The majority of Moulton Park looks set to be opened up to the public with planners being recommended to approve change of use permission.
The John and Maureen Biggadike Foundation, a charity set up following the death of the aforementioned John for good causes in Moulton, bought the land last year.
They’ve given a small part to be allocated for a play area.
Now an application to open the other 20 acres is before South Holland District Council’s Planning Committee next week and they’re being recommended to pass the proposals which includes a 20-space car park.
That’s despite Lincolnshire County Council not supporting the application over traffic concerns.
Access to the site will be from the existing gate on Bell Lane and county council officers asked for more information on vehicle movements and suggested pedestrian crossings and better footpaths to nearby bus stops should be created.
The correspondence states: “The Highway Authority should point out that there is a good level of bus service provision to and from the village with the 505 and 505B interconnect service to King’s Lynn, Spalding and Holbeach and it would be impartial to say that a footway would only be used by no more than one or two people.”
Three members of the public submitted objections citing worries including loss of privacy, noise impacts and security concerns.
The planning officer’s report by Dan Allen admits that the application is technically against planning policy due to it being classed as open countryside, but as the car park is the only development, the report states it should be passed.
It continues that the Highways concerns are noted but argues most people would walk to Bell Lane from the village which does have a footpath.
The report states: “While the site is currently a park land, the site is not usable by the local community, and as such, the use of this site comprising a much wider extent of available land than that recently approved for this use, is considered to be acceptable, promotes social inclusion and supports social sustainability.
“It is considered that the proposal for a car park represents the most visually notable alteration of the site, however this is modest in size and is judged to not substantially impinge upon the open character of the site, resulting in no material or harmful impact upon the over arching visual theme of the setting and thus the wider historic environment.”
