Letter writers from Stamford, Spalding, Grantham and Rutland share their views with LincsOnline
Readers have once again 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 cartoon from John Elson.
Send your letters to: news@lincsonline.co.uk
They should make a decision
I am writing regarding the recent Rutland planning committee meeting of February 18, which dealt with the application to build 63 houses to the south of the village of Ryhall. I understand the provisional planning permission was granted and out of nine members, two voted for the application one voted against and SIX abstained!
My question, therefore, is what is the point of having six councillors on the committee who are unable to come to an informed decision one way or the other? I was under the impression that councillors were elected to make decisions not to take an easy way out and 'abstain'.
If they were unable to make a decision I wonder if there was any point in them being elected as councillors in the first place.
Terry Sutton
Ryhall
Speak to councillors
The March Oakham South Ward surgery will take place on Saturday, March 1, at The George Hotel in Oakham Town Square, 10am to midday, no appointment is necessary. Councillors Paul Browne, Diane Ellison and myself will be present. Thank you.
Coun Raymond Payne
Rutland County Council (Lib Dem)
Chance to have your say
We recognise the great interest being taken in the changes being proposed for Local Government in our area.
Last week Coun Waller, leader of the council, published an update on the approach being developed in collaboration between the Leicestershire District Councils and Rutland. We support this approach.
Rutland County Council will launch an initial public engagement during week commencing February 24, 2025. This first phase of engagement will inform the councils’ interim plans for reorganisation which must be submitted to Government by March 21, 2025. The interim plan is just that: interim. A final plan must be approved by 28 November 2025. There will be many more opportunities to get involved and make your views heard over the coming year.
Details are available on the council's website. We urge residents to sign up for the council's weekly newsletter as a source of current information.
If you wish to discuss this, or any other matter of concern, please contact us through our Rutland County Council email address to make an appointment:-
Cllr Steve McRobb: SMcRobb@rutland.gov.uk
Cllr Ramsay Ross :RRoss@rutland.gov.uk
Appointments will be held in the George Hotel or another suitable venue at a time to suit you.
A notice for surgeries will continue to be posted at the beginning of each month.
Councillors Steve McRobb and Ramsay Ross
Rutland County Council (Lab)
How to know you are in Rutland
Some 40 years ago I helped compile the book The Place-Names of Rutland. Last week letters in your papers and some articles compel me to help Rutlanders and others know where they actually are.
The quickest answer is to look at the end of a place name. If it ends in '...by' (Scandinavian for 'village') there's plenty of them, but they won't be in Rutland.
What about the name Normanton? That's in Rutland because it is utterly unusual, caused by a grab by a Norman farmer long before 1066 or the Domesday Book a bit later. Indeed, every place name in Rutland now has kept its earlier original Anglo-Saxon name.
Surely not Edith Weston? That was indeed a royal estate, part of a system where Edith, the widow of a dead king before 1066, was given land and safety in Rutland, just west of Ketton.
So what about the name Rutland itself? A powerful strongman in the area called Rota (pronounced Ruta) in the years after the Romans left. The Place-Names of Rutland say his name could also mean "bright and cheerful".
The book can be firm: "Stamford's lands north of River Welland were no doubt once part of the ancient territory of Rutland".
I wish The Place-Names of Rutland were more plentiful and less heavy to hold. The 48 sides of the Introduction explain clearly how to know you are in Rutland and should be accessible to all Rutlanders. The wonderful rest contains the evidence of all Rutland names of field, village and town. It is unique.
Linda Worrall
Barrowden
We should be supporting businesses
What a great shame South Kesteven District Council and Councillor Philip Knowles wish to penalise small start up street trader businesses with £1,000 fines (Rutland & Stamford Mercury - February 14).
We should be supporting the businesses. These traders need to keep their costs as low as possible and temporary stalls and vans can provide an excellent way to get a business off the ground without the expensive overheads associated with a shop unit.
We should be encouraging these start up traders with discounted licences, especially in their first year of trading, not trying to throttle them at birth with the heavy hand of a £1000 fine.
Let’s have a sensible approach here.
Sue Woolley
Lincolnshire County Council (Con)
Do you regret ‘leave’ vote?
Under European Union law, education fees are zero rated for VAT so I wonder how many independent school parents now regret voting LEAVE in 2016?
Duncan Lingard
Stamford
We need our own waste service
Peterborough Unitary Authority has decided to restrict its household recycling centre to those living in Peterborough from February 24. So, Stamford residents are not allowed to use it.
Surely an expanding town like Stamford should have its own facility, or a place in town to take items to be transported to the recycling facility in Bourne. Dare I mention a Saturday collection service? Otherwise, perhaps can we contact SKDC to collect our recycling from our homes for free?
An aggrieved resident (name and address supplied)
Stamford
A review is needed after weather bomb
Last week I attended the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee. I wanted to ask the council what they were going to do about flooding following the weather bomb that hit Grantham last month - our normal weather squashed up into a few hours - causing high winds, heavy rain and flooding.
I was not the only person who wanted to talk from the public gallery on this subject and one of the residents affected spoke movingly about her family’s and others’ experience; how it changed every aspect of their life in the space of a few minutes and plunged them into insecurity and fear as they lost their homes, their ways of earning had to be put into second place and their mental health suffered, along with that of their animal companions.
