s and 1980s. Despite this, a significant proportion of the local workforce remains employed in manufacturing. The result is that many local residents do not have the skills relevant to the modern economy with its increased emphasis on innovation and enterprise and this is now hindering economic growth.

Compounding this issue, the most mobile sector of the workforce have tended to leave the area in search of better employment opportunities, thus contributing to a shortage of skilled staff to help develop and diversify the business sector. Between 1991-2001 Gainsborough experienced a 4.3% decline in population, most of which can be attributed to the 15-29 year age group. However between 2001- 04, the population of the town has increased by an estimated 8.27%.

Another factor restricting the growth and diversification of the business sector is that many of the existing manufacturing employers still occupy low grade or semi- derelict sites within the town centre. These sites are no longer appropriate for such uses and now blight the environment close to the town centre.

4.5.2 Where are we now?

Information from the Annual Business Inquiry shows that employment in Gainsborough is concentrated in three sectors:

- Distribution, hotels and restaurants is the largest sector in terms of the number of business units and employment sector, with 28% total employees in 2004 - Public administration, health and education is the second largest employment sector with 27.4% total in 2004 - Manufacturing still provides the third largest employment source with 23.6% total employees - Gainsborough is above comparator centres, county, regional and national averages for the number of employees in the distribution, hotel and restaurant and manufacturing sectors

The main growth sector recorded by the Annual Business Inquiry (ABI) from 1998- 2004 was in construction with a 200% increase in employees. During this period, there was also an increase in the number of banking and finance businesses but despite this, the number employed in this sector declined by 23%

The occupational profile for residents in Gainsborough taken from the Census 2001, shows that nearly 60% of employees have occupations within the manual sectors – significantly above the district, region and UK averages. At the same

37 time, only 24% of Gainsborough’s resident employees have occupations in the managerial and professional categories which is below district, region and UK averages. Skills forecasting figures show a real need to improve skill levels in West Lindsey to meet future occupational demand.

4.5.3 Projects Underway

As part of the national Business Support Simplification Programme West Lindsey District Council have supported East Midlands Business to deliver business support locally. The local Business Advisor works along side the Economic Development and Planning Teams to support businesses in a cohesive way and is hosted within the Council Office. Following the development of a new planning system, development teams are set up to help new start and current businesses move forward for growth.

There are a range of events throughout the year which are developed both within the Council and with partners to support businesses. These include: Speed Networking, Business Lunches and specialised training eg: E. Business Programme.

In partnership with Lincolnshire County Council and all Lincolnshire local authorities there is a property database which assists businesses who are looking to grow and expand. This also provides a means of monitoring and tracking business activity within the district.

4.5.4 Future Plans

It is anticipated that an additional 5000 jobs will be required in Gainsborough over the Growth Point period. Growth will be driven by the increase in higher skilled jobs across a wider range of sectors. Based on the econometric information it is forecast that the growth sectors will include; construction, financial and business services and other (mainly public) sources.

In order to achieve these additional jobs it is anticipated we will need in excess of 30 hectares of new employment land in Gainsborough, including 156,000sq m of floor space. The land will be across the B1, B2 and B8 class uses to provide for the forecasted employment growth sectors. This is further detailed in the Key Growth Area proposals.

Employment growth in Gainsborough will focus on the following: • Increasing the size of the labour pool by increasing the population through growth in housing.

• Encouraging new business formation across a range of sectors and providing the right conditions to encourage existing businesses to grow, creating higher skilled jobs.

• Creating the appropriate infrastructure, industry sites and premises for growth including more B1 and B2 freehold developments which are fit for purpose and that can attract inward investment.

38 • Investing in training, education and skills development programmes in order to ensure that local residents are able to access, new higher value employment opportunities. (WLDC Local Strategic Partnership Skills Forum)

• Maximising the business support opportunities available for existing businesses and developments of further activity to stimulate business growth.

• Developing good skills levels throughout the workforce so they are able to become more productive and adaptable.

39 4.6 TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE

Gainsborough Transport & Green Infrastructure

Objective 4: Improved transport infrastructure that enables alternative transport options to the car

4.6.1 Background

Gainsborough lies in close proximity to national and international transport links and major centres of population in the East Midlands and Yorkshire regions including the ports of Immingham, Grimsby and Hull, Humberside Airport and Robin Hood Airport (25 minutes by road).

Gainsborough can be accessed from a number of strategic highway routes; notably the A156 from the south and the Principal Urban Area of Lincoln; the A159 to the north providing links to Scunthorpe and the motorway network; and the A631, which transects the town, and provides connections with the A15 and coast to the east, and large cities (and the motorway network) in neighbouring regions such as Sheffield and Doncaster to the west.

The main concerns with Gainsborough’s highways infrastructure revolve around these key routes. In particular, the Gainsborough Bridge over the River Trent with its junction of the A156 (Lea Road) and A631 (Flood Road/Bridge Road) creates a potential pinch-point at key times of the day for travel into the town from the west.

Despite these potential concerns, by comparison with other local towns, traffic congestion is currently not a major problem within Gainsborough, with the exception of Friday evenings and Bank Holidays over the summer months, as additional traffic flow is generated on the A631 heading to the Lincolnshire coast. Furthermore, some highway improvement works (as detailed later) have already been instigated by Lincolnshire County Council, as the Highway Authority (with financial input from West Lindsey District Council); in order to improve traffic flows through the town.

As part of the CIF2 bid (Appendix Three), an Outline Transport Strategy for Gainsborough was developed by consultants on behalf of Thonock and Somerby Estates, Lincolnshire County Council and West Lindsey District Council. This outlined the need for a full Transport Strategy. It highlights the necessity to: • reduce the number of short distance car journeys by creating a cohesive pedestrian and cycle network • move away from a very car-orientated transport network • ensure that the design of the new neighbourhoods is not taken in isolation but enables full connectivity for a range of transport options • improve the railway stations to enable greater usage of the services currently provided which in turn should lead to provision as the town grows and population increase.

40 4.6.2 Where are we now?

Public Transport

Introduction Providing effective and attractive alternatives to the private car such as improvements to the quality of Gainsborough’s public transport services, is critical in ensuring that the envisaged growth for Gainsborough can be accommodated to as great an extent as possible within existing infrastructure. In addition, strengthened links to principal regional destinations will also help to ensure that residents are able to access key services and wider life opportunities, including employment, not currently offered in Gainsborough.

Railway Stations Railway stations give an important first impression of a town. Gainsborough benefits from two stations detailed below:

Lea Road Station Gainsborough, Lea Road Station suffers from poor connectivity with the surrounding town centre and residential areas and offers an unattractive facility. This is despite a reasonably attractive level of service, which connects the town to Lincoln, Sheffield, Retford and Doncaster (and via these latter two stations the East Coast Mainline) providing better existing journey opportunities and greater potential for growth. Key points already identified in the Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan include:

• A new secure car parking facility, offering Park & Ride facilities • Improved bus to rail interchange facilities, capitalising on recent enhancements to the Into Town and InterConnect networks; • Customer information systems; • New passenger waiting facilities; • Better pedestrian and cycle linkages; • The creation of a station forecourt area, incorporating pick-up/drop-off and taxi facilities, plus provision for terminating buses; and, • The investigation of the introduction of staffed station facilities, potentially as part of a wider scheme containing community or commercial office use.

Central Station The Central Station is located close to the town centre, accessed via Spring Gardens. Unfortunately, the existing passenger service provision running between Sheffield and Cleethorpes on this line is restricted to Saturday operations only. It is difficult to justify any potential improvement for this site without substantial realignment of adjoining mainlines.

Bus Service Provision Gainsborough benefits from a direct bus link to two of the principal destinations within the immediate sub region; Lincoln and Scunthorpe and the employment, education and training opportunities and public services therein. These links form part of the ‘InterConnect’ network of services which has been developing across Lincolnshire in recent years in order to improve accessibility on key inter-urban

41 corridors in the county. Opportunities for the development of the InterConnect Network include:

• New routes, towards Market Rasen and Grimsby; • Integration, including through-ticketing, with the national rail network at Gainsborough Lea Road Station, utilising the existing hourly rail link to Retford and Worksop; • Enhanced frequencies of service, including evening operation; and, • Improved passenger information systems.

In addition, the recently established ‘IntoTown’ bus network provided by Stagecoach links Gainsborough’s town centre to the town’s immediate hinterland, providing the important links with the outer estates that are essential to support the sustainable development of the town. The similar ‘Call Connect’ service operating within the area also provides the opportunity for residents in more isolated locations to request a connecting service via minibus to either the intended destination or a suitable bus stop.

Gainsborough also benefits from Lincolnshire’s on-demand ‘dial-a-ride’ scheme for those residents who are unable to access or comfortably use other means of public transport this is a scheme for which people must be members and meet certain eligibility criteria and as such it is seen as a specialist and add-on service which supplements the main public transport network.

However it is recognised that internal bus services require development. There is an above average propensity for car and taxi usage. Therefore plans for the new neighbourhoods will include proposals to enhance the ‘IntoTown’ services. It is likely that these will require support in the initial phases and may form part of planning gain agreements as referred to previously. These proposals formed part of the CIF2 bid previously submitted.

Highways The section of the A631, including the crossing of the River Trent and the junctions located immediately to the east of the river, are recognised as a potential bottle- neck and a constraint on the future development of Gainsborough. Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) has recognised this problem and has recently instigated highway improvement works in the area, which will provide additional highway capacity up to the year 2015. Future forecasts of traffic flows have been based on predictions associated with the growth in base traffic levels, plus inclusion of traffic flows forecast to be generated following the development of a number of sites in and around Gainsborough, as specified in the West Lindsey Local Plan (2006). Developments included sites at Japan Road, Foxby Lane, Heapham Road, Marshall’s Yard and Carr Lane.

Beyond 2015, consideration will have to be given to other measures that will deal with the potential increase in road usage in the town. This will be done in the context of the overall Transport Strategy for the long-term. There is general acceptance through the RSS process that Lincolnshire has a different status to the other counties in the East Midlands with regard to car usage. This is due to its rurality, dispersed nature and relative size of settlements, and recognises that people will still need to rely on the car to some extent.

Pedestrian and Cycle Accessibility Measures to encourage greater use of more sustainable forms of travel, including walking and cycling will be essential to the success of the Growth Point.

Gainsborough is located within a Community Travel Zone which has introduced measures to improve the levels of cycling and walking and thus improve the access to services other than by car. There have also been recent improvements to pedestrian crossing facilities which have enabled people with disabilities, young children etc to access services more safely. In addition, traffic-calming schemes have improved road safety.

Further measures to promote cycling have been identified below:

• The creation and designation of a coherent and legible cycle network • Signage and branding of the network, including potential linkages to the National Cycle Network (NCN); • An active programme to encourage cycling, especially in relation to new destinations such as Gainsborough Educational Village; • The opening up of other natural and manmade assets to cycle routes, creating an attractive off-road network; • Measures to address the severance effect of the River Trent through new sustainable crossings; and, • Improved cycle parking facilities, not just in Gainsborough town centre, but also at other principal destinations.

Green Infrastructure A well maintained network of protected ‘green infrastructure’ is fundamental for the sustainability of our built-up areas, providing a means to protect important habitats and presenting opportunities for recreational pursuits as well as improving the visual appearance of the settlement.

Public and stakeholder consultations for Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan confirmed the widely held view that the town centre does not have enough public green space. There is also a strong view that, although the town is surrounded by countryside, there is a shortage of “joined up” walks and cycle ways within and around all areas of it.

Detailed landscape appraisals were undertaken by Nicholas Pearson Associates (2008) and the retention of existing landscape features including trees, hedgerow remnants and ponds, form the basis for the landscape structure within each of the planned new neighbourhoods. These neighbourhoods will be sited as logical extensions to the urban form of Gainsborough, are outside floodplains and sit within natural topographic bowls with existing woodlands on higher land helping to define their boundaries.

43 4.6.3 Future Plans

The Programme of Delivery provides the rationale behind improvements to the highway and transportation infrastructure, which are required to support the future travel demands that will be generated by the Growth Point.

Proposed transport measures have been identified to improve the accessibility of Gainsborough as part of the Community Infrastructure Fund bid. At a sub-regional level, enhancing connectivity to key destinations in the immediate rural hinterland, the East Midlands and also to the Yorkshire and the Humber region are recognised as important. Interventions at a ‘local’ level for Gainsborough are also identified and it is important to take into account the following points from the outset:

• Regional Funding Allocations for transport schemes were announced by the Secretary of State in July 2006. These cover anticipated expenditure up to 2016.

• Future transport funding will need to target the delivery of the RSS growth up to 2026

• Gainsborough has no Transport Strategy in place unlike Lincoln, Boston and Grantham, where such studies are being undertaken. This piece of work is needed and will highlight transport interventions that are likely to be required to support the development aspirations contained in Gainsborough Regained - the Masterplan as well as those expressed for this Growth Point. These proposals will be developed further in the context of a strategy for Gainsborough, which considers the full range of integrated transport methods including changing people's transport preferences. The Lincolnshire Local Transport Plan 2006- 2011 includes no road proposals for Gainsborough, nor does it cite the potential of any scheme (for example a bridge) in its longer term strategy. An integrated transport study for Gainsborough needs to be undertaken to assess the merits of proposals against other priorities across the County for inclusion in the next LTP in 2011.

Public Transport Improvements

Rail It is clearly identified that substantial opportunities for public transport improvements in Gainsborough are required. This is demonstrated by the town’s designation, along with the North West Lincolnshire area, as an Accessibility Planning Priority Area in the Lincolnshire County Council’s Local Transport Plan.

