Residents oppose plans to demolish church hall and build Co-op
LOCALS FEAR STORE’S IMPACT ON TRAFFIC AND INDEPENDENT SHOPS
PLANS for a new Co-op convenience store and funeral directors on the site of a former church hall in Scartho have been met with objections from a number of residents worried about the impact it will have on traffic and other local businesses.
The St John Fisher church hall on Waltham Road has been standing empty since 2017 and plans submitted to the council on behalf of the Lincolnshire Co-op group would see the hall demolished and a new one-storey building erected in its place.
The plans for the new building will see it house a new Co-op convenience store and a Co-op funeral directors over just one floor and there will be car parking and delivery to the front. Developers have proposed that their designs blend into the surrounding environment and have promised a “clear design strategy for the car parking and deliveries” which is disputed by some residents.
In a statement within the plans, the Lincolnshire Co-op said: “Lincolnshire Co-op’s purpose is to bring together ideas, energy and resources to make life better in our communities.
“We do this co-operatively with our members, customers, colleagues, suppliers and all the organisations, businesses, charities and good causes we work with.
“Together, we focus on four main priorities – providing and supporting valued services, helping to grow the local economy, caring for our health and wellbeing and looking after our local environment. “In our food stores, the Love Local range gives producers a route into a wider market. We also use local firms to build, maintain and bring forward our services and developments.
“Our outlets and properties can be a source of pride in the local area and we can work with communities to bring neglected sites back into use.”
The plans suggest that the convenience store will open seven days a week from 7am until 10pm and the funeral services building will open six days a week (excluding Sundays).
The new building constructed will be twice the size of the existing church hall and the site falls just outside of the protected heritage zone of Scartho.
A heritage report on the church hall has concluded that in its existing form it is of negligible value to the surrounding area and said the benefits of the proposal outweigh the low risk posed to the neighbouring Conservation Area. One objection from a nearby resident said: “I have lots of family that live in Scartho and the surrounding villages and often drive down Waltham Road. This is an already busy road and adding a shop where cars will be pulling in and out of a car park is going to increase the risk of road traffic accidents. “Especially as this church is located just around a slight bend (when heading from Waltham towards Grimsby) and any cars pulling in or out may not be able to see oncoming traffic very well.
“Additionally I have visited the local shops such as Swales butchers and cake shop for many years and I worry what impact another shop will have on these local independent businesses.
“I do not believe the value of an additional shop outweighs the risk of putting local shops out of business.”
Another neighbour said: “I have lived here for over 20 years and have driven on Waltham Road daily to and from Diana Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby where I worked until retirement. “I have witnessed several serious accidents within 20 to 30 metres of the proposed site entrance and in one of these the car drove onto the front wall of the property at 102 Waltham Road.
“This is an already busy road with peak hour traffic queues both ways, and the completed proposed development will definitely add to the risk of further accidents involving pedestrians, school children cycling to school, other cyclists, roadside parked cars and properties.
“The two medium-sized convenience stores at the Village have served the area well over the years, even through this pandemic, and the last thing residents in this area need is yet another convenience store within 500 metres. I can foresee in time one of these stores going out of business.” Consultations on the proposed plans will run until April 4 and a decision will be made the following month.
I do not believe the value of an additional shop outweighs the risk of putting local shops
out of business.
Resident