My request to our leaders is, “Will they ask officers to do a full review and reassure us that they have taken into account the impact of new developments round Grantham on the places we live in now?” This is required by law, including taking into account the impact of future severe weather events, which are likely to increase in number. We want to see the evidence, and have the opportunity to comment.
Anne Gayfer
South Lincolnshire Green Party
Where is the strategy?
With reference to Reform seeking independents to stand for election here is my letter:
The Grantham “Independents” are anything but. They vote together, they stick together and do whatever Coun Harrison tells them to do, including joining Lincolnshire Independents for the upcoming county elections.
They use a local community radio station to promote themselves and post of Facebook about their latest bowel movement. They don’t need Reform. Grantham people appear to be sucking this up already thinking they are good for the town.
All the Independents offer is bread and circuses. There is no long term strategy.
Adam Grenfell
Grantham
Third time lucky for bridge?
I read with interest that the Grantham Southern Relief Road has been delayed yet again (the Journal, February 14) and will cost at least another £15 million to redesign the bridge over the Witham Valley and the railway for a third time, bringing the current total to almost £170 million and well over the original estimate of less than £50 million several decades ago.
It is virtually 10 years since building this new 3.5km road was actually started and we still don’t have a completion date due to major problems with the 400m bridge. One can only wonder how the Victorians managed to build the Forth Rail Bridge, which is 2,467 metres long, in just seven years and the famous Glenfinnan viaduct over the River Finnan in Scotland, which is 381m long over 21 spans, in a mere four years. Both of these amazing structures and many other similar bridges were obviously built without the aid of JCB diggers or huge cranes and their designers managed to create them without any access to a computer.
In more modern times, the first section of the M1 from St Albans to Rugby, junctions 5 to 18 covering over 60 miles, was built in just 20 months and included an incredible 131 bridges. Junction 5 to 10 around St Albans was built by Tarmac Construction and the northern section from junction 10-18 was built by John Laing. Imagine how long it would have taken if the “renowned” company in charge of our comparatively short Southern Relief Road had been responsible for the M1 in the 1950s.
One can only hope that the expensive design company responsible for all three designs of the fated bridge will be in business long enough for LCC to recoup a large portion of the extra money needed to rectify the design company’s mistakes. Also will any driver, especially those in large HGVs, feel safe driving over the bridge in windy weather or when the Witham floods again, making the unstable banks supporting the huge pillars even softer? Fingers crossed it will be third time lucky for the bridge design and it will finally open in my lifetime and solve the ever increasing traffic problems in the centre of Grantham. Only time, and no doubt a lot more money, will tell!
Lynda North
Grantham
People living in cold damp homes should be supported
The National Pensioners Convention backs fresh calls for urgent government action after Age UK revealed three in four older people were too cold in their own homes this January.
As we brace ourselves for yet another rise in the price cap on energy prices next week, research by the older person’s charity estimates around 9.1 million people aged over 66 endured cold homes ‘some, most of or all of the time.’
Age UK published their findings as they delivered a petition signed by 649.827 people, including huge numbers of NPC members, into 10 Downing Street on Tuesday, February 18.
The ‘Save the Winter Fuel Payment for struggling pensioners’ petition highlights the pressures felt by older people since the government cut the allowance to help with heating bills last year. It calls for a range of measures to alleviate the situation.
Jan Shortt, General Secretary of the NPC said: “Age UK’s timely research shows just how deeply the Winter fuel payment cuts are being felt by millions. We hope the government finally heeds the call of the NPC, Age UK and other campaigners to take action. This is particularly urgent as analysts Cornwall Insights predict Ofgem is due to announce that the energy price -cap rise will rise by 5% in April, adding another £85 onto the average household bill.”
The Age UK research shows that those older people on low to modest household incomes, £20,000 or less, were worst affected in January, with one in three [35%] saying their home was too cold most or all of the time.
A similar proportion of older private renters, 1 in 3 [34%], also said their home was cold most or all of the time. Two in five [41%] of pensioners, equivalent to 5 million, said that they had recently had to cut back on heating or energy.
Nearly half [48%] of people aged 66+ revealed they were worried about being able to heat their homes when they wanted to, and 44% said they are worried about the impact of energy prices on their health, noticeably higher than last year [January 2024] when 1 in 3 [33%] said this was a worry.
Jan Shortt added: “ We thank Age UK for this important research, and we thank our many NPC members who signed and supported the petition. Now we need the government to recognise the strength of feeling by people of all ages on this issue right across the country.”
NPC supports Age UK’s call for a range of actions from the government, including: Extending eligibility for the WFP to other benefits, including Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support, Attendance Allowance and other disability benefits and Carer’s Allowance.
Adopting a strategic approach to tackling the low take-up of Pension Credit and other pensioner benefits.
Implementing an energy social tariff providing discounts to those with low incomes, disabilites and for carers.
Bringing forward the Warm Homes Plan as soon as possible, and ensuring those living in cold, damp homes are prioritised for support.
This latest update is shocking proof that the Winter Fuel Payment cuts are causing misery for three in four older people in 2025.
Rodney Sadd
Crowland
Send your letters to: news@lincsonline.co.uk
