District Council confirm consultation will happen on Colonnade and Pleasure Gardens in Sutton on Sea

In August, the District Council received a structural survey on the Colonnade identifying serious defects relating to its age and design.

These defects have resulted in the progressive weakening of the iron reinforcing beams within the concrete itself, particularly affecting the surface slabs within, which the steel reinforcement is reported as being almost completely degraded.

With the Colonnade reaching the end of its life, the District Council is keen to consult local people on their vision for this area of the resort, including Pleasure Gardens.

East Lindsey District Council and Mablethorpe & Sutton on Sea Town Council will work together to jointly deliver the consultation with support from Community Lincs and OpenPlan.

The four phase process will start with interactive engagement workshops to develop a vision for this area of the resort, ultimately resulting in either a scheme or a number of schemes being made available for wider community consultation later in 2019.

•Phase 1 - January 2019: Will be facilitated by Community Lincs. There will be two engagement workshops. One event will be in the evening and one will be at a weekend.

This phase is known as ‘co-production’ and will look at the community’s ideas for the Colonnade/Pleasure Gardens areas and the rationale and evidence to support those ideas.

•Phase 2 - February 2019: This will also be facilitated by Community Lincs. The ideas from the Phase 1 workshops will be appraised by a group formed by Mablethorpe and Sutton on Sea Town Council.

Recognising that many ideas are likely to come forward, the purpose of Phase 2 is to further shape the Phase 1 ideas to inform formal proposals that can be costed.

•Phase 3 - March, April and May 2019: The Phase 2 appraisal will enable the development of a scheme/or schemes for the Colonnade/Pleasure Gardens area.

This time will be used to work with architects to produce costed plans.

•Phase 4 - June/July 2019: The schemes will be made available for a final round of public consultation.

Once completed the final scheme will be published and the Council and partners will be in a position to consider the process of fundraising.

Through the engagement workshops, the community will also be able to put forward their thoughts for how the area can be used and what opportunities it presents to the resort.

Attendees at the workshops will be asked to bring along old pictures and press cuttings and their memories about the life of the Colonnade and Pleasure Gardens.

The Town Council’s recently formed consultation group for this particular issue will have a leading role to play in reviewing the feedback from the workshops and shaping the proposals for the area.

The group will also include representatives from the Residents’ Association, the District Council, the Environment Agency and a representative from the 10 Private Beach Hut owners impacted by the structural issues with the existing Colonnade.

Once the consultation is completed and a vision is confirmed for this area of the resort, the Council and partners will be in a position to consider the process of fundraising.

Details will soon be made available on how to get involved.

Those wishing to attend the workshops will need to book their place in advance.

For more information about the current issues and the consultation, please visit www.e-lindsey.gov.uk/colonnade.