New Lincolnshire County Council deputy leader hopes new rules for Spalding town centre will be in place by September

More than 644 days after people said they wanted cars to stop travelling through the town centre - we are still waiting for a date of when the new rules will make it illegal.

Spalding town centre is supposed to be a pedestrian zone in which shoppers can roam around freely without having to worry about the dangers posed by cars and vans flying through.

But this is not the case as motorists are regularly ignoring the current rules - only enforceable by the police - which 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.

Lincolnshire County Council has been working on a new traffic restriction order (TRO) for months - and the authority’s new deputy leader Rob Gibson is still unable to provide a date of when this will come into force.

Speaking at a recent Spalding Town Forum meeting, Coun Gibson told colleagues that he hoped the new rules would be in place by the next meeting - in September.

Coun Gibson, who is also chairman of the forum and a South Holland district councillor, said: “The TRO is written and in place. They are waiting for the street works (team) to give a date for the electrics to be changed.

“The signs and street markings have to be done at the same time as it will not be lawful so we are having to wait street works to comeback. They are subcontractors to the county council so we not got the pull for immediate date.”

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.

Another consultation was held by the county council in 2024 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.

One of the things which had been previously promised as part of the plans to stop cars from entering the town centre was the introduction of a barrier or a gate.

Designs, which had been compiled by Spalding’s Chain Bridge Forge, had been put to a previous meeting of the town forum.

Coun Gibson shared with the meeting the costs of rising bollards which are being proposed for Stamford - which are £12,000 per bollard and £3,000 per year for inspection, upkeep and electricity.

Coun James Le Sage later asked about whether the forum should have been looking at designs for the gate and Coun Gibson responded to say that he had never received prices from the Forge. Coun Le Sage will be organising a meeting to discuss this.

While Coun Gary Taylor asked if the forum could ‘press’ for the new restrictions to be in place before September.

He said: “As we know different vehicles going through the town centre are a regular occurrence and at speed.

“We need to make the town centre as safe for pedestrians families, children and those with mobility issues. We need to make sure we deliver on this.”

Coun Gibson said he hoped to have an answer shortly on the date but stated that the county council had been going through leadership changes.

Forum member Christine Lawton said that rising bollards had been discussed over a decade ago but had been deemed too expensive.