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| Go-ahead given for installation roller shutters outside town library |
A CONTROVERSIAL proposal to install roller shutters at the front entrance to Grimsby Central Library has been approved.
The decision was not made by North East Lincolnshire Council's planning committee, made up of impartial councillors.
It was made by a senior case officer employed by Engie - the same firm that submitted the application on behalf of the council.
It is acknowledged shutters will have an an adverse impact on the street scene - in effect 'brutalising' a busy part of the town centre.
But the project has been prompted by ongoing initiatives to crack down on rough-sleepers outside public buildings.
The shutters initiative has appalled the council's heritage officer, Louise Jennings, whose advice on how to safeguard and enhance the appearance of the town is now routinely being disregarded by the Engie officers who run the council's planning operations.
For reasons that are not clear, Ms Jennings' damning report on the proposal has not been released, but here is the diluted section seen by the Grimsby News.
"The library is a significant local building within the Central Grimsby Conservation Area and any alterations do have the potential to have a negative impact on both the building and the conservation area.
"The building may not have listed status but it is locally listed and is a prominent building and represents the final stages of rebuilding of Grimsby Town Centre after the destruction caused by the Second World War.
"Whilst it is appreciated that there are security issues, proposals in conservation areas should seek to enhance the special character of the area preserving those features which make a positive contribution to its special interest."
Humberside police have also queried the project, noting that shutters are prone to being vandalised or despoiled by crude graffiti.
Its crime reduction officer, Marc Dias, notes there are superior alternative and far more pleasing options, such as the use of strengthened glass, as adopted by many High Street retailers.
Despite the opposition and his own misgivings, the case officer has this week been persuaded - by his own judgement - to approve the scheme.
Says his report: "Roller shutters are unfortunate features of the modern urban environment and can have a significant detrimental impact particularly within urban environments where they represent closed frontages rather than attractive open and active elevations as outlined by the objector to this scheme.
"Equally, however, acts of anti-social behaviour and criminality have pushed many property owners towards such security measures.
"In this instance, the library is a prominent and important feature within the Central Grimsby Conservation Area and is itself an important local building both in terms of the history of post war rebuilding of the town centre but also as an attractive quality modernist design in itself.
"The entrance of the library is located on George Street and is represented by, in essence, an open void to the north western corner of the frontage.
"Whilst an attractive large circular seal type feature is positioned to the side wall of the entrance steps and the honeycomb designed walling above creates a change from the main building design, the actual entrance is simply an unassuming open void.
"Indeed, the pedestrian ramp is perhaps the greatest feature that signifies the location of the entrance.
"As an undercroft the entrance is generally in shadow and appears as a darkened void. The proposed shutter would effect the significance of the building, be utilitarian in appearance and would be visible particularly when viewed flat on from across the street.
"Nevertheless it would be set slightly into the undercroft void due to the position of the front steps and pedestrian ramp.
"This would reduce its presence within the street scene and, if powder coated black, as agreed, would in many ways simply replicate the blank appearance of the void in the overall building design.
"When viewed at close range the shutter would be visible detracting from the appearance of the entrance but, the current blue shutter already installed over the entrance doors is also visible and so any impacts over and above the current situation would not perhaps be as great as expected.
"It is accepted that the shutter would be located so that it would partially obscure the date stone of the library and appear slightly awkward to the glazed wall to the right side of the undercroft.
"It is considered therefore that the proposal would have a harmful impact on the character and appearance of the library but for the reasons stated above the impact to significance would be 'less than substantial'.
The Grimsby News says: This is a woeful decision. What is the point of seeking to enhance the area with initiatives such as new paving, then despoiling the area with yet more roller shutters which look crude and soulless? And there is another important consideration - one of an ethical nature. Given the controversy, why was this matter not referred to the borough's planning committee whose members are impartial. How is it that North East Lincolnshire Council/ Engie are allowed to decide on their own applications - in essence, to mark their own homework? It is a grossly unfair privilege afforded to no other individual, firm or organisation seeking a planning consent. Does NELC's chief executive think this is correct? What about the two local MPs? Or the Planning Inspectorate? Or the Local Government Ombudsman? There needs to be an inquiry. In the meantime, surely there is at least one local councillor sufficiently concerned about the appearance of Grimsby town centre to call in this unwise decision for the appropriate level of impartial scrutiny?
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