For ‘external’ trips, the focus will be on regaining the importance of Lea Road Railway Station on the Doncaster-Lincoln line. Both Lincolnshire’s LTP2 and the East Midlands Regional Plan refer to the need for improvement to the Station, but no funding source is identified.

This line has good connectivity with nearby employment areas, including Robin Hood Airport where the railway station on this line recently received planning consent. The Airport’s planning consent identifies around 7,000 jobs on the site, still to be created. Its Master Plan, looking towards 2030, identifies many more in

44 an additional Business Park plus further expansion of the passenger throughput with associated employee increases.

The line is identified as regionally important in the Regional Plan, and train services can be expected to increase in the future, as a result of the additional potential passengers in Gainsborough, the Airport, and other rail strategies.

Currently the Station only has platforms, with no railway buildings. This is inadequate for its future role as an important facility related to the increase in population due to Growth Point Status. It also needs to be well served by convenient, frequent, local bus services and it is a logical western ‘end’ of the orbital Greenway concept. To achieve this, improvements are needed to the existing nearby road junction, or the creation of a junction nearer to the Station.

The Station requires improved pedestrian, cyclist and bus connectivity, becoming more of a trip interchange location. It would also benefit from an enlarged car park, whilst keeping this consistent with the overall car-reduction considerations.

Gainsborough’s second station, Central Station, is on the Sheffield – Worksop – Grimsby line. The renewal of the footbridge over this line as part of the principal pedestrian/cycle network, with some associated improvements to the platforms and their accessibility, is seen as the essential first step towards the promotion of more services on this line.

Bus Bus accessibility is important in other parts of the town. There are other junctions within the town centre where priority measures would improve reliability and, most importantly in perception terms, give the ‘right message’ to residents. Further work will be undertaken on these possibilities, but some may require land acquisition.

The bus network will also need reviewing as part of the expansion proposals, together with greater variety within the bus ‘package’ that can be offered to existing and future residents.

This can become a virtuous circle, with increased potential patronage enabling greater commercial risks to be taken by the operators, providing more services, which in turn, in association with Travel Plan encouragements, will attract more passengers. The proportional increase in Gainsborough’s population due to the expansion proposals will ensure the provision of a viable and comprehensive bus network. Critical mass is currently missing.

Highways Improvements The design of the new neighbourhoods will not be considered in isolation, but as part of a town-wide strategy. This will follow criteria which will be set out in an Accessibility Matrix, defining minimum non-car travel standards for differing journey purposes.

The inter-connection of the new neighbourhoods with the existing built up areas and the town centre will then follow the same criteria. This will require ‘off-site’ infrastructure improvements and improved bus service provision.

45 Direct vehicular access for the new neighbourhoods created through the Growth Point will be achieved with the minimum of new highway infrastructure requirements. Some improvement to relatively short lengths of existing highways will be required to cater for longer distance external trips not served by public transport networks.

The inter-connection of local distributor roads between the expansion areas will provide a choice of routes for external journeys accessing the main routes to the North, South and East reducing the need for these trips to penetrate the town centre. This will require some off site improvement to the existing network.

The following highway works (some of which have already been completed) have been instigated by Lincolnshire Council County:

• The construction of a new 4-arm roundabout at the junction of the A159 and the A631 dual carriageway (Thorndyke Way) • The prohibition of right turns from the A631 at the Gainsborough Bridge junction to relieve pressure at this junction, and in conjunction with this; • Upgrading of the Lea Road/Ashcroft Road junction to the south of the town centre to another 4-arm roundabout in order to accommodate the additional traffic directed along this route.

These improvements aim to minimise congestion by providing additional highway capacity until 2015 and consequently keep traffic moving as efficiently as possible. However, more substantial intervention may still be required in the longer term in order to accommodate the additional demands for travel likely to be created by the Growth Point.

Pedestrian Accessibility and Cycle Network Improvements Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan identifies that the limited legibility of the town has the most notable impact on pedestrians and cyclists. This limits the opportunities for movement within the town, and also compromises safety when negotiating traffic routes at busy times. These barriers also limit the opportunity to encourage more sustainable and environmentally friendly forms of travel within the immediate local area, and potentially deter some trips from being undertaken at all.

The Masterplan also identified possible locations for a future pedestrian footbridge across the River Trent. This would provide greater connectivity to recreational opportunities within the flood plain on the opposite side in Bassetlaw District and fit in with the desire from the town centre.

There is considerable scope for improving the existing cycle and pedestrian networks within and around the Gainsborough area to alleviate some of these barriers to movement. This is all the more important in light of construction of a number of roundabouts in the town centre, as these types of junctions are often identified as major problems for cycle and pedestrian movement.

46 The Growth Point neighbourhoods will be designed to ensure safe and convenient segregated pedestrian and cycle routes within them, linking the principal desire lines and ‘destinations’. The neighbourhoods will also be designed to connect efficiently with the existing developed areas, to ensure both inward-looking and outbound connectivity for pedestrians, cyclists and buses.

For trips within the expanded town, there is the need for improvements and extensions to the existing non-vehicular accessways. The strategy is to create a coherent network of safe, well lit routes within the expansion areas, between them, and connecting them with the town centre and other primary attractions.

Car parking strategies within the neighbourhoods will also be used to discourage unnecessary car ownership and single occupancy car trips.

The accessways to the main education and retail attractions are of particular importance, as are the pedestrian routes extending across the town centre and crossing the railway in the vicinity of Central Station, where the existing footbridge needs renewal.

Green Infrastructure Network Improvement The Gainsborough area hosts a substantial network of green infrastructure, and is surrounded by important natural landscapes. Nevertheless, this network of important green spaces is very fragmented, and so the full potential presented by this green infrastructure is not being realised. Lack of connectivity between important green infrastructure within the Gainsborough, Lea and Morton area leads to the full potential of leisure opportunities and pedestrian and cycleway networks not being realised.

Efforts will be concentrated in trying to connect the riverside at Morton in the North and the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at Lea in the South by creating an orbital ‘Greenway’ (combining non-car, pedestrian, cyclist and potentially, bus routes, in a landscape setting) around the edge of Gainsborough, which will connect as many of the existing Sites of Special Scientific interest (SSSI), Sites of Nature Conservation Importance (SNCI), Local Nature Reserves (LNR), Ancient Woodlands and Woodlands together as possible. This approach aims to establish a natural edge to the town whilst linking and maximising the potential of Gainsborough’s green infrastructure to allow new ways for people to move around the area; improving legibility and enhancing leisure opportunities.

This orbital Greenway will be complemented by a central radial Greenway linking it directly into the town centre. Options for achieving this concept by the potential of a more sustainable use along the A631 – Thorndike Way Corridor, will be investigated as an element of the detailed Transport Strategy. Following the development of this strategy, strategic acquisition of land will take place to allow the development of an orbital and radial Greenway in and around the town.

47 4.7 COMMERCIAL, RETAIL & LEISURE

Objective 5: Improving the retail and commercial strength of the town

4.7.1 Background

Despite a lengthy period of industrial decline during the late 20th Century, the town has retained its role as the main service centre for West Lindsey District and parts of North Nottinghamshire and North Lincolnshire and offers a range of key services, shops and leisure facilities to cater for local residents and those from the surrounding countryside.

The award-winning Marshall’s Yard development has increased the appeal of Gainsborough as a shopping and leisure destination through the transformation of a derelict factory site into a vibrant retail, commercial and leisure complex. The site has provided an additional 300,000sq ft of retail and leisure floorspace within the town, attracting high quality national retailers such as Marks & Spencer Simply Food, Next and Laura Ashley.

Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan acknowledges the benefits that Marshall’s Yard has brought to the town but also points out that this could shift the retail focus away from the traditional town centre. The Masterplan recommends that efforts are made to safeguard the future of the Market Place by upgrading the streets and public spaces to match the standards at Marshall’s Yard and provide conditions that are conducive to future investment.

4.7.2 Where are we now?

Building on the findings of Gainsborough Regained and to inform the emerging Local Development Framework, the recent Retail and Commercial Leisure Study for the District provides some clear indicators to help gauge Gainsborough’s current position and to inform the future development of the town centre.

Key findings from this report show that Gainsborough is now ranked in 381st position in the national retail rankings, representing a dramatic improvement from 491st in 2003/2004. Marshall’s Yard has clearly helped the town centre to arrest and reverse a gradual decline in the rankings and this has enabled it to overtake Retford, a main comparator centre which now lies in 405th place.

Another encouraging measure of increased market interest in Gainsborough is the increase in prime retail rent, with the town currently commanding £45 per sq ft. This represents a significant and dramatic increase over the past 5 years from just £20 per sq ft in June 2003. In comparison to Spalding, Zone A rents there have risen to £50 per sq ft since 20057 - only just above Gainsborough’s figure despite Spalding functioning as a higher-order centre.

7 Colliers CRE 48

In terms of the diversity of town centre uses, convenience provision is therefore broadly in line with the national average (8.9% compared to UK average of 9.1%). The town has an above average comparison offer (54.2% total units, compared with UK average 45.2%); with Marshall’s Yard helping to strengthen this and bringing a higher quality of provision to the town.

Whilst Gainsborough currently performs well in terms of its overall retail offer it falls considerably below the national average in terms of service uses. These uses account for just 24.3% total compared to a national average of 33.3% nationally8. This shortfall is principally due to significant under-representation of food and drink outlets. The introduction of Prezzo and Costa Coffee has marginally improved this representation but there is still significant room for development.

Complementing the town centre retail offer and providing a significant draw for local shoppers is the twice-weekly open market on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The Tuesday market in particular is a strong attraction and helps to ensure that this is one of the busiest shopping days in the town. The Saturday market, in common with many across the country, is suffering from a decline in trader numbers and is in need of revival. This is being addressed as part of the ongoing regeneration process for the town centre, in line with the recommendations of Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan.

Operator demand for premises in Gainsborough is currently lower than for comparator centres as Marshall’s Yard has absorbed much of the outstanding requirements. Nevertheless of those remaining, the quality is good (e.g. Saks, Gondola restaurant group) with few low-end requirements. It will now be important for the town to maintain operator demand and attract high-quality retailers and national multiples to the town to reflect the up-lift in the quality of the new housing areas and employment opportunities proposed under the growth agenda.

Vacancy rates within the traditional town centre are currently higher than UK average figures, although a number of units have recently been taken up by independent retailers and this is an encouraging sign. Active working with Business Link is helping to ensure that new businesses in Gainsborough are able to access property grants, training and advice. Nevertheless, with many vacant premises in need of substantial repair, additional financial assistance is likely to be required to bring back these units into viable commercial use.

4.7.3 Projects Underway

Public Realm One of the key priorities identified for action through Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan and the subsequent Retail and Commercial Leisure Study is the need to invest in the traditional town centre. Marshall’s Yard highlights the positive impact of good design in attracting higher-quality retailers and businesses to a town which has suffered considerable decline. Marshall’s Yard has raised the standards for development in Gainsborough and provides a clear rationale for investing in the town centre. The Market Place currently presents an outdated and worn-down image of a transient environment with an increasing number of vacant properties

8 Experian GOAD 2006, figures updates for 2008 by Roger Tym & Partners 49 and very few quality retailers. Investment is now needed to avoid any further deterioration of the streetscape and ensure that Gainsborough can attract the development it needs to sustain the regeneration process. In order to address this issue, the Council is currently pursing a high quality, £3m public realm improvement scheme. Both West Lindsey District and Lincolnshire County Councils are committed to this scheme with £1.5m investment confirmed. A further £1.5m is currently being sought from private sector developer contributions (Section 106) and from EMDA. Designs have been prepared and the scheme will proceed in 2009 as the first major physical regeneration scheme arising from Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan. This scheme will help to ‘kick-start’ the growth agenda.

Strategic Property Acquisition Another key priority for West Lindsey District Council is to facilitate the uptake and redevelopment of other strategic sites and premises in the vicinity of the town centre, a number of which have been redundant and derelict for many years. The Council is committed to redeveloping these areas in line with the Gainsborough Regained principles and is currently negotiating with the relevant landowners and interested developers on a number of properties. Where necessary, the Council will make use of its Compulsory Purchase (CPO) powers to ensure that these key properties do not remain redundant as the town strives to achieve its vision for growth. Further funds may be required as part of the growth point to proceed with the redevelopment of some of these properties in order to provide for future, high quality uses. An enhanced grant programme for the restoration of other redundant/vacant commercial premises may also be required to encourage reoccupation.

4.7.4 Futures Plans

The service industry, including retail, is an important component in a local economy and additionally provides vital jobs - especially for the part-time, semi-skilled and retirement sectors of the workforce. Gainsborough's town centre needs to grow to reflect its spatial expansion and enlarged population. But the up-lift in the quality of both the new housing areas and employment opportunities attracted to the town will need to be mirrored in the quality of the enhanced retail offer. A number of sites have been identified for the future growth of the town centre and these are discussed in Section 5 Key Growth Areas.

50 5 KEY GROWTH AREAS

5.1 BACKGROUND

Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan sets out a strategy for growth to enable Gainsborough to become a balanced, sustainable town in the longer-term. The diagram overleaf from the Masterplan identifies the general locations for new urban extensions around the southern, eastern and northern edges of the town. These form the basis for the new neighbourhoods.

52 West Lindsey District Council realised that to deliver this spatial expansion it was essential to have a working agreement with the relevant landowners. The working relationship between WLDC and the major landowner, Thonock & Somerby Estates, is well established. To this end, early negotiations with the Thonock and Somerby Estates, the owner of most of the land surrounding Gainsborough, achieved agreement on the development of the areas identified. Thonock and Somerby Estates have a history of cooperative working with both West Lindsey District Council and Lincolnshire County Council in recent years on the following:

Partnership working with West Lindsey District Council to release and service land for new employment developments. Identify and sell land to Lincolnshire County Council for the creation of the new Educational Village on the northern side of Gainsborough.

