MP for Grantham and Bourne Gareth Davies writes about 'busy couple of weeks' in Lincolnshire and parliament

It has been a very busy couple of weeks for our constituency and parliament, writes Gareth Davies, MP for Grantham and Bourne.

With the weather slowly improving, I know many will be looking forward to the spring which is now in touching distance. In our constituency and down in parliament, it has been a busy couple of weeks, so I wanted to use my column to provide a short update on just some of the key local events.

Just last week, I was proud to join Lincolnshire farmers and others in their second national protest, with hundreds of tractors again descending on Whitehall outside of the treasury to send a message to the Government against their family farm tax.

This new tax will mean farming families, some who have nurtured their land for centuries, will face large new tax bills when passing their farms to future generations, potentially forcing them to sell their farms and placing our national food security at risk.

As I have written here before, this new tax is just one prong of the Government’s attack on farmers and rural areas. I have been in regular contact with our local NFU and others as we work to oppose this and I look forward to meeting with more local farmers, this time from around Bourne, again in the coming weeks.

As well as looking after much of our local environment, family farms uphold much of our rural heritage too.

Our local heritage comes in many forms. Residents in Grantham and all who access services at Grantham Hospital will recognise the abandoned buildings outside of the hospital site along Manthorpe Road. Like so much of our heritage, I know that these buildings, which used to make up the Old Cottage Hospital, mean a lot to many people.

While the buildings are still owned by the NHS, because they are part of our collective heritage, I have always pushed our local NHS leaders to consult local people before they take decisions on their future.

I'm glad that starting this week, our local NHS Hospital Trust will do just this. Whether you have a bright idea over their future use or just want to share your view on this landmark, I encourage everyone to contribute to the public consultation before it closes at the end of March via the following link - https://www.ulh.nhs.uk/news/have-your-say-and-help-to-develop-the-future-plans-for-the-front-of-grantham-and-district-hospital/.

Finally, it was excellent to join Roger Graves and the team from the Grantham Rotary Club recently at their 36th Swimarathon, cheering on just a few of the 1,400 local swimmers who have raised £43,000 so far this year alone.

As one of the largest single fundraising events in our area and one of the first ‘swimarathons’ in the country, over the last 35 years, they have raised over £1 million in total for local charities and causes.

So on behalf of all across our area, thank you to the Rotary Club, the swimmers, and all who donated for supporting another very successful event.