Historic Swinegate façade to be cleared for Grantham council housing

Work to construct 20 new council houses on a derelict site could restart later this month after new proposals to demolish a historic façade were approved.

South Kesteven District Council aims to build one and two-bedroom affordable flats on brownfield land in Swinegate, Grantham.

However, the works had to be temporarily halted after engineers raised concerns about the safety of a wall at number 20, which organisations had hoped could be saved.

Despite efforts to replicate the original design, concerns persisted regarding architectural heritage loss and the impact on the area.

Historic England criticised the delays and suggested that agreements could have been reached earlier for safe repairs.

However, the council's conservation officer and Heritage Lincolnshire did not object to the new plans, and council officers argued for total demolition for public safety reasons.

Consequently, the council’s planning committee approved the plans at a meeting today (Thursday, April 18).

Planning officer Adam Murray said: “Further investigation works... have identified that the structural condition of the building has significantly deteriorated over the last few months.

“[There are] now serious concerns about the stability of that front facade to the extent that the structural engineers have advised that there's no certainty about how that facade would respond to the works required.”

Councillors were shown images of the water ingress that had occurred and the damage already caused by mould and other issues.

Mr Murray told councillors that “every endeavour has been made to try and retain that building and retain that front facade” and denied that there had been deliberate neglect.

The build will reuse old bricks, and councillors were told it would include all the previous historic features built like-for-like.

Coun Helen Crawford (Con) proposed approval of the plans, saying: “I can't see anything wrong with it; we're building like-for-like.

“The structure is unsound for safety reasons alone; it probably does need to be demolished.”

Council officers hope the work will restart on April 29.

Councillors were informed that the authority was “itching to get back on site... as quickly as possible.”

Following the approval of the plans, arrangements at the South Kesteven District Council-run Swinegate Car Park will undergo changes.

Starting from Monday (April 22), access to Swinegate will be closed to allow for demolition and subsequent building work, with entry and exit redirected to Watergate.

The construction will continue until spring 2025, and will result in a reduction of short-stay parking spaces to 44.

Alternative parking options include Guildhall Street, Wharf Road for short stays, and Welham Street and Conduit Lane for long stays.