Letters to LincsOnline - views on the news in Lincolnshire and Rutland
Readers have had plenty to say on what’s in the news.
Here we share some of the letters, emails and comments that have come in over the week, including this great observation from our cartoonist, John Elson.
Don’t forget, you can always get in touch by emailing news@lincsonline.co.uk
Where is our banner?
The Welland Valley Arts Society holds two exhibitions per year in the Art Centre Stamford.
Each year we put a banner announcing the exhibition along the railings by the bridge at the entrance to the Meadows, where the ice cream van parks.
The spring exhibition has just finished so we went to take down the banner but it was not there.
It is white with large red lettering and about 20 feet long. It was attached by ropes and ties on the river side of the railing, so it could be seen by people walking across the Meadows path towards the car park.
It caused no obstruction and was firmly attached.
The excellent Stamford Litter Pickers reported that they had cleared bits of coloured rope and string, the same colours as we used to attach the banner to the railings at 5.45am on Saturday, May 11.
We believe the banner was cut down by yobs on May 10, as part of the Friday evening yobbery to which we seem to be subjected.
It would now be helpful if one of the yobs would tell us where they threw the banner as it is not in the small stream immediately below the railings. We need to get the banner back.
We would also be most grateful to anyone who can shed light on where it has gone. It is an expensive banner and we would very much like to have it back.
Comments and/or information please to David Allen 01780 765480.
David Allen
Welland Valley Arts Society
Supermarket plan is not right
I am concerned that the application for an Aldi store in Bourne is in the wrong location, being by an ancient woodland, close to a roundabout that apparently has incorrect camber for turning lorries, and in a location where the natural western springs from under the Jurassic Kesteven Uplands emerge onto what was once the marshes of The Wash on their way to the east coast sea.
Those natural springs create the Blind Well, The Bourne Eua river and St Peter's Pool.
I believe the wildlife including rare species and their habitat will suffer, as the badgers suffered when Elsea Park was built.
I believe the location is incorrect for an industrial-sized supermarket. That area is green fields backing onto the wildlife foraging skirt of the ancient Kesteven Forest and sacred to Bourne residents as stipulated in our emerging Neighbourhood Plan.
I believe under core strategy EN1, points1/2/4/10 it is South Kesteven District Council's duty to protect and enhance the character of our district.
Also, under policy EN2 4.2.1, inappropriate development is discouraged, which is likely to increase the risk of flooding elsewhere.
These are both policies, I believe, as we have used them many times in the past, that can be upheld in a court to prevent this supermarket being built in the wrong location near our beloved Kesteven Forest, which is a haven of peace and quiet for the wildlife and residents/visitors alike.
Development work would definitely create noise, dust and light, all detrimental to the wildlife.
'Appropriate development in appropriate locations' is the mantra for SKDC, I was told many years ago. To be able to enhance and preserve our very special market town with such special natural amenities which enhances the quality of life for our residents, visitors and business people, which is also the aim of all neighbourhood plans.
We were given the core strategies to enable us to do this, and the district Local Plan.
After struggling for three hours, I still couldn't locate the district council’s recommended form to fill in online, and wonder how many others couldn't locate it. I was told the email address alternative doesn't work either.
Helen Powell
Bourne
Don’t stop people parking
Lincolnshire County Council is making decisions about Stamford again, now stopping parking near Malcolm Sargent Primary School.
Both my children went there and it is an excellent school. My son is now 50, so the school must be 45+ years old.
As a disabled driver, I needed to park near the school entrance to pick up my children when they were small.
There is no universal bus service to the school and many pupils live out of town. The alternative to parking near the school is to use Sutherland Way or the housing estate roads behind the school. This also causes access problems.
To just ban parking in the layby near the school may help through traffic but will cause problems for parents dropping off and collecting children. Stamford is not Lincoln and we do not have convenient bus services and stops all over town.
Consider those of us who live in or near Stamford, not just through traffic. Remember parents are also voters.
Marjorie Needham, former town mayor
By email
Sewage is a big concern
I am very concerned about the state of the rivers in our district, the pollution of sewage entering our rivers. Our sewage works are not able to deal with the quantity of waste water from the population.
The SKDC planning committee still keeps giving permission for more and more houses to be built. This must stop until we have new works to cope with their waste.
Michael Lee
Stamford
Wine signs are not the problem
I read with interest the letter headed ‘increasingly dangerous road’ in the Mercury on May 10.
I’m disappointed that the author of the letter didn’t feel confident enough to use their name. However, I feel they are much-misinformed and felt compelled to respond, if they think the focus of the problems with Essendine and the dangers of the A6121 are around the signage of the Mallard Point vineyard.
Before replying to the points they raised in their letter, I need to point out that this road passes through Lincolnshire and Rutland, and therefore I can only respond from the Rutland stance as follows:
The absence of visible flashing signs, pedestrian crossing and traffic calming measures in Essendine is not for the want of trying over many years. There is a huge amount of red tape and criteria - which we have repeatedly been told we do not meet - to have these measures put in place.
We do indeed have blue warning markers on the road at each end of Essendine and two flashing speed indicator signs (one of which has been broken for many months). In 2023, the speed safety camera vans were only in the village 23 times all year.
We undertook one Community Speed Watch which was conducted by volunteer residents in April this year.
I strongly disagree with the author that our priorities are wrong. The bridge at the Bourne end of the village does indeed have a sharp bend, but heading down to that bend, is a long straight stretch of road which is regularly used as a race track. In fact for motorcyclists, the A6121 through Essendine is part of the infamous ‘Rutland TT circuit’, where the bikers open up at speed from the Braceborough turn to Essendine.
