A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reinvigorate Grantham town centre with £4.19 million from the Government’s Future High Streets Fund is about to get under way.
The money, secured through a bid by South Kesteven District Council, will transform the Market Place and the Conduit, where refurbished public toilets will be reopened. A second phase will improve the town approach from the railway station to create a pedestrian-led environment.
The Future High Streets Fund is for designated work and can only be used on this project.
The plans were drawn up with input from Grantham residents, alongside businesses and strategic stakeholders, who were asked to list priorities for the town.
Key partners include SKDC councillors and officers, the University of Lincoln, Greater Lincolnshire LEP, the National Trust, St Wulfram’s Church, Grantham College, Grantham Business Club, Grantham Museum, the Woodland Trust and local landowners.
The project will raise the road height of the Market Place to create a single level open space, able to host a regular programme of town centre events. At other times it will be a central open space in a pedestrian-led area with fewer cars.
Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance and Economic Development, Cllr Ashley Baxter said: “This exciting project is intended to make the town centre an even better place for people to live in, work and visit. We are creating a formal ‘heart’ of Grantham; a traffic-calmed public open space to provide a focus for events and a town centre oasis for visitors to enjoy.”
The work will re-establish a gathering point for residents and visitors, providing an attractive and vibrant place where more people spend more time enjoying the town centre. The SKDC vision will bring a busy Market Place that appeals to the people of Grantham and further afield, fuelled by a new a sense of civic pride.
The Market Place improvements will link through to a rebuilt pedestrian route from the Grantham Railway Station, with clear walkways across the five-road junction to Westgate as a more effective connection to the town centre.
Recent support work has taken place in the cultural quarter of the Arts Centre, Guildhall and cinema near St Peter’s Hill, with the blue-green corridor of the River Witham nearby. The heritage quarter around St Wulfram’s Church links to the historic environment through Westgate with its 18th and 19th Century buildings.
This follows an earlier announcement that several roads in the area are due to be reconstructed before the end of the year, with a promise that disruption will be kept to a minimum through efficient project planning and using the least disruptive traffic management measures.
The current timetable is as follows:
- Market Place Construction - Start Date: 7th May 2024; End Date: August 2024
- Station Approach Construction - Start Date: 1st November 2024; End Date: March 2025