In 2007/2008 Thonock and Somerby Estates took the initiative in assembling a consultancy team of planners, designers and engineers to work with West Lindsey District Council to produce the initial feasibility plans for the new neighbourhoods. Building on the Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan’s foundations, the work of the team fed into the Council's detailed growth bid and demonstrated both a capacity for practical, sustainable growth, as well as a partnership of land owner and local authority united in achieving the outcomes. This foundation for growth will contribute to delivering the Government’s objectives for sustainable housing growth as well as meeting local requirements and aspirations.

Within the past 12 months a great deal of work has been undertaken to produce initial site masterplans with input from highway engineers, ecologists, landscape architects, planning consultants, development consultants, infrastructure/service advisors.

Without such established working partnerships with the private sector the success of the growth point would be significantly harder to deliver.

On the basis that WLDC and CLG adopt the housing trajectories as set out in this programme of development the assumption is being made that two implementable planning permissions for two neighbourhoods will be granted within two years.

5.2 THE NEW NEIGHBOURHOODS

The overall ambition for the longer-term is to grow the population of Gainsborough to approximately 36,000. This will be achieved by the creation of 3 new sustainable urban extensions to the town. The total, long-term target figure for new housing within these urban extensions is 7,440, equating to a gross density within the residentially allocated areas (i.e. net of strategic woodland, open space, employment sites and neighbourhood centres etc.) of approximately 32 dwellings per hectare.

All the areas earmarked for new development have been thoroughly surveyed on foot, with the principle natural features and topography factored into the site definitions in order to maximise their potential benefit and minimise their impact on the Gainsborough Area of Great Landscape Value.

53 Strong emphasis will be placed on the need to create a balanced community, with a range of dwelling types and tenures. Preliminary thinking as to the split in dwelling types within the new neighbourhoods is:

Dwelling Type % Total 2-bed apartment 10 2-bed town house 30 3 bed town house 25 4-bed town house 20 3-bed detached 10 4-bed detached 5

A key objective in planning for delivery will be to ensure that a comprehensive planning gain package is secured by negotiation at an early stage in the process. It is a primary intention that no planning permission be granted until this is embedded in a robust, long term agreement with the land owner.

Whilst the growth point status is based on a government-inspired objective to boost national house-building and supply, Gainsborough's growth will be balanced against the essential need to attract and provide new, sustainable job opportunities. To this end, the new neighbourhoods each contain a dedicated area for employment- generating developments. These will be protected through the LDF and planning control powers of West Lindsey District Council.

The housing trajectory anticipates a start on the first new neighbourhood in 2010. Thereafter progress will depend on a number of variables including market conditions and job creation. In exceptional circumstances, and in order to ensure timely delivery, Thonock and Somerby Estates have indicated a willingness to act as ‘developers of last resort’.

56 • (a) The Southern Extension: Comprising an irregular stretch of land, lying generally East - West; bounded to the North by Foxby Lane. Foxby Lane marks the current southern urban limit to Gainsborough and provides good, ready made accessibility to the town centre, existing and proposed employment locations and (via eventual linkages to the other neighbourhoods) a green orbital connection to the East and North. To the South and East the land is naturally well defined by existing mature woodland (Warren Wood, Lea Wood and Bass Wood), rising away to the East up from the Trent valley. It lies behind the Lincoln railway line and is therefore very well contained and shielded from any longer range views over open countryside. The areas earmarked for housing comprise approximately 90ha, with additional areas for employment, a primary school and neighbourhood centre. A possible later, additional secondary school is also shown - subject to LCC Education assessment. The estimated housing capacity for this neighbourhood is 2,875 dwellings. It is anticipated that this will be the first of the new neighbourhoods to be developed with planning permission submitted and approved in 2009, site commencement 2010. The housing trajectory anticipates the first 20 to 40 dwellings being delivered late in 2010 / early 2011, rising in subsequent years.

• (b) The Eastern Extension: This site a rectangular block stretching generally North - South on the Eastern limits of the town. Unlike the Southern extension, this area is not bounded by any part of the existing built-up area of Gainsborough, but lies beyond Whites Wood which forms the limit of the present urban developments in the new Somerby Park business site. Sitting just inside the limit of the topographical rise out from the Trent valley, development on this site would still be largely shielded from long-range view and is also protected from the employment developments to the South by Whites Wood. However, the Framework Plan proposes that the scattering of small woods to the East be consolidated by a strategic tree belt which would be additionally brought through the new neighbourhood to link with an extended Whites Wood, incorporating the new primary school - next to another neighbourhood centre. At the Northern end of the site will be another employment area, adjacent to Corringham Road (facing a further such development opposite in the Northern extension). Set between Heapham and Corringham Roads, this site also enjoys excellent access to the rest of the town and its development would see the green orbital communications utilising the existing and proposed tree belts to link all three of the new urban extensions. Planning permission submitted 2013 and approved in 2013, site commencement 2014. The estimated housing capacity of this neighbourhood is 2,138 dwellings.

• (c) The Northern Extension: This land lies in a more detached setting from the existing built-up area, but would benefit from the very attractive landscape surroundings and natural tree cover. Even so, with its Southern boundary alongside the existing Corringham Road and Thorndyke Way, the site also enjoys excellent access to the main town routeways, but is also within close proximity of the new Trent Valley Academy educational village, thereby offering excellent potential for "green" communications linkages. As with the two other new neighbourhoods, a new primary school and neighbourhood centre is proposed, together with an employment site on the

57 southern boundary, as referred-to above. The site is irregular in shape, bounded by two significant natural landscape features to the North and West, (Corringham Scroggs (wood) and Gainsborough Golf Course respectively). Additional woods to the East and South (Birch Wood and Somerby Wood) mean that the land is almost totally contained from long- range external view. As a result, considerable potential exists to create green corridors through the new housing areas for both leisure and movement, as well as being a visual and wildlife amenity. Planning permission submitted in 2010 and approved in 2010/11, site commencement 2012. The estimated housing capacity for this neighbourhood is 2,427 dwellings.

Depending on market conditions and the attraction of inward investment and new job creation it is possible that the second and maybe the third neighbourhood could commence development soon after the southern extension starts. However this will be the subject of performance monitoring and agreement with the relevant partners.

5.3 UTILITIES INFRASTRUCTURE

Beyond the basic obligation on the utility undertakers to connect water and energy supplies upon application, the new neighbourhood developments will be designed to ensure local low-carbon and renewable energy generation as well as provide security of supply.

Initial investigations show that National Grid Gas has an "intermediate pressure" network which should be capable of providing sufficient gas to meet the development need for Gainsborough without any abnormal capital expenditure.

YEDL currently operate two primary sub-stations in Gainsborough: Corringham Road Sub-station has potentially enough power to meet the needs of the proposed development. The local Bulk Supply Point Sub-station (132/33kV) at Blyton has a reported spare capacity of 28MVA (equivalent to peak supply to approximately 12,500 new homes) and should therefore meet the additional demand from the new population and employment growth without extraordinary capital investment.

As a result, gas, electricity and telecommunications network capacity is not a physical barrier to growth in Gainsborough. Preliminary investigations have also revealed that there is an Anglian Water programme to increase water capacity in the Gainsborough Water Supply Zone and beyond, although further work on the water cycle (in addition to other studies) will be required as a part of the growth planning process.

5.4 WINDFALL DEVELOPMENT

In addition to the planned sites for the new neighbourhoods set-out above, the normal process of in-fill and opportunistic redevelopment of non-allocated, or identified sites, can be expected to continue. It is difficult to estimate the number and location of these, or the rate they may be expected to materialise, which is largely dependent on economic and market conditions beyond the Council's control. However, recent years have seen a significant level of activity of this type of development throughout West Lindsey, which has, in part been mirrored in Gainsborough.

58 Despite current unfavourable market conditions, this Programme of Development puts forward an estimation over the longer term of the likely contribution from windfall sites. These are set-out in the Housing Trajectory, drawing from past years’ monitoring information, but also taking into account the anticipated reduction as larger allocated sites come forward.

5.5 THE TOWN CENTRE

Whilst Marshall's Yard has done much to arrest the flight of retail spend from the town and created a quality shopping and leisure attraction of key distinction in the sub region, much remains to be done to further consolidate Gainsborough's retail offer. The need for this is heightened by growth status. Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan identified a number of blocks within and next to the traditional town centre for regeneration which are discussed below. A review of the plans for the South and central areas of the town will be required, with the anticipated need for a major expansion of the central retail and business area; incorporating new parking and a public transport hub. Critical in the planning of this will be the adoption of a heritage-led design approach which will ensure that the new links in with the old; and that past errors in Gainsborough's physical management are not perpetuated and, wherever possible, corrected.

60 Site 1 The Guildhall site: Located on a site cleared in the 1960's, set back from the river, but immediately adjacent to the town centre, the Council's former offices, gardens and car parks (together with a low quality retail store also owned), has huge potential to revive the western side of the central area. An agreement to sell the site is in place, on the basis of a comprehensive redevelopment to create a new, "Cultural Quarter", comprising boutique hotel, restaurants, bars, comparative shopping, offices, plus a possible 3-screen cinema and some residential on upper floors. A design brief has been prepared to guide this process, which also seeks to create a modern re-interpretation of the medieval Caskgate Street and the alleys and staithes which used to link the town with the river front. Proposals are expected to come forward for Planning Permission in 2009/10.

Site 2 Proposed Marina: Negotiations to bring forward a site off Carr Lane, at the southern end of the town's built-up river frontage as a Marina, with associated business, residential and retailing, have struggled to make progress in the face of economic viability. Growth status puts a new complexion on the potential and the Council is to commission a feasibility study into the whole project, British Waterways have indicated their support for the principle of a Marina in Gainsborough. Once the feasibility study is completed, the possible timescale for Planning Permission will be during 2010/11.

Site 3 Lindsey Centre & car park: Created out of another 1960's clearance site, the Lindsey Centre has a frontage entry to the Market Place. Until the advent of Marshall's Yard, provided the only modern comparative retail offer in Gainsborough. However, the building is showing its age. Connectivity with the remainder of the old town and the 3-deck car park to the rear of the centre are in need of remedial action. Discussions with Lincolnshire Co-operative Society, who own the site, are aimed at up-dating the quality of the architecture and re-connecting the development with the rest of the town. In particular, there is an opportunity to revive the old Heaton Street, as a second pedestrian linkage between the town centre and Marshall’s Yard, incorporating new frontage uses on the ground floor of the multi- storey car park. Timescale for Planning Permission is unknown as yet due to the complex nature of the site. Although in the short term proposals for Planning Permission to enhance the Market Place frontage of this site could be forthcoming in 2009 in conjunction with Market Place public realm improvements.

Site 4 Torr Street / Beaumont Street: The area on the western side of Beaumont Street, from the junction with Southolme, northwards to the Lindsey Centre multi- storey car park, faces the new imposing facade of Marshall's Yard and Tesco store. This stretch of "city-centre" street is a confused mix of land uses comprising a petrol filling station, derelict coal yard, the old telephone exchange and gap sites. The area is a priority for redevelopment, with new land uses indicated an attractive building frontage onto Beaumont Street and enhanced linkages with the old town centre. This site is identified as a mixed use site in the adopted West Lindsey Local Plan, where restaurants and cafes (A3), offices (B1), dwellings (C3) and leisure uses such as cinemas (D2) would be permitted. There is an opportunity to restore this area in phases to ensure the viability of the development, provided that it is planned carefully and with the total ultimately needed in mind. Negotiations with developers have already commenced about part of this area. Planning Permission may be applied for in 2009/10 on this site.

Remainder of the river frontage: Plans for the remainder of the central zone river frontage gap sites will be assessed against the plans to be prepared for an enlargement of the retail and commercial core. The potential to create a more lively mix of commercial uses, together with residential apartments, will be enhanced by the growing population and retail / leisure spending power in the town. Proposals for some of these sites are expected to come forward for planning permission in 2011/12.

In addition to the main development sites, the plan identified a programme of public realm enhancements to upgrade the town centre and improve pedestrian linkages with the regenerated Riverside to the West and Marshall’s Yard and Tesco superstore to the East. As discussed previously, this development is already being pursueda and is likely to be commenced in 2009, as a key priority resulting from the Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan and the town’s growth status.

62 6 DELIVERY PLAN

6.1 PARTNERSHIP WORKING

West Lindsey District Council has substantial experience of delivering effective regeneration schemes in partnership with the public, private and community sectors. The award-winning Marshall’s Yard development is a recent example of how successful and committed partnership working has helped to continue the physical and economic revival of Gainsborough town centre. Further examples of how innovative partnership working has and, is driving forward the regeneration process in Gainsborough include:

1995 – 2003 Gainsborough Riverside Regeneration – This involved a partnership between the Environment Agency, West Lindsey District Council, Lincolnshire County Council, Gainsborough Development Trust, etc. This partnership was responsible for approximately £26m of physical regeneration along Gainsborough Riverside. This included the building of new flood defences, a riverside walk, public art trail, demolition of warehouses, stabilisation of important buildings, until new uses could be found. Funding came from the Environment Agency, West Lindsey District Council, Lincolnshire County Council, Single Regeneration Budget and European Regional Development Fund.

2003 – 2004 Whitton’s Mill Sheltered Housing Project – A partnership involving a registered social landlord, Gainsborough Development Trust and West Lindsey District Council renovated and refurbished an early 20th century mill on the riverside into an award-winning sheltered housing project.

