Market Place plan moves forward - but slowly

Plans for the redevelopment of Boston's Market Place are up for discussion tomorrow when a report goes before the borough's Overview and Scrutiny Policy and Projects Committee.
Regeneration of the Market Place is considered vital to improve the look of the town and develop the local economy.
Two million pounds is available for the project, and in August, a local firm - Anderson and Glenn Architects of Frampton Fen - were commissioned to undertake a study and produce a heritage development plan for the Market Place and surrounding area.
For once we can applaud a decision taken by the council by breaking the big firm mould that they have opted for in the past, and moving away from London and other big city based consultancies to find a firm that not only has greater expertise, but actually seems to care about the work in hand.
A look at the Anderson and Glenn website shows that they have a long and highly successful history working with conservation projects. They include Alford Manor House, Ayscoughee Hall in Spalding, Boston Guildhall, the Bridge Street renovation in Horncastle and work at Fydell House, and Hussey Tower.
In fact, the only black mark in our book was the wretched Haven Gallery - but perhaps they were having an off-day!
The timetable becomes a bit attenuated in the future, with a specification for the Market Place refurbishment in January 2010 with detailed design production and consultation for the scheme followed by tendering to commission the building works.
But then we wait from January until December before the final design is agreed, with building work starting in January 2011 with completion about six months later.As we've said before, this is a once and for all chance to get the Market Place right, so perhaps the 12 month thinking time isn't so bad after all.
The only problem is whether or not someone will then come along with new plans for the West Street area - the last of which collapsed when the company behind the scheme fell off its perch.
Before that, the Market Place was said to be an integral part of the bigger plan, and we hope that nothing will be done to the Market Place that we will later regret in the light of future developments.
For what its worth, we think this is an opportunity to dump the insane use of Strait Bargate as a rat-run for the Into Town bus service.
We also think that much impact could be gained at relatively small cost by opting for a Regency style theme for the Market Place area, imposing the colour scheme and signage of the days when the Market Place was at its commercial height.

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