Commercial development

THE SOUTHFIELD BUSINESS PARK

One of the biggest commercial disappointments for Bourne in the late 20th century was the failure of a proposed £10 million business and commercial park to the south of the town.

A site covering seventeen acres of land alongside the A15 trunk road and next to Bourne Hospital was earmarked for a mixed-use business area that was to include a restaurant, hotel, petrol filling station, public house and fast food outlet. They would be accessed by a new estate road and roundabout and the remainder of the land developed for a range of uses including offices, light industrial units and warehousing.

The project was welcomed by the town council and Councillor Don Fisher said: "There is very little opposition to the scheme. The town is growing and there is not much we can do about it. If Bourne is to get bigger, we need more industry and so a scheme such as this will be necessary."

Tesco's, the supermarket chain, had already shown an interest in part of the site for a new out of town supermarket but their application for planning permission in 1996 was refused because the proposed food store was outside the recognised town centre and would jeopardise the viability and vitality of existing shops in Bourne. Traders however were more receptive to the new commercial development in the hope that it would boost their own businesses. 

The announcement of the scheme, known as the Southfield Business Park, was made in December 1998 amid much euphoria about the expectation that it would create hundreds of new jobs, attract fresh inward investment opportunities and provide scope for locally based firms to expand and the scheme was eventually granted planning permission by South Kesteven District Council.

The council's economic development officer, Ian Crowther said it was an exciting project that would strengthen South Kesteven's strategic position by attracting new and inward investment opportunities and providing opportunities for locally-based firms to expand and progress."

The proposed business park was a joint project between Clugston Developments of Scunthorpe and the owners of the land, J Pao and Co Ltd., but it faltered because of insufficient commercial interest. Clugston's managing director Bill Dixon, said: "We have not had any serious interest in the site and time has run out for us. It is very disappointing because a lot of hard work has been put into the scheme. It is very difficult to introduce a site such as this in a rural area. In the leisure market, pubs, restaurants and other businesses look to set up in towns and city centres rather than rural areas."

Andrew Pao, a partner in J Pao and Co Ltd, expressed the hope that the site might still be used for light industry in the future. "We have had a disappointing response", he said. "The local market in Bourne is very strong but national chains do not appreciate that it is such a vibrant area."

There was also disappointment from the Bourne Town Council. The mayor, Councillor John Kirkman, said that the developers had also been planning to straighten the A15 at this point to make it safer and to provide a proper access to the ambulance station that is sited at the old hospital complex. Fellow councillor Alan Jones added: "We need development of some kind on the periphery of Bourne but it has to be suitable for the town and we need further light industry to create employment."

The developers finally pulled out in May 2001 and the land has been lying idle ever since.

THE BOURNE RESIDENTS' ACTION GROUP - 1987-1999

There has been an honourable history of protest against unwanted commercial development in Bourne although no official group now exists. But in 1987, a protest group called the Bourne Residents' Action Group, better known as BRAG, was formed to fight the establishment of a broiler chicken unit alongside the A15 on the northern outskirts of the town. The site had been earmarked for such a development by the Lincolnshire-based poultry packing firm of G M Padley Ltd but their outline planning permission lay dormant for several years until the firm eventually decided to proceed and by then the residents of nearby homes, mostly in Stephenson Way, became concerned about the effects that the excreta from sheds full of chickens being reared by intensive breeding methods would have on their homes, particularly when the wind was blowing in their direction. 

The subsequent campaign by BRAG was the most vociferous ever seen in Bourne and it took the form of meetings and demonstrations, petitions, a series of protest letters to the local M P and other important people who might raise a voice on their behalf. Deputations even went to Grantham to lobby meetings of the planning committee and South Kesteven District Council in full session and on one occasion three coaches carrying 120 banner-waving people turned up at the council offices to protest. But BRAG was unable to halt the tide of commercial progress and the broiler unit with its five sheds built on prime agricultural land is now a familiar sight a short distance from their homes, albeit just outside the regulatory 400-yard limit. 

In October 1999, BRAG settled its affairs and closed down. The money raised from donations and protest meetings had been eaten up by the cost of printing, postage, the hire of halls and legal fees during the two years the campaign was active. The group was wound up and the £191.26 left in the kitty donated to Bourne Civic Society. 

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