2004 – 2006 Gainsborough Implementation Plan – Following on from the riverside regeneration West Lindsey District Council, Lincolnshire County Council and Lincolnshire Enterprise commissioned DTZ to develop an Implementation Plan that continued the regeneration into other areas around the town. Several key projects were identified including: Clearing and developing a large former grain storage site – now a large housing development near the river. Britannia Works – a former engineering works – now Marshall’s Yard retail centre. Traffic flow study and subsequent road junction improvements including two new roundabouts and smaller junctions – this work is ongoing and is due for completion in 2009. Marina development – this has now been included within this growth plan to fully identify its feasibility in light of in- principle support from British Waterways. Approximately £10m of funding from the above was invested in the Gainsborough Implementation Plan with approximately £45m from the private sector.

63 2004 – 2007 Marshall’s Yard – This development has successfully transformed a derelict factory site into a vibrant shopping, commercial and leisure complex within Gainsborough town centre. It has provided a much-needed economic boost to the town whilst still preserving some important architectural features.

The development was led by Prospect Estates and Dransfield Properties working in close partnership with West Lindsey District Council, Lincolnshire County Council, English Heritage, EMDA, Lincolnshire Enterprise and Gainsborough Town Centre Group. Crucial to the success of the scheme has been the close partnership working and the commitment of all parties involved.

Whilst much of the £39m investment was borne by the developers. West Lindsey and other public sector partners played a crucial role in bringing the development to Gainsborough by underpinning the viability of the scheme with a total of £2.8m funding secured from ERDF (£930,395), EMDA (£1,351,244), IDA (£256,398) and WLDC (£280,000).

2006 – 2008 Heapham Road Industrial Estate/Somerby Park – West Lindsey District Council as joint venture partners with Thonock & Somerby Estates are bringing forward Somerby Park a £3m scheme to provide employment land for the town. This scheme is under construction and will be complete in April 2009. It is a key part of the proposals to regenerate the town providing serviced land for relocation of existing businesses from the town centre and attract new employment to the area. It is tangible proof of the effective delivery partnership between the Council and Thonock & Somerby Estates.

2006 – 2007 Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan – Having identified key projects, the private sector was showing a lot of interest in Gainsborough. West Lindsey District Council, Lincolnshire County Council and Lincolnshire Enterprise formed a partnership to scope and develop a masterplan. It ensures the continued regeneration of Gainsborough in a ‘holistic’ way incorporating social and economic regeneration as well as physical regeneration. Community stakeholders are represented through the Gainsborough Stakeholder Network. This cost £200,000.

2006 – 2009 Gainsborough Educational Village - Lincolnshire County Council, Castle Hills and Middlefield Schools, William Harrison SEN School, Beckett SEN School, West Lindsey District Council, Department for Schools, Children and Families, British Edutrust came together to develop the Gainsborough Educational Village. This is a co-located Academy and secondary SEN school on Corringham Road, Gainsborough.

64 Approximately £32 million is being invested by partners in building two state of the art schools with high eco-credentials.

2007 ongoing Gainsborough Town Centre Partnership – formed in June 2007, this group brings together local businesses, the Chamber of Commerce, Marshall’s Yard and the Local Authorities to develop an attractive, vibrant and sustainable town centre. The group is currently playing a lead role in the development of the £3m public realm improvement scheme, with the Town Centre Manager acting as Project Manager.

2006 ongoing Young & Safe in Gainsborough (YASIG) - YASIG has been awarded £730,000 Lottery funding to double the size of an existing building in Corporation Yard near Trent Bridge on the riverside to create a quality ‘Youth Coffee Bar’ facility for young people aged 13-24. The project is in response to a large consultation exercise involving over 400 young people in Gainsborough, a feasibility study, 18 months of planning and a forward strategy developed from the ESF funded, Act Fast Project.

The new building will be used by day to deliver alternative education to youngsters either excluded from school or for whom formal education does not work. In the evening and at weekends it will operate as a coffee bar where young people can meet, access IT facilities and obtain advice and guidance on a whole range of issues.

A Board will manage the centre made up of representatives from WLDC, LCC, Connexions, the police, the Lincolnshire Education Welfare Service, the Youth Service, Lincolnshire Youth Offending Service, and members of the local community. Young People are integral to developing this facility.

2007 ongoing New Neighbourhoods – Gainsborough - Thonock & Somerby Estates – Much of the land surrounding Gainsborough and identified for future development as part of the growth agenda is owned by Thonock & Somerby Estates. West Lindsey District Council has developed a strong working relationship with Thonock & Somerby, who are willing partners and committed to realising an effective and sustainable programme of development in Gainsborough. The Community Infrastructure proposals, Outline Transport Strategy and Programme of Development have all been developed in close discussion with Thonock & Somerby and evidence of their commitment to the programme is appended to this document.

65 2008 ongoing Growth Point Programme of Development - This Programme of Development builds on the key findings and recommendations of the Masterplan and represents an agreed strategy between West Lindsey District Council, Lincolnshire County Council, West Lindsey Local Strategic Partnership and many other stakeholders for the future growth and economic sustainability of the town.

Stakeholders to be involved in the Gainsborough Growth Point:

• West Lindsey District Council • Gainsborough Chamber of

Commerce • Lincolnshire County Council • Bassetlaw District Council • Federation of Small Businesses • Environment Agency • Town Centre Partnership • British Waterways • Gainsborough Stakeholder • Associated British Ports Network • English Heritage • Volunteer Bureau • Natural England • Gainsborough Town Council • CABE • Parish Councils • GOEM • Schools and Lincoln College, • EMDA/Lincolnshire Enterprise inc. Gainsborough College • Homes & Communities Agency • Thonock & Somerby • Stage Coach • Other key developers/land • Network Rail owners • PCT, Police, Fire and Rescue • Crown Estates • Sustrans • ACIS and other RSLs

• BTCV • Private landlords forum

• Internal Drainage Boards • Home Builders Federation • Groundwork Lincolnshire • Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust

6.2 GOVERNANCE & DELIVERY

A Growth Point Board is in the process of being established to oversee the implementation of the Growth Agenda in Gainsborough. This Board will form part of the existing Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) structure to avoid any duplication of resources, and will bring together many of the key stakeholders listed in the section above. The diagram below illustrates the main components of the Growth Point Board and how this fits within the LSP, WLDC and LCC structures.

Members of the Growth Point Board will be: West Lindsey District Council, Lincolnshire County Council, Thonock & Somerby Estates, Lincoln Growth Point representatives, Gainsborough Stakeholder Network, Environment Agency, with representatives from GOEM, EMDA, the Homes and Communities Agency, Natural England and CABE to be invited as observers/advisers.

66 This model of delivery is successfully tackling a range of socio-economic issues that arose out of Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan. The Developing Communities Board of the West Lindsey LSP is co-ordinating and monitoring the activity of a range of service providers including several Council services to improve the quality of life for residents of South West Ward, Gainsborough. The six themes being addressed are:

1 Community Engagement and Empowerment 2 Tackling and Reducing Crime, Disorder and Anti-social Behaviour (including Environmental Crime) 3 Improving Waste Management (including Environmental Crime) 4 Improving Housing and the Physical Environment 5 Addressing the Low Skills and Education Levels, Reducing Dependence on Benefits and Reducing Unemployment 6 Improving the Health of Residents

67 DELIVERY MODEL WLDC: COMMITTEES/EXECUTIVE LCC Decision

Making LSP Executive

JOINT MEMBER/OFFICER Other Topic GROWTH BOARD Boards

Working Group 1: Working Group 5: New To be confirmed Neighbourhoods

OFFICER PROJECT &

SUPPORT TEAM Working Group 2: Transport Strategy

Working Group 4: Planning Gain Working Group 3: Negotiations Gainsborough Area Action Plan

STAKEHOLDERS FORUM

68 In addition to the main Board, a number of Working Groups will be established to deal with key projects and themes. These groups will meet as and when the need arises to ensure the effective delivery of the programme and will involve those stakeholders with the relevant interest and expertise. Examples of the anticipated Working Groups are illustrated above, although we anticipate that this structure will evolve as the programme advances.

Complementing the Board and its Working Groups, we intend to hold a number of ‘forum’ events, which will enable a greater number of stakeholders to discuss particular themes relating to the growth agenda in a more informal environment. These forums will help to ensure that a wide range of partners are involved in the growth agenda as the findings from these meetings will be discussed by the main Board.

Running alongside this Programme of Development is the emerging Local Development Framework. The Council is working to ensure that these strategies are developed concurrently, with many of the research studies required for the Growth Agenda also informing the LDF documents. Council Committee reporting on the LDF will also be combined with Growth agenda items where possible, to streamline the process and ensure effective use of resources.

Finally, we will also seek to work with the other identified East Midlands Growth Points of Lincoln, Newark and Grantham to share resources and experience, and to promote best practice.

Development Management will be used as an integral part of delivering the Growth agenda for Gainsborough via a Development Management Team. Vision and delivery are the focus of successful Development Management via the end to end management of the delivery chain for sustainable development. It puts spatial plans into action, with the Local Authority in the role of place shaper in partnership with others delivering developments that are pivotal to achieving the vision and objectives.

The emphasis will be on the following to contribute to a responsive Development Management Service:

• Effective partnership working with corporate and external partners • A positive promotion and delivery of sustainable development • Management of resources to create flexible multi-skilled teams to work on strategic schemes • Adoption of a facilitating and problem solving approach

6.3 SECURING RESOURCES

West Lindsey District Council has a strong track record in securing public funds and private investment to facilitate regeneration in West Lindsey. Examples of previous success include, Marshall’s Yard which brought £39m investment to the town, including £2.8m public sector gap-funding from EMDA, WLDC, ERDF and IDA to support the viability of the scheme. Recent highway junction improvements in the town have been funded by the Gainsborough Implementation Plan and Lincolnshire County Council (Highways and Economic Development). Outside Gainsborough

69 but within West Lindsey District the Council has successfully secured heritage funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a £1.7m Townscape Improvement Scheme and public realm works in Caistor. A joint regional bid by Lincolnshire County Council, West Lindsey District Council, East Lindsey District Council and Lincolnshire Wolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Management Committee has resulted in a partnership Lindsey Action Zone project with funding of £2m to support projects with 50% private sector match funding.

Moving forward with the Growth Point will require substantial investment from the public and private sectors, and the Council will look to pursue the following resources to complement the investment sought from DCLG through the NGP initiative:

Local Area Business Growth Initiative (LABGI) – The Council has LABGI reserves, which will be used to lever in further funds. The Council is already looking to make use of these resources for the purchase and restoration of redundant sites in the town centre, which could play a key role in the growth agenda, providing employment sites in the town centre.

East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) – The Council is currently seeking a substantial contribution towards its public realm proposals and site purchase plans from EMDA. The Regional Development Agency is likely to play an increasingly important role on a number of projects and initiatives as part of the Growth Point in Gainsborough, with the possibility of other European or UK government funds.

Local Transport Plan (LTP) – A significant amount of funding has already been invested in improving key road junctions in Gainsborough and a new Community Travel Zone scheme will be implemented in 2009 to improve and expand a key pedestrian/cycle route through the town. Once again, the District and County Councils will work together to ensure that the LTP investment plan is aligned with the Growth Point proposals so funds can be used to facilitate this programme of development.

Council Assets – The Council has a number of important assets in and around Gainsborough. Disposal of the former Guildhall site will facilitate the regeneration of a major town centre site and contribute towards the Growth Agenda principles. Further asset disposal will be considered by the Council’s Asset Management Board as a means of raising funds and enabling appropriate private sector development, which meet the long-term ambitions of the town.

Heritage Funding – In the past, Gainsborough has benefited from heritage funding through the English Heritage ‘Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme’ (HERS). With the Heritage Lottery Fund scheme now running in Caistor, there may be opportunities to pursue further heritage funding to help promote and restore Gainsborough’s cultural assets.

Developer-led investment and Section 106 – The private sector will continue to provide the majority of the funding to deliver the physical changes to the town. The District Council will use its planning powers to seek from these developments

70 community benefits through Section 106 agreements and a robust Section 106 strategy will be developed as part of the LDF process.

Other sources may include:

• Housing and Planning Delivery Grant • Community Infrastructure Fund • European Funding Schemes • Housing and Communities Agency funding streams

6.4 PROJECTS & PRIORITISATION

The research, feasibility and consultation work undertaken for Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan has provided a sound basis for Gainsborough’s growth plans and this Programme of Development now provides a clear and ambitious vision for the future development of the town.

The Council and its partners are already making progress with a number of key projects to support the Growth Point and a significant amount of funding has already been raised to help implement these schemes, as outlined below.

Regeneration Schemes currently underway or completed in the last three years in Gainsborough

Private Sector Public Sector Project Investment (£) Investment (£) Gainsborough Regained – the 200,000 Masterplan Gainsborough Road Improvements 4,250,000 Marshall’s Yard Retail Centre 36,750,000 2,250,000 Gainsborough Education Village 2,000,000 30,000,000 Guildhall, West Lindsey District Council 4,200,000 Housing Developments 25,000,000 Acquisition of Strategic Land and 1,100,000 Property Gainsborough Market Place 1,000,000 2,200,000 Thonock & Somerby Estates – 100,000 Gainsborough, A Strategy For Growth

Total 64,850,000 44,200,000 Total 109,050,000

This section now details the projects for which DCLG funding, through the NGP initiative, is now being sought. The schemes have been prioritised into high and medium priority using a scoring mechanism which is attached at Appendix Two.

