Stamford, Spalding, Grantham and Rutland letter writers share their views with LincsOnline
Readers have shared their thoughts 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
Closing the bridge is lunacy
One can only admire the bravura of the Lincolnshire Council for their proposal to close the Stamford Town Bridge for six weeks at the height of the tourist season.
When one considers the availability of alternative river crossing points, its lunacy becomes more apparent.
There are only two; the first is via a very minor bridge just north of Bainton, which also includes a nearby level-crossing. The second can only be via the A1, and this involves the use of two of the most dangerous slip-roads on the whole A1, which themselves have been the subject of endless correspondence concerning their suitability and safety.
There also needs to be, from the very beginning, total transparency regarding the costing of the proposal. The reconstruction/repair work is one thing; it is the additional factors which are so often ignored and not presented to the public. These must surely include, even if difficult to estimate, the loss to Stamford of trade and tourism during and probably after its most vital season. This could so easily prove to be the death-knell for many small businesses who rely upon the summer season for survival.
The second cost must surely be the instant demand for rating rebates, which will be substantial and town-wide. It is hard to think of any trade or business which would not be affected, all of which will be able to make an easily provable case for a reduction, and which requires costing into the proposal.
Repairs may certainly be necessary, but closure of most of the town centre looks to be an ill-considered and exaggerated solution to what is in essence a basic engineering problem — how to rotate repairs, rather than go at them head on. The Council might also think of making a start by enforcing the HGV weight limit, which gives the impression of being entirely optional.
Michael Peck
Lyndon
It beggars belief
Bridge closure could be catastrophic…. COULD BE?? Do Lincolnshire County Council understand NOTHING relating to our fabulous gem of an historic (tourist) market town? It absolutely beggars belief.
July and August, a time when people take time to stay or visit for a day. There cannot be one business in town -independent retailer, hotel, restaurant , public house, market trader, large chain etc who agrees with this ludicrous idea!
I am a small retailer of 36 years standing, and know from being at the grass roots level how much people love Stamford and what it has to offer.
It’s not that long in the scheme of things since we have all had to recover from the loss of earnings from covid… and now they want to pull-up the draw bridge for six weeks at the height of the tourist season! How dare they even think of it. As usual a total lack of understanding of what a jewel Stamford is.
If ‘they’ insist upon going ahead with this ridiculous idea, riding roughshod over us, there should be free parking (well advertised) and a shuttle bus service!
Enough said
Margo Bradshaw
Stamford
Work needs to be planned for
If the bridge needs repairs, then it should be closed but proper well thought out alternative traffic and pedestrian movement should be planned for. Perhaps the £8m spent on the Cummins site should have been spent on a new crossing to support the growing town infrastructure.
Also, can the works be speeded up by working seven days a week 24/7!
Peter Smith
Easton on the Hill
Have your say on plans before it’s too late
Many Rutland folk may not have seen the recent announcement by Rutland County Council that a consultation has been launched on the options for Rutland to respond to central government’s plans for local reorganisation which ends on July 20.
It seems RCC still favours a merger with Leicestershire despite various recent meetings led by Alicia Kearns MP demonstrating overwhelming preference for a merger with the southerly districts of Lincolnshire since this would cement the reality of Rutland and Stamford’s con-joined existence.
Since there will be no opportunity for the community to vote on this matter of enormous significance via a referendum, I think it falls to all of the county’s parish councils to express their preferences based upon a canvass of their parish’s population views.
May I encourage all the county’s parish councils to gather their community’s views and communicate their preferences to RCC before the five week window to comment expires.
This is the only way to ensure RCC’s actions are based upon a proper representative democratic mandate that at present is denied us all, otherwise we are sleep walking into becoming part of Leicestershire!
Andrew Nebel
Ryhall
Military deterrent was not evident
On Thursday our group from the Ketton Talks discussion group were fortunate to visit the Harrier museum at Wittering which is apparently very difficult to achieve but is well worthwhile and should be available to more visitors.
As this is a major base in the UK it was surprising that apart from one uniformed person on the gate, there were absolutely no other people about neither military nor civilian.
As a large sum has been expended recently upgrading the runway why is the base not a bustling hive of activity? What purpose is the upgraded runway serving?
No large aeroplanes on site and the little Grob trainers were probably hangared up. No vehicles nor personnel at all and this was early evening.
