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Stronger rules for Spalding town centre’s pedestrian zone to come into force in the summer after signage is sorted




New rules which will stop cars and vans travelling through a town centre during the day are not likely to come into effect until the summer.

Nearly 500 days on from the public stating that they did not want to see cars travelling through Spalding town centre - motorists are continuing to flout the much ignored Traffic Restriction Order (TRO) and the installation of a barrier to stop vehicle is still months away.

Pedestrians should be able to wander around the town’s shops without having to worry about vehicles as the current rules dictate that cars are not supposed to enter Hall Place and Market Place between 10am and 4pm on Monday to Saturday and on market days.

Coun Richard Davies says stronger rules to prevent parking in Spalding town centre are likely to come into effect in the summer
Coun Richard Davies says stronger rules to prevent parking in Spalding town centre are likely to come into effect in the summer

But this is not the case — and there have been a number of near misses as pedestrians dodge cars while out shopping in the town centre.

Lincolnshire County Council has been re-writing the current TRO - which can only be enforced by the police and not traffic wardens - but the promised stronger rules cannot come into effect until new signage has been sorted.

Coun Richard Davies, executive member for highways said: "We’re currently in the process of confirming the electrical works required so that we can get the traffic signs needed to bring the restrictions into effect.

Coun Richard Davies
Coun Richard Davies

"Once we've got that done, we will get the scheme to our contractor. At the moment we're looking at this being up and running for the summer."

In 2023, Spalding Town Forum conducted a survey to find out what people thought of the TRO - and the majority of the 815 people who responded wanted to see no general vehicle access on weekdays and Saturdays between 10am and 4pm. They also wanted clear rules to be enforced.

The results of the consultation were released on September 26 2023 — 492 days ago.

Market Place and Hall Place are pedestrianised
Market Place and Hall Place are pedestrianised

A new barrier, which will be created by Spalding’s Chain Bridge Forge, is due to block the road in Broad Street in order to prevent vehicles from getting into the town centre.

Another consultation was held by the county council last year when they asked town centre businesses their views on a number of proposals including removing parking spaces in Market Place, providing more disabled parking, revoking taxi ranks and limited waiting.

Chairman of Spalding Town Forum, Coun Rob Gibson, said it was ‘disappointing’ that it is taking so long to get the TRO sorted.

He said: “I appreciate that anything in government takes longer but I didn’t think it would take this long. I thought we would be in a position to get the barrier up and resolving the issue that people asked us to look at.

“When I first started, I was told that I would never get it (the TRO) done so I am pleased that it will be done — but I am disappointed that it has taken so long.”

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