A unique pond and piece of land in North Cleethorpes was in private hands but Big Local explored ways on how to bring it back into use for the local community
When? 2012-2022
Chapman’s Pond in the North Cleethorpes area was formed from a pit used in the manufacture of bricks by the company owned by the Walwyn Thomas Chapman family between 1881 and the start of the first World War when production ceased. The pit became flooded when a freshwater spring broke out into the pit which had to be constantly pumped out to enable brick production to continue.
When the site closed, the spring has maintained the water level to the present day. Local myth says that the pit and pond are bottomless! It is a very substantial body of fresh water in very close proximity to the sea.
Left derelict, the site was acquired by a local property developer some years ago with the intention of creating a housing development although various attempts at securing planning permission had failed.
Right from the outset of the Big Local North Cleethorpes programme, there had been an interest from the Partnership committee to explore ways to bring the Chapmans Pond back to the community to provide some local benefit. A vision of the committee from as far back as 2014 was with the pond being used as a water sports centre and fishing amenity as well as a natural wildlife site.
Big Local North Cleethorpes included the Pond in later planning exercises with a small financial allocation that would allow a broader finance package to be levered in should the site become available.
The committee kept a dialogue going with the developer so that we could understand his intentions. No purchase of the site for community use would be possible until the developer was satisfied that he has exhausted every avenue towards getting the planning permission necessary to develop the site.
In the first few years Big Local North Cleethorpes was supported by Local Trust nationally to access support and advice from a specialist in land asset management – Shared Assets. Whilst a feasibility study done by Shared Assets would have been possible, the developer was reluctant to allow this feasibility work to proceed in case it raised risks of jeopardising any future planning application.
In 2022 there was even an attempt by Big Local to contact the Environment Agency in an attempt to get expert advice on the advisability of draining Chapman’s Pond and its proximity to the Humber Estuary, but this never proceeded far.
A vision had been that an investment of £15-25k from Big Local North Cleethorpes would have allowed us to lever in a financial package of up to £750k. However, during 2022 discussions with the developer made it clear that he was in no rush to contest the use of the site for housing and would wait out to see how things developed.
It was clear at this stage that no project would take place within the timescales of the Big Local programme, so a decision was taken to stop pursuing this project. Instead this freed up additional funding to help Big Local North Cleethorpes with the purchase of 82 Grimsby Road to develop into a community hub.
This was an example of a project that Big Local North Cleethorpes could have brought to fruition, but in the end the factors controlling the success were totally out of control of the committee.
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A flyover of Chapmans Pond shows exactly what it looks like.