Have we really got a military deterrent because it was not in evidence? Where is Rachel Reeves munificence going to be spent or is it yet more smoke and mirrors?
Warwick Banks
Ketton
Homes can’t replace peace
I took this picture in the field planned for the Exeter Fields development (page 3). Homes cannot replace this for peace and tranquillity.
Timothy Duff
Stamford
Performances left audiences in stitches
Bourne Footlights production run of Cheshire Cats at Bourne Corn Exchange has now come to an end, after delivering performances that left audiences in stitches, yet managed to produce feelings of pathos and empathy.
The core cast comprised Lynn Kirk (Hilary, the loud, bossy, pushy one), Blanche Robinson (Siobhan, the put-upon but loyal friend, and sensible one), Vic Boothby (Yvonne, the stressed and permanently indignant one), Mandi Wood (Vicky, the glamorous vamp, and increasingly besotted one), Neena Quinlan (Maggie, the enthusiastic, worrisome one), and not forgetting Alan Boothby (Andrew, the token male and toyboy). The play centred around the group of five women (and a man) who are undertaking the London Moonwalk to raise money for a cancer charity, in their brightly decorated bras and cats tails, hence the name of their team, ‘The Cheshire Cats’.
The play was quite wordy, with its action coming from the dialogue and movement around the auditorium, but the cast carried it off to great effect. Through the course of the play we got to know each of the participants, their issues, and their motivations for participating in the Moonwalk. We found out how they had individually been touched by illness, grief, and loss, often through the songs which were performed with great wit and emotion.
But do not be fooled into thinking this was a down-beat production. It may have been poignant, but the writing is pure humour and visual fun and the actors brought this out in spades. That being said, the final heartrending song, sung by Maggie (Neena Quinlan) when we discovered (spoiler alert) that she herself has been diagnosed with cancer and that next year the girls would be one short for the walk, brought a flood of emotion and thunderous applause from the audience. However (another spoiler alert) Maggie made an appearance right at the end to greet the girls during the next year’s walk, albeit obviously during her chemo treatment. Everyone got the happy ending they deserved.
Mention should also be made of the supporting cast. Jess Smyth-Wood was the excellently enthusiastic aerobics instructor who cajoled many members of the audience to stand up and join in with the pre-walk warm-up routine – no mean feat. Laughs were provided in abundance by the two marshals, played by Gill Barry and Neil Oglesbee, cheering on the walkers as they passed their 9 mile checkpoint, whilst discussing exercising using cans of baked beans (“But I don’t like baked beans, Madge”) and the sight of two girls kissing (one actually being Andrew in drag – sorry, a bigger spoiler alert). Top marks all round for the casting decisions.
And top marks should go to the Director, Michael Hughes, who utilised the whole of the auditorium to great effect, having the cast wander around, in and amongst the audience, interacting with us as if we too were walkers in our own right, waiting for the off. Michael’s use of a catwalk to expand the area the cast had to fill was a well-thought out way to give the illusion of covering the 13 miles of the walk. Pure genius. All this was enhanced by the innovative sound and lighting team, providing excellent effects and ambiance right on cue when required.
The whole night was a joyful, funny, laugh-out-loud experience for all of us, from a talented cast of local dedicated artistes and support team. The subtle pathos of the underlying message about cancer and loss was not lost on us, but we were not beaten over the head with it. In fact, the poignancy was underlined when we were told at the outset that two members of the Footlights were themselves cancer survivors. A sombre moment of reflection before the fun began.
In conclusion, this was a marvellous evening of entertainment, thoroughly enjoyed by all of us in the audience. Bring on the next Footlights production!
(As a footnote, I should add that due to the subject matter of the play, Bourne Footlights were asking for donations from the audiences of the three night run for Macmillan Cancer Support, and to donate all the proceeds from the raffles as well. An excellent idea, Footlights).
Alan Boyer
Bourne
What was the point in democratic vote?
What was the purpose of the referendum on the EU? It’s now nine years since the UK voted to leave the EU. It’s very obvious that both Conservatives and Labour never wanted the UK to become a sovereign country.
One of the main reasons was to stop illegal immigrants seeking asylum. Under EU, we were all committed to a percentage of us housing such. With us leaving the EU, it hasn’t stopped immigration or people seeking asylum here! Now we have more lies, betrayal, plus now with our new agreement, our fishing will open up for the French, yet we pay them millions to so call “police” the launch of these boat people - to little effort on their side!
