'Come on planners, make Grantham the town it was,' says carnival chairman Roy Wright

Roy Wright, chairman of Grantham Carnival and Events Group, writes:

I have spent time throughout 2019 thinking back, nostalgically, of how Grantham was whilst I was growing up.

Unfortunately, I came to the conclusion that the state of the town was as bad as it gets, in every way.

I feel that foremost in causing the decline has been the terrible and irresponsible way that planners have allowed a mish-mash of buildings, some of them very ugly, to be erected in some prominent positions.

To make way for this, large areas of the old town have been flattened.

With forethought, these areas could now have been super pedestrianised shopping streets.

Added to this some comic cut decisions by the highways department on the road layout and we have been left with the town on its knees.

However, with the eventual completion of the new relief road, the town will have a chance to re-invent itself. I would urge, and if I were in power demand, that the planners get it right this time. If they can’t, they should move out and bring in somebody who can.

It will require somebody with vision to completely rethink traffic management to include a sensible and constructive parking system. Getting it right this time will see the town revive and survive.

So come on planners, make Grantham the town it was; a town with a heart full of hustle and bustle.

I hope my new year optimism is well founded.

A happy, prosperous and trouble-free 2020.