A six-day quest for a comment from the Lincolnshire Co-op about its Market Square premises has so far had an inconclusive outcome.
The Citizen was seeking a response after publishing an article about the state of empty buildings in the town.
Last week, the Citizen revealed that the former Lincolnshire Co-op premises was criticised by East Midlands In Bloom judges. They cited the Co-op as a reason for marking Caistor down.
The Co-op had repainted the former shop frontage – with dramatic results – in time for the East Midlands judging.
Townspeople were delighted that the work had been carried out. They praised Caistor In Bloom, the Civic Society, the Town Council, the Citizen and individuals such as Cliff Rust and Rick Merrall for keeping up pressure for the work to be done.
Lincolnshire Co-op had given the impression that vinyls would also be fitted promptly to the windows of the Grade II Listed building.
The Market Square premises has been empty since the Co-op moved to a new building off the High Street five years ago. The interior of the building looks untidy and dilapidated, and is clearly visible to people walking past. The windows are also dirty.
Mr Michael Galligan, who is well-known for his hard work for Caistor In Bloom, said the delay in fitting the vinyls “showed contempt for the town.”
The Citizen telephoned the Lincolnshire Co-op last Thursday (October 1) to ask for a comment.
At the start of the call, the communications officer appeared to mistake the Citizen for the Civic Society, and named a person the Citizen knows to be a member of it. The press officer confirmed that he had already been inquiring about the vinyls.
After the Citizen made it clear the call was a press inquiry, the exchange switched to email. The Citizen asked specifically about the vinyls and whether there were any covenants on the building.
The communications officer said she would speak to the estates office and “see what I can do”.
Yesterday morning (Wednesday, October 7, 2015), the Citizen sent an email to Lincolnshire Co-op’s Chief Executive Ursula Lidbetter, explaining that it was still awaiting a response. The email to Ms Lidbetter highlighted the “contempt for the town” comment and again asked whether there were any covenants on the Market Square building. A photograph was attached to the email, showing a recent view of the Co-op building taken near one of its windows.
Ms Lidbetter responded to assure the Citizen that a press comment would be forthcoming.
“We’re pleased that the work we have carried out on the building so far has been recognised and appreciated by people in Caistor and we’re grateful for their patience with the difficulties that come with maintaining a listed building,” said the statement, when it arrived soon afterwards.
“We are currently working with a specialist who we have commissioned to produce vinyls for the windows and we’re really excited about some of the interesting graphics that have been created so far.
“Finding a suitable and economic use for the building still remains a priority for which we are considering all options. We are still working with Heritage Lincolnshire and are hopeful that together we may be able to bring this important landmark building back into use.”
Mr Galligan, from Caistor In Bloom, expressed disappointment that the Co-op had not given a timetable for the vinyls when told about the statement.
“We thought we were going to have them put up before the judging, which was mid-July,” he said.
The statement by Lincolnshire Co-op made no reference to the alleged covenants on the building.
The Lincolnshire Co-op Group reported profits of £10.1m on sales of £143m in the half year to March 2015 – the latest period for which figures are available, according to the www.thenews.coop website.
I’m surprised that you don’t mention that I received an email reply from the Coops CEO two days ago reference the vinyls which was very encouraging. She said they were picking up on the vinyles and was very excited with the prospect. I did copy Stewart Wall of Caistor Citizen, Michael Callahan and Deborah Barker both of Caistor in Bloom in with the email from her. So credit where credits due, although would have been nice sooner.
The story does mention that The Co-op say they are working with a specialist concerning the vinyls Cliff. Well done for keeping up the pressure