71 6.5 POTENTIAL GROWTH POINT PROJECTS

Short Term Projects 2008/09

Project Title Growth Point Delivery Team Lead organisation WLDC, LCC Description A Delivery Team will need to be established to commission and oversee potential projects to ensure that they fit with this Programme of Delivery. This will comprise of a Project Manager, Project Team Leader, 3 x Project Officers (specialising in planning, transport, sustainability), Administration support. Estimated Total Cost £revenue 600,000 £capital Contribution from £revenue 600,000 DCLG £capital Rationale for DCLG To enable projects to happen and ensure contribution timely delivery, additional capacity will be required in addition to current staff availability and resources. Other Funding In-kind contributions from both authorities Timeframe Recruitment 2008/09 for appointment in 2009/10 – 2010/11 Priority High

Project Title Utilities and Infrastructure Study and Site Development Studies Lead organisation WLDC, Lincolnshire Utility Group Description EMDA have already identified utility and infrastructure impact as principle limiting factors in delivering current West Lindsey employment sites. The Utilities and Infrastructure Study will inform and direct the utility requirements for future developments as indicated for this Programme of Development. Site specific studies will be carried out to identified sites that ensure practical solutions are developed that address some of the key low carbon and climate change issues. This will include the identification of various options for low carbon/renewable energy solutions at the neighbourhood level. Estimated Total Cost £revenue 60,000 £capital Contribution from £revenue 40,000 DCLG £capital Rationale for DCLG Funding is required to identify a similar level contribution of consideration of these factors for the growth point sites to support future requirement for intervention. Other Funding WLDC £20,00 Timeframe 2008/09 Priority Medium

Project Title Strategic Housing Market Assessment Lead organisation TBC Project partners include WLDC, City of Lincoln (CoL) Description Review and update is necessary due to the recent proposed changes to the draft East Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) by Secretary of State Estimated Total Cost £revenue 45,000 £capital Contribution from £revenue 45,000 DCLG £capital Rationale for DCLG Secretary of States proposed changes to contribution the draft RSS have increased housing provision figures for the LPA. Changes recommend numerical rather than percentage affordable housing figures. This ensures LDF policy development is robust. Other Funding LPA partners and Regional Housing Board Timeframe Spring/Summer 2009 Priority Medium 73 Medium Term Projects for 2009/10 – 10/11

Project Title Gainsborough Marina Feasibility Study Lead organisation WLDC Description This study will inform WLDC and other partners whether it is feasible to develop a marina at the southern end of the town’s built-up river frontage. It will include associated business, residential and retailing. Growth status puts a new complexion on the potential feasibility of the site. Estimated Total Cost £revenue 30,000 £capital Contribution from £revenue 20,000 DCLG £capital Rationale for DCLG The study would provide the basis for this contribution site to come forward and provide a mixed use with retail opportunities. Other Funding WLDC £10,000 Timeframe 2009/10 Priority High

Project Title Gainsborough Market Improvements Lead organisation WLDC Description A review of Gainsborough Market identified a vital need for investment in the stalls and market vehicles to improve the current operation. Currently the Tuesday market has had an increase in traders however the Saturday market figures are declining and action needs to be taken to address this issue. Viable markets are an essential part of the culture and heritage of the town and contribute to the vibrancy that residents want. Estimated Total Cost £revenue £capital 100,000 Contribution from £revenue DCLG £capital 100,000 Rationale for DCLG Gainsborough Regained – The Masterplan contribution identifies the need to improve the Market offer to balance the retail draw from the Marshall’s Yard development. Other Funding WLDC, LCC, Emda and the private sector will be contributing approx £3m to the physical regeneration of the Market Place. Timeframe 2010/11 Priority High

74 Project Title Independent Land Valuation and Potential Planning Gain Assessment Lead organisation WLDC Description The Council will need to appoint independent valuers to undertake valuations of the land required for the new neighbourhoods, re-location of businesses and any other projects in order to make an assessment about potential planning gain. Estimated Total Cost £revenue £10,000 £capital Contribution from £revenue £10,000 DCLG £capital Rationale for DCLG It will be essential to have this information to contribution ensure that planning gain at the correct level can be obtained from the developers. Other Funding Timeframe 2009/10 - 2012/13 Priority High

Project Title Town Centre Expansion and Development Brief Lead organisation WLDC Description Review of Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan proposals for the south-central areas of the town. Preparation of a detailed design brief for major expansion of the central retail and commercial area, including parking and transport hub. Estimated Total Cost £revenue 50,000 £capital Contribution from £revenue 30,000 DCLG £capital Rationale for DCLG The service industry including retail is an contribution important component of the economy and will provide vital jobs for Gainsborough’s expanding population. A strong town centre will also help to attract and retain young professionals in the town. This will increase the skills of the labour pool and attract high level business to the area, all key components of the regeneration and growth agenda Other Funding WLDC £20,000 Timeframe 2009/10 Priority High

75 Project Title Water Management Strategy Lead organisation WLDC Description Development of a water management strategy based on urban drainage, water cycle and flood risk assessment to be considered alongside existing Environment Agency strategies. This will take into account existing studies or those currently being undertaken within the Lincoln Policy Area (LPA) Estimated Total Cost £revenue 50,000 £capital Contribution from £revenue 30,000 DCLG £capital Rationale for DCLG The Water Management Strategy will contribution provide a comprehensive picture of water and flood risk issues which may impact upon the delivery of growth for the area. Other Funding WLDC £10,000, Other Partners £10,000 Timeframe 2009/10 Priority High

Project Title Achieving Sustainable Growth Strategy Lead organisation WLDC Description Work with agencies to encourage a change in people’s behaviour to support sustainable growth. This will include education, promoting healthy lifestyles, sustainable transport choices, producing guidance, literature and supporting events. Estimated Total Cost £revenue 50,000 £capital Contribution from £revenue 30,000 DCLG £capital Rationale for DCLG Expansion of the economy and the growth contribution in population will place extra burdens on the sustainability of the town. This strategy will provide ways to mitigate this. Other Funding WLDC £10,000, other partners £10,000, Developer contributions Timeframe 2010/11 Priority High

Project Title Gainsborough Waste Management and Recycling Strategy Lead organisation WLDC, LCC Description To enable the planned sustainable growth, a study to understand the requirements for future housing and development needs will be required. The longer term strategy will need to include waste reduction and recycling plans to meet the future requirements in line with European legislation. Estimated Total Cost £revenue 50,000 £capital Contribution from £revenue 20,000 DCLG £capital Rationale for DCLG To enable sustainable waste management contribution for the new neighbourhoods coordinated with existing facilities. Other Funding WLDC £10,000, other partners £20,000 Timeframe 2010/11 onwards Priority High

Project Title Gainsborough Transport Strategy Lead organisation LCC/WLDC Description The Transport Strategy will identify the full details and longer-term proposals of transport infrastructure requirements. Total Cost £revenue 200,000 £capital Contribution from £revenue 200,000 DCLG £capital Rationale for DCLG The Outline Transport Strategy reflects the contribution need to undertake further research for the requirements to support the growth anticipated within Gainsborough. Other Funding Exploring other possible funding partners Timeframe 2009/10 Priority High

Project Title Agrifood Technology Park Lead organisation WLDC Description The idea has been developed by looking at similar projects implemented outside the UK where best practice could be shared and where potentially there could be scope to build international connections with regions and cities with strong science base.

This proposal wishes to explore ways to reproduce a model successfully established in Italy that serves the Food and Farming Sector and that would complement and add capacity to the already existing Southglade Food Park, Nottinghamshire. However, the Italian model incorporates a more focused infrastructure base dedicated to agriculture and food technologies aiming to enhance processes in the food chain. The “agri-food” services for the industry thus may incorporate machinery and equipment for agriculture and horticulture, factory processes and layouts, packaging systems, traceability, intellectual property issues, patents and food and agricultural legislative compliance. Estimated Total Cost £revenue 30,000 £capital Contribution from £revenue 20,000 DCLG £capital Rationale for DCLG The rationale behind the proposal has contribution evolved as a result of opportunities arising in West Lindsey at the current time. It is fundamental for the district at this point to keep the momentum and harness ambitious projects that can considerably transform the economic profile of the area and the county at regional level. Within this context West Lindsey needs to act as catalyst for economic development by sharing this vision with the private sector and create joint collaboration where economic strategy blends with economic success.

Other Funding WLDC £10,000 Timeframe 2009/10 Priority Medium

78 Project Title Creative Industries Hub or Innovation Centre Lead organisation WLDC Description To develop either a creative industry hub or an innovation centre that complements other developments in Gainsborough and Lincoln to ensure improved provision of facilities for growing sectors of the economy. Estimated Total Cost £revenue £capital 500,000 Contribution from £revenue DCLG £capital 500,000 Rationale for DCLG Job growth across a range of sectors is contribution fundamental to the success of the economic growth of the town which is also a key driver for housing growth. Other Funding WLDC is currently engaged in purchasing a property for approximately £260,000. Timeframe 2009 – 2011 Priority Medium

Project Title Design Guide for New Neighbourhoods/Housing Growth incorporating CABE Building for Life Guidance Lead organisation WLDC Description A guide is to be developed to enable the quality and the long term sustainability of the emerging new neighbourhoods and housing sites. This will be based on current best practice and principles in relation to design and eco- rating. Estimated Total Cost £revenue 100,000 £capital Contribution from £revenue 60,000 DCLG £capital Rationale for DCLG Due to the level of expansion, developments contribution will need to have a high level of long-term sustainability designed in. Other Funding WLDC £40,000 Timeframe 2010/11 Priority Medium

Project Title Gainsborough Green Infrastructure and Biodiversity Strategy Lead organisation WLDC Description This strategy will enable the sustainable growth of the local biodiversity and the green infrastructure in respect of the towns future planned development. This would take into account the areas with a current lack of access to green space whilst ensuring that new housing has connectivity and landscaping. Estimated Total Cost £revenue 50,000 £capital Contribution from £revenue 30,000 DCLG £capital Rationale for DCLG This strategy will ensure that current contribution biodiversity and access to green space is protected and enhanced. Other Funding WLDC £10,000, Other Partners £10,000 Timeframe 2010/11 Priority Medium

Project Title Gypsy and Traveller Strategy for West Lindsey – Development Plan Document (DPD) Lead organisation WLDC Description A Gypsy and Traveller DPD will be prepared in order to identify suitable land in West Lindsey and particularly in Gainsborough, to be allocated for authorised gypsy and traveller sites, to meet identified needs. The concept of sustainability will underpin the whole process, ensuring that sites are in the most sustainable locations, while meeting the accommodation needs of gypsies and travellers. Estimated Total Cost £revenue 25,000 £capital Contribution from £revenue 25,000 DCLG £capital Rationale for DCLG Additional authorised sites are required in contribution West Lindsey, which will help to discourage unauthorised encampments in unsuitable locations. The District Council recognises the need to provide suitable sites for Gypsies and Travellers in the area. Other Funding Timeframe 2009/10 Priority Medium 80 Project Title Inward Investment Marketing Lead organisation WLDC with LCC, CoL, NK Description Raising the profile of Gainsborough through a marketing campaign with partner authorities. The intention of which is to: • Raise the profile amongst investors, developers, entrepreneurs and potential employers • Utilise innovative methods to promote the Growth agenda to gain community confidence and support • Build on the feel good factor following the Marshall’s Yard development to continue to raise local aspirations Estimated Total Cost £revenue 150,000 £capital Contribution from £revenue 50,000 DCLG £capital Rationale for DCLG This countywide campaign encouraging contribution inward investment, nationally and internationally will bring greater employment and investment opportunity to Gainsborough supporting this Programme of Development Other Funding WLDC £25,000, other partners £75,000 Timeframe 2009/10 – 2012/13 Priority Medium

Project Title Open Space, Sports and Recreational Facilities Study Lead organisation WLDC, City of Lincoln (CoL), North Kesteven (NK) Description As part of the evidence base for the West Lindsey LDF an audit of open space, sport and recreational facilities within the District is required. This study will identify and set local standards and policies for the provision of open space, sports and recreational facilities as identified in Planning Policy Guidance note 17. Estimated Total Cost £revenue 150,000 £capital Contribution from £revenue 15,000 DCLG £capital Rationale for DCLG This will identify which facilities are required contribution for the growing community of Gainsborough to ensure access to open space, sports and recreational facilities. Other Funding £35,000-WLDC, £50,000-CoL, £50,000-NK Timeframe 2010/11 Priority Medium

Project Title Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) Lead organisation WLDC Description The SHLAA has been prepared in order to establish how much housing development could be accommodated within the District in the years to 2026, and the amount of land currently available in the District to accommodate future residential development. The Assessment will identify sites in and around towns and villages which might be suitable for future allocations as well as looking at the capacity of existing commitments across the District. Estimated Total Cost £revenue 50,000 £capital Contribution from £revenue 30,000 DCLG £capital Rationale for DCLG The SHLAA will be crucial in informing the contribution current preparation of the West Lindsey Local Development Framework (LDF), which will replace the West Lindsey Local Plan First Review 2006. Other Funding WLDC £20,000 Timeframe 2009/10 Priority Medium

Project Title Site Acquisition Fund Lead organisation WLDC Description To enable the implementation of Gainsborough Regained the Masterplan. To enable the relocation of businesses for future developments, land acquisition and site assembly will be crucial to meet the requirements. Estimated Total Cost £revenue £capital 1,500,000 Contribution from £revenue DCLG £capital 750,000 Rationale for DCLG To enable the planned growth as outlined in contribution Gainsborough Regained – The Masterplan and this Programme of Development. Other Funding WLDC £250,000, other partners £500,000 Timeframe 2010/11 onwards Priority Medium

