North East Lincolnshire Council aims to buy Freshney Place in multi-million-pound plan

North East Lincolnshire Council aims to buy Freshney Place in multi-million-pound plan

North East Lincolnshire Council has today unveiled a plan to buy Freshney Place as they look to secure the future of Grimsby’s main shopping centre and 1,700 jobs.

A report outlines a desire to purchase the centre, which went into receivership earlier this year and is currently up for sale.

£17 million of funding had previosuly been secured by the authority through the Future High Streets fund to redevelop the shopping centre, including building a new multi-screen cinema.

Other towns have had their shopping centres bought by local authorities as this new plan adds hope to regenerating the town centre.

The report, set to go before a special cabinet meeting and then to the Full Council, highlights the following points when saying it is vital that this course of action is taken by the council:

• Should Freshney Place be acquired by a “passive” owner who is unwilling to invest to deliver a leisure scheme and future proof the centre, its anticipated decline would accelerate, and the centre (including Top Town market) would undermine strategic initiatives to improve the town centre and deter inward investment.
• The centre makes up 60 per cent of the town centre’s retail offer, supporting one in five jobs within that area.
• This move will safeguard a critical part of Grimsby town centre’s economic and community infrastructure, ensuring it retains a competitive retail and service offer, and safeguarding up to 1,700 jobs within Freshney Place and Top Town Market. If successful, the centre would be run by external Asset Managers with the council taking an ‘arms-length’ approach.
• The continued decline of Freshney Place would have a catastrophic impact on Grimsby town centre. Grimsby town centre serves a wide retail catchment population of more than 300,000 and retains an above average level of shoppers compared to other smaller town centres, according to national retail data, reflecting the lack of a competing centre locally. Therefore, Grimsby town centre plays a vital role, providing a focal point for the North East Lincolnshire area.
• Grant funding from Central Government, including the Towns Fund, has already seen significant transformation in the town centre with projects still under way. These include Garth Lane, St James Square, the new Onside Horizon Youth Zone and the conversion of St James House into an E-Factor Group businesses centre and hub. To enable this regeneration to continue, Freshney Place must have a stable future.

“Freshney Place is a significant asset within the Grimsby town centre, but the Council has not been able to utilise it fully to enact the transformational change it seeks within the town centre. Therefore, besides safeguarding against the impacts of potential closure, the Council’s acquisition of Freshney Place would enable it to use it as part of the wider town centre transformation more easily,” adds the report.

NELC plans to buy Freshney Place using the national Future High Streets Fund (FHSF) money and bid for replacement money to continue the FHSF work at the western end of Freshney Place and Victoria Street.

The authority can submit one bid per parliamentary constituency, with a third ringfenced for transport in July this year.

The two other LUF Round Two bids are selected projects from the Cleethorpes Masterplan and the creation of a new Transportation Hub for Grimsby Town Centre.