Although the majority of people voted to leave, we never actually have. This is became every “Remain” supporting politician has done everything they could to stop us. What is the point of a democratic vote if politicians are simply going the ignore the results, covered by so many lies told by Remainers? Leave means leave.
Sir Keir Starmer’s deal with the EU is simply another “back door” re-entry to the EU. This policy has surrendered fishing rights, which will affect another UK industry. Starmer will sell whatever ‘sovereignty’ we have or had.
Brexit was to regain our sovereignty.
Paul Hodges
Grantham
Bridge attracts national press
We note that the “Bridge to Nowhere” has now received attention in the national press.The way that the Spalding Western Relief Road (SWRR) was to be funded was one that Spalding and District Civic Society questioned right from the start.
As long ago as October 2016, the late Paul Walls who gave sterling service to the society's committee and was also a district councillor for Spalding Wygate ward, warned a funding model that relied on Section 106 agreements entered into with property developers to fund the road in sections would lead to the building of a “road to nowhere”.
Indeed, if the original plan to start building this road from either side of the town and linking the two sections up in the middle at Bourne Road had been pursued, we would have ended up with not one, but two ”roads to nowhere”!
However, as he wrote at the time: “Don’t blame the planners, though. This nonsense has been forced on them by the government’s doctrinaire demand that developers must pay for infrastructure, not the government. Strategic roads like the SWRR are enormously expensive of course, so it requires a lot of houses for a developer to be able to make the kind of profit that will finance such a road. Hence the size of Broadgate’s Holland Park estate on Spalding Common (over 2,000 houses), needed to pay for a section of the SWRR.
“At the Pinchbeck end, a similar huge housing programme will be required to pay for the northern third – regardless of the fact that it will virtually join up Spalding and Pinchbeck. Obviously it is felt there will be developers ready to undertake this huge proposed development north of the Vernatt’s. No-one is yet sure, however, whether anyone will be interested in the middle section. Hence the gap.”
The society said at the time that transport infrastructure of the scale of the Spalding Western Relief Road should be funded by central government. Let's hope the new Mayor of Lincolnshire lives up to her promise to make sure this road gets the funding from central government it des-erves. The town cannot wait until 2050 for it to be completed as Paul feared nine years ago! We will be watching developments with interest.
John R G Bland
Chairman of Spalding Civic Society
Payment U-turn welcomed
The National Pensioner’s Convention welcomes news the government is to reinstate the Winter Fuel Payment to nine million older people.
This is a major win for the NPC’s hard fought campaign to restore vital payments to help with energy bills since they were slashed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves a year ago.
The chancellor announced that everyone over the state pension age in England and Wales with an income of £35,000 or less a year, around 75% across the two nations, will receive the payment this winter.
NPC and campaign partners Unite the Union heard the news while demonstrating at the gates of Downing Street to call on the chancellor to come clean on a suggested policy U-turn. There were massive cheers from members when they heard the news.
Jan Shortt, General Secretary of the NPC commented: “We welcome the change of direction by the Chancellor over the winter fuel payment for the coming winter. It is a victory for common sense and proves the government has finally listened to our voices.
“However, there is still no recognition of the devastating impact the withdrawal had on older people over December 2024 to February 2025. We believe it is only fair that the government pays compensation for older people who were living in freezing conditions whilst MPs were claiming their energy costs for their second homes. We ask the Prime Minister to apologise to the nation for the inappropriate withdrawal of the winter fuel allowance without mandate and consultation in the first place. He must also ensure that older people are protected from similar knee-jerk decisions in the future, starting with the appointment of a Commissioner for Older People in England and Scotland as they have in Wales and Northern Ireland.” More than three-quarters of pensioners in England and Wales will be entitled to the winter fuel payment.”
Unite and the National Pensioners Convention have been campaigning for full reinstatement of the winter fuel payment.
The devil is in the details, but it is thought every pensioner will receive it, with those with incomes over £35,000 having their allowances clawed back through the tax system.
It means that the overall policy will save £450million, versus the universal system. In other words, £1.25billion of the £1.7billion projected saving when this policy was announced is gone.
Rodney Sadd
Crowland
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