82 CIF2 Bid Projects – Gainsborough Infrastructure

Project Title Gainsborough Transport Strategy Lead organisation LCC/WLDC Description The Transport Strategy will identify the full details and longer-term proposals of transport infrastructure requirements. Total Cost £revenue £capital 200,000 Contribution from £revenue DCLG £capital 200,000 Rationale for DCLG The Outline Transport Strategy reflects the contribution need to undertake further research for the requirements to support the growth anticipated within Gainsborough. Other Funding Timeframe 2010/11

Project Title Gainsborough Lea road Station Acquisition Lead organisation WLDC/LCC Description A key gateway site into Gainsborough which was identified in Gainsborough Regained - The Masterplan. This site requires investment to improve connectivity and enhance the station facilities and the public transport offer. Total Cost £revenue £capital 2,000,000 Contribution from £revenue DCLG £capital 2,000,000 Rationale for DCLG This site is identified in both Lincolnshire’s contribution LTP2 and the East Midlands Regional Plan for improvement. It will support the growth anticipated within Gainsborough and enhance the town as a public transport destination. Other Funding Timeframe 2009/11

Project Title Public Transport Pump-Priming Lead organisation LCC Description Developing public transport services in the town. This will be in conjunction with service providers to ensure viability of services. Total Cost £revenue £capital 2,000,000 Contribution from £revenue DCLG £capital 200,000 Rationale for DCLG Improvements are required in order to contribution ensure that services are in place to enable people to move away from car travel to other more sustainable forms of transport. Other Funding Timeframe 2010/11

Project Title Pedestrian Routes and Cycleways Lead organisation LCC Description Developing and improving pedestrian routes and cycleways in the town. This will necessary to give residents choice when moving around the town Total Cost £revenue £capital 2,000,000 Contribution from £revenue DCLG £capital 2,000,000 Rationale for DCLG Improvements are required in order to contribution ensure that facilities are in place to enable people to move away from car travel to other more sustainable forms of transport. Other Funding Timeframe 2009/11

Project Title Feasibility Study for Orbital/Radial Greenway Lead organisation LCC Description This Study will identify the best routes, designs etc for this network around Gainsborough that ensures linkages with the new neighbourhoods. Total Cost £revenue £capital 500,000 Contribution from £revenue DCLG £capital 500,000 Rationale for DCLG Improvements are required in order to contribution ensure that networks are in place to enable people to move away from car travel to other more sustainable forms of transport. Other Funding Timeframe 2010/11

Project Title Junction Improvements Lead organisation LCC Description Junction improvements will be required to allow priority to buses and pedestrian networks as services and provision increases. Total Cost £revenue £capital 1,500,000 Contribution from £revenue DCLG £capital 1,500,000 Rationale for DCLG Improvements are required in order to contribution ensure that the infrastructure is in place to enable people to move away from car travel to other more sustainable forms of transport. Other Funding Timeframe 2010/11

85 Estimated Estimated Estimated Total Estimated DCLG Contribution Priority Project WLDC Project Contribution from Other Contribution Costs Partners Rev Cap Rev Cap Rev Cap High Growth Point Delivery 09/10 Team 600k 600k - - - - -

Medium Utilities & Infrastructure 09/10 and Site Development 60k 40k - 20k - - - Studies Medium Strategic Housing - 09/10 Market Assessment 45k 45k - - - - High Gains. Marina 09/10 Feasibility Study 30k 20k - 10k - - - High Gainsborough Market 10/11 Improvements 100k - 100k - - - - High Independent Land 09/10 Valuation & Potential Planning Gain 10k 10k - - - - - Assessment High Town Centre 09/10 Expansion & 50k 30k - 20k - - - Development Brief High Water Management 09/10 Strategy 50k 30k - 10k - 10k - High Achieving Sustainable 10/11 Growth Strategy 50k 30k - 10k - 10k - High Gainsborough Waste 10/11 Management & 50k 20k - 10k - 20k - Recycling Strategy High Gainsborough 09/10 Transport Strategy 200k 200k - - - - - Medium Gypsy & Traveller 09/10 Strategy for West 25k 25k - - - - - Lindsey Medium Inward Investment 09/10 Marketing 150k 50k - 25k - 75k - Medium Open Space, Sports & 10/11 Recreational Facilities 150k 15k - 35k - 100k - Study Medium Strategic Housing Land 09/10 Availability 50k 30k - 20k - - - Assessment (SHLAA) Medium Agrifood Technology 09/10 Park 30k 20k - 10k - - - Medium Creative Industries 09/10 Hub/Innovation Centre 500k - 500k - - - - Medium Design Guide for New 10/11 Neighbourhoods/ 100k 60k - 40k - - - Housing Growth Medium Gains. Green 10/11 Infrastructure & 50k 30k - 10k - 10k - Biodiversity Strategy Medium Site Acquisition Fund 10/11 1,500k 750k 250k 500k Total 1,255k 1,350k 220k 250k 225k 500k Total 3,800k 2,605k 470k 725k

86 6.6 PROJECT MANAGEMENT & MONITORING

Project Management As the lead organisation, West Lindsey District Council will be responsible for the overall management and monitoring of Gainsborough’s growth strategy. The Council has a robust in-house project management methodology (based upon Prince2) with a clear path of delivery from Project Mandate; Analysis & Solution; Investment Proposal, Project Initiation Document to Post Investment Review. Change control, risks and issues are identified and managed through this process for the lifecycle of the project. The management of all projects sit within the Council’s project and performance governance structure, which groups projects into distinct programmes, monitored by a Programme Board. Each programme is managed along with others through a Portfolio Theme Board which is charged with delivering one of the Council’s three key themes.

West Lindsey District Council is currently in discussion with Lincolnshire County Council and other partners about the provision of a Growth Point team to ensure joint working, sharing of resources, expertise, commissioning and procurement practises. It is envisaged that this could lead to economies of scale across the growth points in Lincolnshire.

Financial Management West Lindsey District Council will be the accountable body for any monies received from the Growth Fund. The management of these funds will be carried out in accordance with the Council’s Constitution with specific reference to financial procedure rules and contract procedure rules. Any decisions relating to the allocation of funds from the NGP block, that particularly concern the highways infrastructure will be taken in conjunction with Lincolnshire County Council. The Growth Board will also be involved in the decisions on funding allocations.

Project Monitoring WLDC currently measures a number of performance indicators in order to monitor its progress towards the corporate vision and objectives. Many of these indicators can be used to gauge the progress of the growth strategy and these are outlined for each objective below.

Objective 1: Increased supply and affordability of housing Indicators: NI 154 Net Additional Homes Provided NI 155 Number of Affordable Homes Delivered (Gross)

Objective 2: Developed social infrastructure, which includes education, healthcare, policing, leisure and recreation. Indicators: Health BV 166a - Score against a checklist of enforcement best practice for environmental health NI 119 - Self reported measure of peoples overall health and wellbeing NI 137 - Healthy life expectancy at age 65

87 Skills NI 091 Participation of 17 yr olds in education of training NI 164 Working age population qualified to at least Level 3 NI 117 16-18 yr olds who are NEET (not in education, training or employment) NI 174 Skills gap in the current workforce reported by employers

Crime BV 218a - % of new reports of abandoned vehicles investigated within 24 hours of notification

BV 218b - % of abandoned vehicles removed within 24 hours from the point at which the Council is legally entitled to remove the vehicle NI 15 - Serious violent crime NI 16 - Serious acquisitive crime NI 17 - Perceptions of anti social behaviour NI 21 - Dealing with local concerns about anti social behaviour and crime by the local council and police NI 22 - Perception of parents taking responsibility for the behaviour of their children in the area NI 27 - Understanding local concerns about anti social behaviour and crime by the local council and police NI 35 - building resilience to violent extremism NI 41 - perceptions of drunk or rowdy behaviour as a problem NI 42 - Perceptions of drug use or drug dealing as a problem

Neighbourhood Renewal NI 138 - Satisfaction of people over 65 with both home and neighbourhood NI 157 - Processing of planning applications as a measured against targets for 'major' 'minor' and 'other' application types NI 195 - Improved street and environmental cleanliness (levels of graffiti, litter, detritus and fly posting) NI 196 - Improved street and environmental cleanliness - fly tipping BV 64 - The number of non-Council owned vacant dwellings returned to occupation or demolished during the financial year as a direct result of action by the Council NI 154 - Net additional homes provided NI 155 - Number of affordable homes delivered (gross) NI 159 - Supply of ready to develop housing sited NI 170 - Previously developed land that has been vacant or derelict for more than 5 yrs

88 Objective 3: Diversification of the range of new and existing businesses based in Gainsborough providing a variety of higher skilled jobs Indicators: NI 172 VAT registered businesses in the area showing growth Number of jobs created/safeguarded Business Growth - The number of VAT registrations in the area per 10,000 working age population; number of VAT de-registrations in the area; percentage change in the number of VAT registered business in the area over the year. Employment rate/unemployment rates

Objective 4: Improved transport infrastructure that enables alternative transport options to the car Indicators: These will developed in conjunction with the Gainsborough Transport Strategy.

Objective 5: Improved retail and commercial strength of the town centre Indicators: prime retail rents; retail yield; town centre vacancy rates; pedestrian satisfaction rates; footfall

WLDC will monitor the growth point through its Performance Management Framework. Performance information will be supplied by Regeneration Services, Planning and Housing as well as Lincolnshire County Council. A clear monitoring plan is being developed to ensure the timely delivery of key milestones and this will be reviewed on a regular basis by the Growth Board.

6.7 SUMMARY & NEXT STEPS

The delivery and governance arrangements outlined above are intended to engage and involve all of the relevant stakeholders in a workable and streamlined way, building on the existing LSP structure.

The Council is committed to achieving sustainable growth in Gainsborough and West Lindsey has already developed strong working relationships with many of the identified stakeholders through previous partnership working, particularly in relation to Gainsborough Regained – the Masterplan.

The Council will now establish the new Growth Board and further develop links with the key agencies to ensure that all aspects of the growth strategy are covered, from housing development through to the transport infrastructure, environmental improvements, employment and local service provision.

This Programme of Development has identified that the majority of development in the first few years will be concentrated in Gainsborough. Subsequent versions of this document will incorporate plans for growth in the rest of the district (excluding the Lincoln Policy Area).

APPENDICES

APPENDIX ONE

Thonock and Somerby Estates

Gainsborough Sustainable Urban Extensions Housing Delivery Scenarios

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Table of Contents

1. Delivering Sustainable Growth in Gainsborough 2

1.1. Introduction 2

1.2. Scenarios 2

1.2.1. Cumulative Delivery Illustration 3

1.2.2. Annual Delivery Illustration 4

2. Three Scenarios 5

2.1. Delivery for Growth 5

2.2. Trend Based Delivery 6

2.3. Pessimistic Scenario 7

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3. Delivering Sustainable Growth in Gainsborough

1.1. Introduction In delivering growth in Gainsborough, the main supply of new residential units will come from delivery of three sustainable urban extensions to the town, totalling over 7,000 new units alongside employment, retail and community facilities. DTZ have considered the potential pace of residential delivery under three main scenarios, set out below. The three scenarios reflect changes in residential market scenarios and therefore present a range in the achievable pace of delivery.

Market conditions are outside of the control of the estate and its delivery partners; however the ability to deliver growth via the sustainable urban extensions under any growth scenario and particularly at a pace which meets WLDC’s growth aspirations requires immediate action on a number of controllable factors. The most important of these are the start date of delivery, the number of neighbourhoods which are delivering new homes to the market and, within that, the number of delivery points in each neighbourhood.

In considering the three delivery scenarios, all of which have differing time scales due primarily to the assumptions which we have made regarding the market, we have assumed that planning permission is granted in either 2009/10 or 2011/12 to enable delivery of growth within the first five years of the programme of development and as such within the RSS plan period where possible. The critical element in all this is that the urban extensions receive planning permission as soon as practicable, as this will begin the process of unlocking the potential to build out at as many delivery points as are possible and without which there can be no delivery.

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1.2. Scenarios The graph below sets out three delivery scenarios for Gainsborough’s urban extensions. Each scenario delivers a total of 7,440 units across the three extensions as set out in the Programme of Development.

1.2.1. Cumulative Delivery Illustration

The delivery scenarios are:

1. Growth – As proposed in the initial Growth Point Bid documentation

2. Trend – Taking a point between growth and pessimism, allowing for market peaks and troughs across the delivery period. 3. Pessimistic – Given the current situation in the residential market, we have considered the potential impact on delivery in a more constrained market.

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The graph above illustrates a cumulative delivery total, the year by year unit completion scenarios are shown on the graph below.

1.2.2. Annual Delivery Illustration

Overall, we feel that actual delivery will fall within the range of the scenarios presented i.e. it is unlikely that delivery will be either in excess of the growth scenario or below the pessimistic delivery scenario. In terms of the timescale for delivery of all 7,440 units, we have assumed in all the scenarios that the number of units competed annually is relatively constant for the purpose of this exercise. However, in reality delivery would be most unlikely to follow a smooth curve, with faster and slower rates from year to year depending on market conditions. We are not able at this stage to predict the peaks and troughs which may occur in the market over the later years of the scheme and so the outermost end dates simply illustrate the consequences of a particular trend line. It is likely that in any scenario, delivery will speed up once the market is more established and slow somewhat close to the end of the delivery period.

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2. Three Scenarios We now describe and set out the preconditions for delivery under each growth scenario.