During the 34 years I have lived in the village, many have misjudged that bend and left the road. Many vehicles too have been statistics on that bend, through speeding.
Mallard Point vineyard and distillery is a wonderful business, set up through hard work and investment by the Beamish family. Why shouldn’t he put up a sign advertising his business? If motorists and bikers hit his robustly made sign, it is because they are travelling too fast and have misjudged the bend.
It doesn’t and shouldn’t fit into road safety measures for Essendine. Motorists need to be sensible with their speed on that stretch of the road and slow down in plenty of time and thus avoid leaving the road and potentially hitting the sign.
During the recent Community Speed Watch campaign, which I coordinated and we shared with the village of Ryhall in the monitoring period, we recorded nearly 400 vehicles doing in excess of 36mph, an equivalent of approximately 10 vehicles per hour through the two villages.
All motorists need to remember that speed limits are in place for a reason.The anonymous author of the letter would know how dangerous the road is through Essendine if they walked, as we and many others do daily, taking our lives in our hands with the speed and the lunacy of some drivers carrying out dangerous manoeuvres.
Our children and parents dice with death everyday crossing that road to get to the school bus stops, and it is only a matter of time before there will be a tragic accident.
So, the essence of my letter to the author, and to anybody who regularly breaks the speed limit through our village, is to slow down. Stick to the speed limit and Essendine will be safer, accident free and a quieter village.
Adele Stainsby
Essendine
A review of Rutland Sinfonia
I was treated to a spectacular performance by the Rutland Sinfonia on Saturday, May 11, at the noteworthy St Peter’s Church in Oundle. As a newcomer to their performance, I was awestruck by the standard of the music that was created.
The warm night started with the recognisable Overture from Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet. The conflicts within the theme of romance and aggression were perfectly executed and I felt as though I was watching a show.
The talented soloist Amalia Young joined the orchestra for Prokofiev’s violin concerto No 1 in D major. The intricacy of the music and the skilful execution was appreciated by a discerning crowd who were plainly acquainted with the complexity of the music and how it should be conveyed.
The night finished with the Symphony No 5 in D minor by Shostakovich. It was a well-chosen finale, confidently directed by the conductor.
Music at this level is possible only due to the generosity and skill of the music director Paul Hilliam and the extraordinary relationship he has with the musicians in his orchestra and leader Katherine Collison, which was evident all throughout the performance.
One doesn't have to go to the city to hear this level of playing, and is made more significant as these gifted musicians are from our community.
Suchi Williams
A Centenary Worth Celebrating
An open letter to our MP, Alicia Kearns (Con - Rutland and Melton)
The Rutland Memorial Cottage Hospital in Oakham was built as a memorial to the local men who lost their lives during the First World War.
The actual scheme to build the hospital was set in motion at a meeting held at the Victoria Hall in Oakham on June 28, 1920. The official opening ceremony took place on February 19, with the hospital opening for patients on February 26, 1925.
As we approach the centenary of this much-loved community asset, would it not be fantastic if Rutland residents could celebrate everything that the hospital and its staff have done for us by the Government finally confirming the funding promised in March 2023 for a new MRI scanner to be based in Rutland?
It would fulfil the promise of increased health provision at ‘place’ for residents in a rural county such as Rutland and be something for all of us to really celebrate.
Coun Ramsay Ross
Leader of the Labour Group, Rutland County Council
I’m annoyed by my ‘naughty’ tag
I am writing to say how annoyed I am to receive a 'naughty' tag on my grey recycle bin this week. The tag implies I put soft plastics or bags in, which I know is wrong, as I always put these in a separate bag to take to ASDA.
The bin was still emptied but the tag warns that they may not empty it in the future. This is very worrying as I'm still not sure what I've done wrong. I try very hard to follow the council guidelines, but to be honest, I find the guidelines rather vague and confusing.
It seems practically impossible to be sure what should go in what bin. As I walked along Red Cross and Alford Street where I live I noticed many other grey bins with the same tags, so I'm clearly not the only one struggling with this.
I find all this very stressful and I think others in Grantham are feeling the same way. I feel we are paying a lot of council tax to get a stressful and unsatisfactory service and I am worried every time the recycle bins are due.
I rang the council to express my anger and made a formal complaint and they confirmed they have received numerous similar complaints. They have promised to look into it and said someone would get back to me.
On a different matter, I see the council are wasting more money on works in the Market Place which we don't need. Surely that money could be better spent elsewhere. Repairing the roads for example, many of which are in a disgraceful condition.
Penny Lucas
Alford Street, Grantham
Cyclists should be more responsible
Why do the majority of cyclists and electric scooter riders wear very dark clothing when using our busy roads? Even on bright days they become almost invisible in shaded areas. In bad weather they are virtually impossible to see when dressed all in black or similar colours. Teenage pupils are particularly vulnerable in their dark school uniforms and often wearing black back-packs.
Schools should be more proactive about making pupils more visible when cycling to school.
Also, why do cyclists often insist on using the roads where dedicated cycle paths are available?
This practice is often seen on the busy A607 between Grantham and Belton and even on Springfield Road on the edge of town.
Surely it is time all cyclists took more responsibility for their own safety and were forced to wear cycle helmets and high-vis clothing and they should use all dedicated cycle paths provided to keep them safe.
Lynda North
Grantham
