BRIGG CAR PARKING IS KEY ISSUE

The former Lidl store, with Tesco in the distance.

There is genuine concern about loss of shoppers' car parking spaces near Brigg town centre, arising from plans to reopen the former Lidl store.
Tesco, which owns the old Lidl premises and surrounding land, has submitted a planning application for consideration by North Lincolnshire Council.
Tesco has another retailer interested in taking on the ex-Lidl premises but the newcomer does not require all the spaces currently available.
It's also Tesco's intention to create a boundary between its store and the newcomer's car parking area and to add a touch of greenery.
It is suggested the end result will be 38 fewer parking spaces.
Brigg Town Council has written to district planners, expressing its concerns about the loss of car parking spaces for shoppers in an area where public transport is not the best.
Some businesses in Spring's Parade have also objected, saying their trade will suffer if less car parking is available nearby.
Former Brigg councillor Chris Dyson has written to North Lincolnshire Council, suggesting that as more people now have cars "the local authority standard" of 109 spaces which applies in this case is too low, rather than too high, as the applicant suggests.
When Brigg Town Council discussed the matter at its last meeting in the Angel Suite, Coun Mike Campion suggested that applying to have fewer car parking spaces near stores appeared "a bizarre thing to do" although he felt everyone welcomed redevelopment of this site.
Deputy Town Mayor Coun Ann Eardley said the application should be refused, stressing: "We haven't got enough car parking."
Coun Jane Kitching said what was proposed would affect the town of Brigg and its shoppers.
Coun Paul Keane pointed out that people connected with businesses in Spring's Parade used this area for parking their cars to free up other spaces for customers to use outside their premises.
But Coun Carl Sherwood added that although he agreed with what had been said by other councillors the area being discussed was privately-owned.
Coun Penny Smith then successfully suggested that the Town Council should object and highlight poor public transport in the Brigg area.
North Lincolnshire Council will accept comments on this application up to Thursday, June 4. Email them to  planning@northlincs.gov.uk
Tesco's application is now said to be under consideration but the surprising thing is it is "likely" to be decided by council officers, rather than the planning committee of elected councillors, to which "major applications"  are often referred.
Previous Tesco and Lidl applications for Brigg have got "to committee" but not this one.
The application does not seem a major one: "Planning application to vary condition no 2 and 3 of planning application 2000/0889."
However, it is of great importance to the town of Brigg, hundreds of shoppers, a number of small businesses, and, of course, Tesco and the newcomer taking over the ex-Lidl store.
The council's expert planning staff now decide most applications and do a very good job, with few of their decisions being challenged on appeal.
However, the traditional system of decided applications at a monthly meeting of the district planning committee not only gives elected councillors the chance to debate the merits, or otherwise, of an application, it also offers interested members of the public an opportunity to have their say before the councillors vote for or against.
Planning committee meetings are held in the Civic Centre at Scunthorpe.
The committee quite often decides to hold a site visit, putting back a decision until the following meeting.
Brigg Blog's view, for what it's worth, it this application should be sent to the planning committee and that a site visit would be a very good idea, allowing any councillors who are unfamiliar with the current car parking arrangements to take a look.