More than 30 people representing agencies, national and local government bodies and parties critical to unlocking the Maltings’ potential, including the owners and heritage organisations, met this week.

The strategic importance of the Bass Maltings to the future vitality and economic vibrancy of Sleaford and the wider area has been underlined through a summit of partners interested in bringing the vast derelict site back into use.

After a site meeting last month, a roundtable meeting between central Government officials and local figures on the future of the complex is opening doors for further discussions about the site and its potential for regeneration.

More than 30 people representing agencies, national and local government bodies and parties critical to unlocking the Maltings’ potential, including the owners and heritage organisations, were hosted by North Kesteven District Council on Monday, September 7.

It was the next step in recently-renewed conversations about the site, following its inclusion in Historic England's Heritage Investment Prospectus launched in May and a visit to the Bass Maltings in mid-August which was organised by the Ministry for Housing, Communities & Local Government with support from the district council.

While both the meeting and August’s site visit are still part of very early and broad discussions about potential future uses for the site, with no specific avenues explored yet, district council Leader Coun Richard Wright said the movement is all positive and the sense in the room was that redeveloping the site ‘is not impossible’.

He said: “This is the first time in many a year that we’ve had the right people in the right place to talk together about this historic site and the potential future it could have, and to say together ‘how can we make this happen.

“This isn’t about wild schemes and suggestions. This is a strategic look at how, by committing together as partners, we can bring the Maltings and the Maltings site forward to make sure it’s not just preserved but brought back into use in a vibrant way, in a way that also supports Sleaford, and how to do that at a large scale. “Sleaford is intrinsically linked to the Maltings, so we need to make sure that both can keep moving forward. Improvements in the economy for Sleaford are linked to the economy for the Maltings, and vice versa.” The Bass Maltings have been on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register since 2011, given their status as one of the largest at-risk buildings in the country.

The Prince's Phoenix Trust launched a 2004 feasibility study to explore new uses for the massive, disused 20th-century industrial complex. From 2006 onward, the Prince's Regeneration Trust worked alongside site owners (Gladedale/Avant Homes) to design a master plan preserving the historic exterior while adding housing, retail, and commercial spaces. Planning permission was granted in 2011 for a multi-million-pound redevelopment, but stalled due to local access disputes and the eventual withdrawal of key financial backers like Tesco in 2015, leaving the site largely on hold.

“It’s not a quick fix,” Coun Wright said. “As partners we’re going to be working together over an extended period of time. “However, this is now a serious attempt to say, let’s get the Maltings back to what it used to be: a working building that’s something to be proud of, not just an unused monument.” The district council has long supported the potential redevelopment of the site, which is privately owned, and remains on hand to provide any advice and guidance required in addition to these early discussions taking place.