2.1. Delivery for Growth

In this scenario the first 200 completions are delivered in 2010/11. In order to deliver the number of units in WLDC’s Growth Point Bid trajectory, we have assumed that Neighbourhood 1 starts on site in 2009/10 with Neighbourhood 2 coming on stream in 2011/12 and Neighbourhood 3 in 203/14. Delivery in all three neighbourhoods would complete in approximately 2030/31.

In order to deliver against this scenario, planning permission will need to be granted and infrastructure in place by 2009/10 on at least Neighbourhoods 1 and 2. Developer and RSL partners would also need to be secured and suitably engaged to deliver 200 units in the first year of development. Delivery at the level proposed requires a minimum of three developers to be on site in all three neighbourhoods for the majority of the delivery programme.

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2.2. Trend Based Delivery

In this scenario units are completed at a slower rate, at 25 p.a. in the first two years, rising 200 p.a. once all three neighbourhoods are on site i.e. 50 to 60 units completed per year per neighbourhood. In order to deliver against this scenario, we have assumed that Neighbourhood 1 therefore starts on site in 2011/12 with Neighbourhood 2 coming on stream in 2014/15 and Neighbourhood 3 in 2019/20. Delivery in all three neighbourhoods would complete in approximately 2057/58, based on the trend set out. As previously mentioned, this is an outside end date as peaks and troughs in delivery will occur across the timeline will, in all likelihood, enable an earlier completion date.

Planning permission will need to be granted and infrastructure in place by at least 2010/11 on at least Neighbourhoods 1 and 2 to deliver this scenario. Delivery at the level proposed requires two to three developers to be on site in at least two of the neighbourhoods for the majority of the delivery programme.

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2.3. Pessimistic Scenario

In the light of current residential market performance and the ongoing uncertainly around when market confidence will return, we have also considered a pessimistic delivery trend. In order that the overall delivery timetable is not overly compromised, we have assumed that completions begin in 2011/12 in Neighbourhood 1, meaning that planning permission would need to be in place for at least the first neighbourhood in 2010/11 with Neighbourhoods 2 and 3 beginning to deliver by 2019/20 and 2022/23 respectively. The rate of delivery is approximately 50 units per year per neighbourhood which requires at least two delivery points in each neighbourhood. The shows a trend based on today’s market and does not take account of peaks and troughs may occur in the market along the delivery timeline which would bring the delivery end date forward.

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APPENDIX TWO

Delivery of Housing Sustainability Partnership Working Value for Money New Affordable Other Transport Economic Community Climate Evidence Projects Evidence Evidence When neighbourhoods Housing * Housing * growth * Infra - change/ of prepared of Match of Required * Growth structure * Low Partner & Ready Funding Partner *** * carbon ship to go * ** ship Total * Working Funding out of Project * ** 36 Growth Point Delivery Team 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 2 29 High Utilities & Infrastructure and Site Development Studies 3 0 0 1 3 0 3 3 2 2 0 3 20 Medium Strategic Housing Market Assessment 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 3 18 Medium Agrifood Technology Park 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 0 1 1 0 2 10 Medium Creative Industries Hub/Innovation Centre 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 1 0 2 0 2 11 Medium Design Guide for New Neighbourhoods/Housing Growth 3 3 3 1 1 2 3 0 0 2 0 2 20 Medium Gainsborough Green Infrastructure & Biodiversity Strategy 0 0 0 3 1 3 3 2 1 2 1 1 17 Medium Gainsborough Marina Feasibility Study 0 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 0 1 0 2 23 High Gainsborough Market Improvements 0 0 0 3 3 3 1 3 3 3 3 1 23 High Gypsy & Traveller Strategy 0 0 3 0 0 3 1 2 0 0 0 2 11 Medium Independent Land Valuation & Potential Planning Gain Assessment 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 2 21 High Inward Investment Marketing 2 2 2 1 3 1 3 3 2 3 3 2 27 Medium

Open Space, Sports & Recreational Facilities Study 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 3 3 3 3 1 18 Medium Strategic Housing Land Availibilty Assessment (SHLAA) 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 2 15 Medium Town Centre Expansion & Development Brief 0 3 3 3 3 3 3 0 2 2 0 2 24 High Water Management Strategy 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 0 2 1 2 28 High Achieving Sustainable Growth Strategy 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 21 High Gainsborough Waste Management & Recycling Strategy 3 3 3 1 2 3 3 3 0 2 2 1 26 High Gainsborough Transport Strategy 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 1 1 2 30 High Site Acquisition Fund 0 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 20 Medium

Scoring*: 0 = no evidence/doesn't meet the criteria, 1 = some evidence/meets part of the criteria, High Priority = 21+ points 2 = significant evidence/meets most of the criteria, 3 = full evidence/meets criteria in full Medium Priority = <20 points Scoring** 0 = no funding, 1 = 20%, 2 = 40%, 3 = 60+% Scoring *** 0 = post 20011/12, 1 = 2010/11, 2 = 2009/10, 3 = 2008/09

APPENDIX THREE

COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE FUND – ROUND TWO EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FORM

Project Name: Gainsborough Transport Infrastructure

Local Authority Area: Lincolnshire County Council/West Lindsey District Council

Growth Area/Growth Point: Gainsborough Growth Point

Project Location: Gainsborough

LA Project Promoter: Lincolnshire County Council

Lead Contact

Name: Mr Alan Aistrup

Tel: 01522 553018

E-mail: [email protected]

Please attach all relevant supporting documentation when submitting your questionnaire, making sure that the project’s name (and where applicable, the question number that the information refers to) is clearly referenced on each additional sheet.

Once you have completed this Expression of Interest form it should be e-mailed to both [email protected] and [email protected]

Please also copy it to your Government Office contact and ensure your Regional Assembly/Regional Development Agency – or for London boroughs, Transport for London – are aware of your submission.

The deadline for submission is 21 April 2008.

NOTES

We recognise that in some cases residential development may be directly dependent upon implementing the proposed transport investment, e.g. because of lack of access or because of planning constraints arising from an expectation that the transport network will be severely over capacity during morning and evening peak periods. In other cases the development may occur anyway, but the transport proposal would contribute to the sustainability of a new development through reducing or eliminating the impact on other transport users, or minimising other adverse impacts such as on local air quality.

It is currently anticipated that value for money appraisal of each shortlisted proposal will be conducted in two parts, as follows:

Part 1: For trips arising from planned residential development that is fully dependent upon part or all of a proposed scheme (ie where the development could not go ahead without the scheme): an assessment will be made of the impact the additional trips associated with that development have on existing users on the transport network, as well as the other benefits and costs arising from the new development.

Part 2: For trips arising either from planned residential development that is not fully dependent on the scheme (ie where the scheme mitigates the effects that the new housing development would have on the transport network), or from dwellings that already exist: a standard benefit/cost ratio consistent with webtag methodology will apply. This means that development-related traffic is considered in both the do-minimum (ie assuming a situation without the transport investment) and the do-something (with the investment) scenario.

We would envisage that most schemes will involve a combination of these two parts, such that a combined appraisal of the non-dependent and dependent development elements will be made. Note that all schemes will require a part 2 assessment.

Sections 1 and 2 of the following questionnaire distinguish between these two parts of the assessment.

SECTION 1: KEY INFORMATION

Q1.1 Please provide a brief description of your scheme, outlining: i) The key issues/problems it addresses

Gainsborough Regained – The Masterplan 2007 identified 5 main challenges to the transport infrastructure as the town grows as follows.

1 – Providing effective and attractive alternatives to the private car that can be accommodated within the existing infrastructure 2 – Promoting modal shift – moving people away from using private cars and taxis as the main forms of transport and using public transport and other sustainable forms of transport 3 – Strengthen links to the principal regional destinations via the rail and public transport networks 4 – Ensure that the main areas for neighbourhood development are integrated fully into the existing transport network as well as creating an enhanced network of pedestrian and cycle routes linking these neighbourhoods to the town centre 5 – Ensure that the substantial population in the rural hinterland surrounding Gainsborough in Lincolnshire and North Nottinghamshire is able to travel to the town using transport other than the car

Elements 1, 2 and 5 need developing as soon as possible to ensure that the provision of effective alternatives to the car are underway so that behavioural changes in residents’ movements around the town are embedded before the significant growth occurs. Therefore we are proposing a range of activities that will form part of a much larger Transport Strategy for Gainsborough based on the findings of public consultation outlined in Gainsborough Regained – The Masterplan, the Local Transport Plan and the objectives of the Regional Transport Plan. All actions will take into account the need to reduce the dependence on the car.

We will therefore, support sustainable travel options, encourage a shift away from unnecessary car usage for both the Growth Point expansion areas and the existing town and integrate the expansion areas within the existing town with pedestrian, cycle and bus linkages. Further background information on these issues is outlined in the attached Outline Transport Strategy. ii) The main stages of the project’s delivery plan:

The first stage of the project will be to develop a detailed Transport Strategy for Gainsborough which builds on the outline strategy attached to this bid. Alongside the development of this strategy, we will pursue the following phases:

• Phase 1 - Develop a number of small-scale schemes that can be delivered without the requirement for any significant land assembly. This includes: • Developing the public transport service and providing more frequent services, linking the town with its hinterland and existing neighbourhoods as well as improving connections between the town centre and the main rail station at Lea Road. This will be co-ordinated with existing providers and will involve an element of pump-priming to ensure the viability of the services (see Figure 3) • Upgrading existing pedestrian and cycleways in the town and identifying connections that utilise the existing infrastructure of the town. Work has already started with the development of a new cycle route linking the ‘uphill’ area of the town to the town centre and the new Gainsborough Educational Village (see Figure 5/6). • Phase 2 - The acquisition of land surrounding Lea Road Station to allow for station improvements and interchange facilities (see Figure 8).

• Phase 3 – Following the development of a detailed Transport Strategy, strategic acquisition of land will take place to allow the development of an orbital and radial greenway in and around the town (see Figure 7). Land acquisition will also take place to facilitate the necessary junction improvements associated with this development and the other pedestrian/cycle and bus priority routes (see Figure 9-14).

It is anticipated that the total cost of the works associated with the above phases will be in the region of £8.2m up to 2011, with further funding of approximately £10.5m required to complete the phase 3 works beyond 2011. This budget is broken down in section 1.3.

iii) Estimated start and delivery date for the project (with phasing dates where appropriate):

The project involves a series of schemes that will be implemented in sequence from 2009 onwards.

The detailed Transport Strategy for Gainsborough will be developed during 2009.

Phase 1 - small-scale schemes that can be delivered without the requirement for significant land assembly together with pump-priming additional public transport services. Detailed design work will be carried out in 2009 for procurement and implementation in 2010/2011.

Phase 2 - acquisition of land surrounding Lea Road Station to allow for station improvements and interchange facilities. A short-term strategic purchase will be pursued as quickly as possible in 2009, to allow for the later development of interchange proposals.

Phase 3 - strategic acquisition of land for orbital and radial greenway and junction improvements. Detailed design work will be carried out in 2010/11, land acquisition and implementation from 2011 onwards.

Please attach any maps or plans of the project with your Expression of Interest.

Q1.2 Where relevant, is this scheme supported by the Local Delivery Vehicle or Growth Point Partnership? i) Yes X ii) No iii) N/A

Please support your answer

LCC and WLDC are working closely together and with key stakeholders and the principal interested landowners to establish a deliverable transport and infrastructure plan to support the Growth Point proposals. The transport proposals in the Outline Strategy, embodied in this Bid, have been prepared in partnership with the key stakeholders and their professional team. This work builds on the existing Gainsborough Regained Masterplan, which was developed as a partnership between LCC, WLDC and Lincolnshire Enterprise.

Q1.3 Costing i) Please provide estimates of the scheme’s outturn costs, £m

2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 Total Scheme Cost £0.7 £1.5 £6.0 • Transport Strategy £0.2 • Lea Road Station £0.5 £1.0 £0.5 • Public transport – pump-priming £2.0 • Pedestrian/cycleways £0.5 £1.5 • Feasibility for £0.5 Orbital/RadialGreenway • Junction Improvements – Spital £1.5 Terrace/Beaumont Street and Spring Gardens Developer Contribution Other Contributions – please identify CIF2 Funding required £0.7 £1.5 £6.0 ii) If revenue funding is needed, please outline the amount that is required and the source of the revenue funding (NB CIF2 funding is not available for revenue funding)

N/A iii) What is the status of other funding streams needed for the project? i) Secured ii) Identified but not secured iii) Not yet identified iv) N/A – not needed X iv) Where relevant, please provide details of funding (total funding required, sources, status) for the post 2011 period

The Transport Strategy, once developed will identify the full details and potential costs of the longer-term proposals. It is anticipated that most new infrastructure post 2011 will be secured in step with the delivery of development within the identified expansion areas and that funding will be development-linked. The status of Gainsborough as a Growth Point will be reflected in the subsequent reviews of LCC’s Local Transport Plan and will inform public sector capital and revenue spending plans accordingly. Public sector investment will complement developer contributions secured via appropriate (Section 106) legal agreements and the combination of this funding will facilitate the implementation of the proposed infrastructure improvements.

It is anticipated that the project listed in phases 1 and 2 will be delivered by 2011. The feasibility work for the final infrastructure improvements will also be undertaken within this timescale. In order to implement the phase 3 schemes, a further £10.5m will be required beyond 2011 and this is broken down as follows: Greenway Orbital/Radial - £8.5m Further Junction Improvements - £2m

v) Please provide information about the base for the cost estimates (eg based on Q3 2007 prices), allowance for risk (QRA or contingency) and assumptions about inflation

Costs are all expressed in current (2008) prices and land values and reflect experience of schemes of similar scale and complexity within the locality. Costs have been inflated at 10% per annum to the end of 2010/11 and include a 5% contingency, which is considered to be robust in current market conditions.

