Breakthrough in Pleasure Island revamp scheme as Environment Agency withdraws its objection

 

Most of the trees and shrubs - along with the songbirds and butterflies - will be lost if the former theme park is redeveloped - but, hey, that's 'progress' 

THERE appears to have been a breakthrough in the project to redevelop the site of the former Pleasure Island theme park on the outskirts of Cleethorpes.

A consortium is keen to clear the land of most of its its trees, shrubs and redundant buildings to make way for a Lidl supermarket, 272 holiday lodges and possibly two hotels, entertainment buildings and a garden centre.

Up until last month the Environment Agency had opposed the proposal for fear that lives could be lost in the event of a 1953-type North Sea surge or fluvial flooding from the Buck Beck which runs alongside the site.

But after tweaks in the proposed layout of the site - and an assurance that there would be no winter occupation of any of the lodges - the EA has formally withdrawn its objection 

Not that this guarantees the scheme will proceed.

Although there is plenty of local support for the revamp, there are are also many objectors, especially from nearby residents living who have serious concerns about noise and traffic.

Natural England is also a longstanding objector to the scheme because it fears a substantial influx of holiday visitors will disturb globally-threatened shorebirds that spend autumn and winter on this part of the Lincolnshire Coast.

Since being abandoned some two decades ago the parkland-type grounds of Pleasure Island have themselves become rich in nature - particularly songbirds.

When ornithological surveys were carried out between 2019 and 2022, the recorded some 58 species, but this research now needs updating because new breeding species are likely to have  moved in. 

Pleasure Island is also  thought to be one of the last few - possibly the last - breeding sites in North East Lincolnshire of a once common but now rapidly declining bird, the cuckoo.

To be heard most mornings between now and the end of June, the bird - which migrates here from the Congo - is thought to lay its eggs in the nests of the reed warblers which occupy the reedbeds of the site's lake.

But both species would be lost to redevelopment because the project envisages clearance of most of the greenery and clearance of the reeds to accommodate anglers.

Following the withdrawal of its objection  by the Environment Agency,  it is thought that North East Lincolnshire Council  planners might now move to determine the application, possibly as soon as later this summer.

                                                   

Because they call from the uppermost branches of trees, cuckoos, such as this bird, are not easy to see, but they definitely like life at Pleasure Island