Work revealed in £230k plan to celebrate Spalding’s River Welland and make it more of an attraction

Natural artwork along with new signs and habitats are being created as part of a project which received more than £200,000 to celebrate a town’s heritage and river.

The Spalding Reconnected Project was announced two years ago after it had receiving a £233,263 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund - and soon people will finally be able to see what the money has been used on.

Aimed at celebrating the town’s rich history and heritage, the scheme will result in artworks installed along the banks of the River Welland and ‘wayfinder’ signs.

South Holland District Council, Heritage Lincolnshire, Transported Art, East Mercia Rivers Trust and Lincolnshire County Council have all been involved in the project.

A district council spokesman said: “Transported Arts has engaged the community to encourage them to share their thoughts and ideas on what they see as important to Spalding’s heritage so that both the places and themes reflect the history of the town.

“This will culminate in an event in November that will unveil and celebrate a series of commissioned natural artworks that will have been installed/planted on the riverside.”

Improving the environment along the river bank in Spalding by boosting the vegetation is also planned.

The statement added: “East Mercia Rivers Trust are working with the Crown Estate (owners and custodians of the river) and South Holland District Council to agree legal permissions for installing coir roll and biosphere flora habitats in the river by the end of September, and a tender exercise will be completed within the next week to select to company that will undertake this work.

“This comes following East Mercia Rivers Trust’s engagement work with local primary schools and volunteers, whereby local schools helped nurture and release elvers into the river, and volunteers worked in partnership with the trust to plant wildflower areas along the riverbank in Spring.”

Heritage Lincolnshire organised workshops last year in order to produce a heritage strategy and this is in the ‘final stages of editing’. The document is due to be published at the end of September.

The council added: “Following a period of research and consultation by Landmark (the company selected to deliver the design stage), the Spalding town and Riverside Design Specification Pack has now been produced and South Holland District Council is seeking quotes from a range of design and signage companies to complete the final manufacture and install stage. Information monoliths/boards, street fingerpost signage and waymarkers are expected to be complete by the end of November.”

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