SECTION 2: STRATEGIC FIT

Q2.1 Is this scheme included in and consistent with your Growth Area/Growth Point Programme of Development? (NB For Eco-towns and successful New Growth Points we would expect any bids to support the Eco-town/Growth Point application and any emerging Programme of Development) i) Yes X ii) No iii) N/A

Please support your answer

As outlined above in section 1.1(i), Gainsborough Regained – The Masterplan identifies some high-level requirements regarding transport and infrastructure as the town grows. This bid and the subsequent Programme of Development builds on the findings of the masterplan and will also take into account the relevant government guidance on sustainable transport and modal shifts.

The submitted growth proposals were promulgated on the basis that there are no “big ticket” transport infrastructure requirements and this is reflected in the Outline Transport Strategy that is appended to this bid.

The transport proposals are intended to support sustainable travel options and promote integration between the new expansion areas and the existing settlement by improving connectivity and enhancing public transport permeability, making the best of the resources that are already available. The proposals also seek to encourage a modal shift away from unnecessary car usage within the existing town.

By putting in place a series of modest improvements at the outset of the growth process, growth will be more readily assimilated and there will be realistic sustainable transport options available from the outset, so that the high environmental standards aspired for within the expansion areas can be delivered from the start.

Q2.2 Supporting Development9 i) How many homes does the project support?

The growth proposals anticipate the delivery of 8280 new dwellings in total up to 2016/17, including existing supply commitments. Of these, 3741 net new dwellings will be developed on new sites in Gainsborough. The package of transport measures that are proposed will contribute to the successful delivery and integration of growth. Growth would be possible without the measures that have been identified, but at the expense of sustainable travel choice and integration between the new expansion areas and the existing settlement. The transport measures will contribute significantly to the “place-making” that is vital to the success of the growth point.

9 For guidance and definitions, please refer to National Land Use Database (http://www.nlud.org.uk/draft_one/land_use_class/land_use_class_index.htm) and Planning Policy Statement 3 (http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planninganddbuilding/pps3housing )

ii) Are any of the homes stated in Qi) fully dependent upon part or all of the proposed scheme? (eg because of lack of access or because of planning constraints arising from an expectation that the transport network will be severely over capacity during morning and evening peak periods) NO

If so please complete the following box outlining the number and type of homes dependent on the schemes and briefly state the reasons why the development is dependent upon the proposed transport scheme.

Please provide as specific and accurate as numbers as possible.

Additional dwellings 3741

Previously Developed Land Total Derelict Currently in Vacant (PDL) use Hectares developed 14.36 0 13.97 0.39 Non PDL Total Urban Urban Infill New Extension Settlement Hectares Developed 233.67 232.02 1.65 0 Dwelling Size 3+ Bedrooms 2 Bedrooms 1 Bedroom Number of dwellings 2095 393 131 Number of “affordable” 292 471 359 dwellings (as recognised by the local planning body) Total (3741) 2387 864 490

Reason(s) for dependency

The housing developments are not entirely dependent on the infrastructure improvements but there will be a need to emphasise and encourage modal shift towards more sustainable forms of transport.

iii) Does the scheme support any other types of development (community, commercial etc)? i) Yes X ii) No

If so, please provide details of the developments and whether they are fully dependent upon part, or all, of the proposed scheme

The expansion areas will each contain education, employment and community facilities which will benefit from improved accessibility by non-car modes within the proposed scheme. Also, the scheme will provide non-car linkages between the expansion areas and existing educational, community and employment areas and will improve accessibility within the existing town (see Figure 6). None of these developments are fully dependant on part, or all, of the scheme; however, it is important to the growth of Gainsborough that modal shift is promoted– moving people away from using private cars and taxis as the main forms of transport and using public transport and other sustainable forms of transport.

iv) Please provide additional details of economic, social and environmental impacts of new development, residential or otherwise, that is fully dependent on the scheme (eg wider economic benefits, environmental costs).

The growth proposals are vital to the long-term sustainable regeneration of Gainsborough and therefore have far reaching positive economic and social impacts. The transport proposals are integral to ensuring that growth is environmentally sustainable, but are only one component of the aspiration for high environmental standards embodied in the growth proposals. Because the environmental sustainability of the growth proposals has been approached holistically the environmental success of the growth proposals cannot be described as “dependant” upon any single transport proposal or even upon the package of measures as a whole, but would be strongly influenced by them.

SECTION 3: TRIP DEMAND & JOURNEY RELIABILITY

Guidance: Please provide details of sources of evidence, including any modelling and economic appraisals (such as BCR), used to inform your responses.

Questions 3.1 and 3.2 relate to the “do-minimum” scenario, that is to say existing and forecast conditions on the scheme’s location disregarding the effects of the proposed scheme. Note that these questions should be completed for all proposals.

Q3.1 Disregarding any effects of the proposed scheme, excluding any trips from developments which could not go ahead without the scheme, but including any trips from planned developments which could go ahead without the scheme, please detail: i) Levels of flows on immediate links and/or junctions with queues and delays

The Gainsborough Town Centre Traffic Study published in March 2005 looked at seven key junctions within the town. It identified measures at these junctions that would deliver improvements in traffic flows and reduce congestion. With predicted background traffic growth and future development factored in at the time of the report, this strategy sought to deliver improvements in existing levels of congestion within the period up to 2016.

This programme of junction improvements is currently underway and the full benefits of the completed programme are yet to be realised.

For these reasons we currently have no valid data on queues and delays

The Average Annual Daily Traffic (2 way) 07:00 to 19:00 on the following key routes are in the order of:

A631 Flood Road 14000 Bridge Road 9300 Thorndyke Way 7000

A156 Lea Road 8400

A159 Trinity Street 7500 Ashcroft Road 6600

Bridge Street 7500 ii) Comparable data for any other main problem junctions or links which are relevant though not necessarily immediately adjacent to the proposal

The above study encompassed all key junctions within the town.

iii) Likely growth and effect on delays over the next ten years

Further studies and traffic modelling work will be required to determine the effects of the accelerated growth of the expansion areas (see 3.1.1 above).

Q3.2 Please outline the quality of public transport in the area, including current provision, quality of service and usage

There are only 6 bus services within the town and only one with better than an hourly frequency. There is only limited penetration of the existing residential and employment areas and this is on a 30 minute frequency. The expansion areas are currently poorly served. Lea Road Railway Station (on the Lincoln-Doncaster line), has no direct bus service access from existing and expansion residential areas.

Question 3.3 relates to trips arising either from development that is planned but not fully dependent on the proposed transport scheme, or from dwellings that already exist. Note that this question should be completed for all proposals.

Q3.3 Please give a brief description of the main expected consequences, over the next 10 years, of the proposed transport scheme in terms of type (distance, time of day, etc) and location of journey time savings and improvements in journey time reliability.

The objective of the scheme (as set out in the appended Outline Transport Strategy) is to improve non-car accessibility for the existing town and expansion areas, rather than creating journey time savings. It is to reduce the current car dependency culture of Gainsborough for existing households and then for those in the expansion areas with proactive ‘carrot’ and ‘stick’ measures to secure modal shift.

The scheme is also aimed at maximising journey time reliability for bus services and for increasing the use of the rail services to/from regional destinations with the inherent greater reliability than alternative road travel.

Questions 3.4 and 3.5 relate to trips arising from development that is fully dependent upon the proposed scheme being implemented. If this does not apply to your scheme, please move on to section 4.

Q3.4 Please state the estimated level of new trips arising from the development, in terms of both private vehicles and public transport, providing detail concerning type of trips (distance, time of day, etc) where possible.

N/A

Q3.5 Accounting for additional trips arising from the development, what will be the net effect of the new scheme on existing/projected journey times for existing users of the transport network, over the next ten years? Will the situation identified in Q3.1 be alleviated or get worse?

N/A

SECTION 4: SAFETY, SUSTAINABILITY AND 10 ACCESSIBILITY

Q4.1 Does the scheme improve public access to key services (eg employment, education, leisure facilities, healthcare etc) and/or tackle severance? i) Yes X ii) No

If yes, please support your answer There will be improved non-car connectivity and bus reliability between existing residential areas and the listed trip attractions and also for the expansion areas. Furthermore, each of the expansion areas will have educational and community facilities within them, served by convenient multi-modal access. The expansion areas will be connected to the new “Education Village” in the town by a Greenway having segregated bus, pedestrian and cycle lanes within its landscaped corridor (see Figure 6).

Q4.2 Will the scheme improve road safety (eg reduce road accidents, improve quality of pedestrian infrastructure)? i) Yes X ii) No

If yes, please support your answer

There will be greater segregation of pedestrians and cyclists from the existing road network and new sustainable transport links will be created. Pedestrian Crossing points at junctions and other key locations will be improved and cyclist facilities included. Within the expanded Town, unnecessary traffic speeds will be reduced where possible.

10 These questions refer to criteria in the Appraisal Summary Table, for more information please refer to http://www.webtag.org.uk/webdocuments/1_Overview/1_introduction_to_Transport_analysis/index.htm

Q4.3 How will the scheme affect the quality of the built and/or natural environment (describe any significant benefits or impacts on the following factors: noise, local air quality, greenhouse gases, landscape, townscape, heritage of historical resources, biodiversity, water environment, physical fitness and journey ambience)?

The scheme is based upon securing realistic sustainable transport choice, making the most of the existing resources of the town. The scheme promotes walking and cycling and the use of public transport in preference to journeys by car, as outlined in the attached Outline Transport Strategy. Capital expenditure is focussed on new and improved facilities for walking and cycling within “greenways” and on enhanced bus facilities to improve bus permeability.

By promoting transport choice these measures will contribute directly to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, improved local air quality, reduced traffic noise, enhanced physical fitness (through walking and cycling) and enhanced journey ambience (through the “greenways” network). Engineering interventions will be kept to the minimum so that the best of Gainsborough’s historic environment is safeguarded.

Q4.4 Have you undertaken any formal assessment of the potential environmental impact (positive or negative) of your proposal? i) Yes ii) No X

If yes, please give details

The transport proposals are all small in scale and below the threshold for formal EIA. The specific expansion proposals will be the subject of EIA through the development control process and SEA through the development plan process.

Q4.5 Does the scheme enhance the provision of sustainable transport and/or reduce the need to travel? i) Yes X ii) No

If yes, please tick those reasons that apply and support your answer i) It improves public transport infrastructure (capacity improvements, √ priority measures, measures to improve reliability) ii) It improves facilities for pedestrians and/or cyclists √ iii) It improves modal interchange between methods of public transport √ and/or cycling and walking

iv) Other (please specify) √

It will seek to maximise multi-modal use of existing road space.

Q4.6 Have you had any early dialogue with the appropriate Statutory Environmental Consultees about the proposal and its potential impacts? i) Yes ii) No X

If yes, please give details of their views (both positive and negative)

The transport proposals have been evaluated by LCC the local highway authority. All of the other key stakeholders are participating in the local delivery vehicle.

SECTION 5: DELIVERABILITY

Q5.1 Does the project require planning consent or other powers? i) Yes X In part ii) No

If yes, please: i) Provide details of requirements (including a timetable for planning consent)

The transport proposals will require a combination of traffic regulation orders and highways act authorisations. Whilst some elements in the provision of improved station and interchange facilities at Lea Road station may be permitted development (if carried out by Network Rail within the station area) others will require planning permission. The transport measures within the new expansion areas will require planning permission and may be regulated by Section 106 agreement etc.

ii) Assess the likelihood of not securing these powers, and please support your choice

High (more than 50% likely) Medium (25-50% likely) Low (less than 25% likely) X

It is anticipated that authorisations to carry out the transport measures are likely to be obtained because the schemes are small-scale and have only limited physical/development control implications. They have an excellent strategic fit with local, regional and national transport policies. Refer to section 5 in the Outline Transport Strategy document.

What would be your most likely response to failure to secure powers (eg de- scoping or revising the project, cancellation of the project etc)?

We would anticipate that any scheme would be refined to ensure compliance with the authorising bodies (all of whom are engaged in the development of the Growth Point), ensuring that powers can be granted.

Q5.2 Are there any other risks to project funding or timely delivery that are known at this stage (eg land assembly, flood plain, need for public consultation, geometric engineering constraints etc)? i) Yes X In part ii) No

If yes, please i) Provide details of each risk

Where land assembly is needed there is a degree of risk to the project. However the risk is assessed as low for most elements for the reasons already given. The purpose of pursuing the strategic land acquisition at Lea Road Station is to avoid/reduce subsequent risk in delivering this important piece of transport infrastructure.

Other risks include political support and public support as well as potential engineering difficulties and the need for statutory approvals. All of these risks will be identified and assessed as the detailed Transport Strategy for Gainsborough is developed and measures to mitigate these will also be explained. ii) Assess the likelihood of the risk affecting the delivery of the project affecting the delivery of the project and please support your choice below

High (more than 50% likely) Medium (25-50% likely) X Low (less than 25% likely)

As outlined above, a full risk assessment will be carried out as we develop the detailed plans for each phase of the proposed development.

iii) What would be your most likely response to each of the identified risks materialising (either individually or in combination with other risks)?

As outlined above, a full risk assessment will be carried out as we develop the detailed plans for each phase of the proposed development.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Please enclose any additional evidence in support of your scheme to your application.

Appended to this Application is the proposed Outline Transport Strategy for the expansion of Gainsborough, with supporting plans, and demonstration of its conformity with the emerging Regional Transport Strategy and RSS.