BOURNE COMMENT

A personal view of issues
and events

by REX NEEDLE

 AN EYESORE IN OUR MIDST

There stands in the corner of our market place a rusting container that should rightly be in a scrapyard yet continues to create an eyesore in an otherwise attractive environment and those responsible appear to be doing nothing about it.

This unsightly receptacle which has been parked against the back wall of the Grade II listed Town Hall for the past three years is one of the unexpected consequences of establishing the new Community Access Point at the Corn Exchange at a cost of £600,000 and has been there since work began in March 2012. There were originally two containers, now reduced to one, which is used to store the stalls and canopies for the Thursday and Saturday markets, formerly kept in a storeroom at the Corn Exchange which disappeared as part of the conversion along with the caretaker’s flat.

A new space was obviously needed to accommodate this equipment when the plans were drawn up but appears to have been overlooked in the main complex and so planners at South Kesteven District Council came up with the bright idea of shipping-style containers which may have been suitable as a temporary measure but not a permanent solution and is now creating a most unpleasant sight on the very edge of the town’s Conservation Area.

But even this one solitary metal box, now showing signs of wear, remains a blemish on the townscape and a reminder that space was always going to be a problem when the CAP opened in March 2013. Many visitors to the market can be heard remarking on it, some even thinking that it was a portable loo for the builders left there by mistake, although when its doors open on Thursday and Saturday afternoons its intended purpose is revealed as workmen stack away the market stalls and canopies for another day.

Whether the council is actively seeking a more permanent place to store this equipment or if it is intended to leave the container there in perpetuity remains a mystery. But it is causing concern for property owners in the vicinity, one even claiming that it may be sited illegally on land which he leases for parking purposes but is now unable to do so while its use on market days is creating an unacceptable noise level close to his flat as the equipment is stacked and stored.

It was originally thought that the container was a temporary installation in the market place and the records indicate that SKDC did not need planning permission to park it there because it was classed as a small ancillary building connected with work on the Corn Exchange conversion but that project was completed many months ago and so the original reason would no longer appear to be valid. Now, following complaints about the nuisance, officers have tried to find another location without reducing the current number of parking bays available for public use but this has been unsuccessful and so the eyesore remains.

The council may be intending to leave the container where it is which will be most unfortunate for the continuing appearance of the market place as well as its effect pm visitors who will not be impressed by such a monstrosity in an attractive pedestrianised area.

The presence of this rusting hulk also reflects earlier fears that the Corn Exchange was not large enough to take all of the services now crammed into it, particularly the public library that has been drastically reduced in size and in the meantime, the market place must suffer this distinctly unattractive indignity week after week. But one thing is certain: if it had been placed on his property for storage purposes by a private citizen, he would have been issued with an enforcement order to move it long ago.

There does seem to be an unhealthy preoccupation with shipping containers by our local councillors who apparently consider them the short-term storage solution for many similar eventualities because it is not so long ago that two of these unsightly receptacles were suggested as a suitable replacement for the 19th century chapel in the town cemetery. The incident occurred so long ago that it has probably been forgotten but a record of it still exists in the archives and it is so outrageous as to be worthy of repeating.

In 2005, when repair and maintenance costs were becoming prohibitive, the town council decided that this Victorian stone building should be demolished but the suggestion provoked a great deal of controversy because of the historic nature and aesthetic quality of the building which had been erected in 1855. This did not stop several councillors pursuing the idea and although the structure had become unsafe for funeral services it was still used to house machinery and equipment for the cemetery’s upkeep. On 6th February 2007 therefore, the amenities committee actually considered the possibility of replacing the chapel with two 20-foot steel sea containers for storage purposes, an unbelievable proposition that may have been the catalyst for what was to come.

This preposterous proposal was, of course, quietly dropped, as was the prospect of demolition when the chapel was given a Grade II listing by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on Wednesday 4th April 2007, thus protecting the building from being pulled down and so it still stands, a far more attractive prospect than a pair of rusting metal boxes.

Fortunately, that incursion into the introduction of shipping containers in our midst was thwarted which leaves us with the problem of what should be done to rid the town of the present contamination. South Kesteven District Council is the local authority responsible and has been made aware of the eyesore but appears to be doing nothing and so the concern now felt in Bourne must be brought to their attention by the town council which does have a duty here and it should be a matter of priority to take up this issue with the district authority by insisting on a satisfactory conclusion for the removal of this carbuncle on the urban landscape.

Bourne has seven representatives on the district council and although we rarely hear of any activity in which they are involved on our behalf along the corridors of power at Grantham, there could be no worthier cause for united effort than this, to rid the town of an irritating eyesore that should have been removed long ago. They have been given our votes and this appears to be an opportune moment to justify that confidence.

Note: This article was published by the Bourne web site on 10th October 2015