Plans for smokehouse to rise from the ashes
THE MTL BUILDING WENT UP IN FLAMES IN NOVEMBER 2020 AND WAS THOUGHT TO BE BETWEEN 160 AND 170 YEARS OLD AT THE TIME
PLANS have been submitted to restore a 160-year-old smokehouse that caught ablaze two years ago.
MTL Medal Fisheries’ smokehouse in Fish Dock Road, Grimsby, was estimated by its owner to be between 160 and 170 years old, making it the town’s oldest smokehouse when it was devastated by a fire in 2020. It was vulnerable to fire damage due to wood in its original construction. Humberside Fire & Rescue confirmed at the time of the blaze that the fire was accidental.
The first two weeks of November have seen about twenty or so planning applications ranging from home extension plans to the closure of a bank registered with North East Lincolnshire Council.
Planning applications tend to only get referred to the council’s planning committee if the proposed work is significant in scale, or if numerous objections have been received in relation to it. Some applications are either accepted or rejected simply on their merit by planning officers, without committee consideration.
Grimsby’s popular smokehouse was devastated by a fire two years ago and could be at last restored. An application has been made for the replacement of roofs, internal and external works to refurbish the MTL building in Fish Dock Road, Grimsby.
Four fire pumps and 20 firefighters were deployed to the facility in November 2020 when the fish processing and curing house caught fire. The roof and windows were destroyed during the fire.
“The materials will directly replace the original materials lost in the fire,” say Gately Smithers Purlow in the design and access statement for the plans. The building is already Grade 2 listed. “The proposal is for the sympathetic repairs of the historically important Fish Smoking factory to ensure its survival and continued use as a commercial Fish processing plant,” it adds.
Nearby, the Alfred Enderby Smokehouse is already undergoing renovation with a £121,000 heritage grant funding the works.
Cleethorpes bank closure
Banks up and down the country in towns are closing. Cleethorpes is no exception.
Natwest have already announced its intention to close its Cleethorpes branch at 2-4 Sea View Street next year. The bank reported that in the last four years it had seen a 43 per cent decrease in ‘over the counter’ transactions and it only had 10 regular customers.
Even so, the closure of town banks can be a significant inconvenience for people not able to bank online or travel easily. In Barton in North Lincolnshire, a community banking hub is being set up after Lloyds announced the closure of its branch there.
The bank has applied to the council for the removal of the ATM cash machine, external signage and the removal of fittings and equipment inside related to the running of the bank. It is also currently intended to be a vacant space immediately after the bank’s closure.
Smokehouse plans repairs two years on from fire
Changes proposed to approved 14 homes at Grimsby Lawn Tennis Club
Sometimes, an applicant can change their minds about their proposed development after it has been approved with conditions by a council. That is the case with an application to revise plans for 14 detached homes at Grimsby Lawn Tennis Club.
The 14 detached homes were conditionally y approved by the council in September 2020, despite neighbours’ concerns over the positioning of the access road to the site raising g traffic collision risks.
Now, the developers Seven Developments s Grimsby Limited want to change the specification of the building. There would still be 14 4 homes, but plots 9 to 14 would not have integral garages and be changed to living space e and rear french doors. Rear lights would be e omitted and rear windows enlargened.
Already, a couple of neighbours have commented on the application, expressing their r bemusement. “With the integral garage being g changed to living space, I fear this will cause e parking issues along an already busy College e Street,” says one College Street resident to the latest plans. Nearby residents have until November 28 to give their views.
Tyre plant opinion on environmental assessment
A request has been made to decide if a proposed tyre pyrolysis plant off Energy Park Way, Grimsby, needs an environmental impact assessment. A tyre pyrolysis plant involves the conversion i of f old ld tyres i into other h products, d with the Grimsby plant intended to produce through this pyrolysis oil, synthetic gas and carbon black. In 2017, there were plans for a similar facility at Immingham Railfreight Terminal with planning permission even granted, but purchasing plans fell through and the site was designated for alternative use.
A council heritage officer has already commented on the request for an EIA screening opinion and said they expect a full archaeological evaluation to be included in this.