A brand new public swimming pool facility for Spalding is being looked at as part of improvements in leisure facilities across the district, it’s been claimed. South Holland District Council is “looking at replacing” its facilities which includes the Castle Sports Complex and Peele Leisure Centre in Long Sutton. Coun Angela Newton asked the cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday ...

District councillors have been told they can keep the iPads previously provided to them by the council. Each councillor has been given an iPad Pro (pictured) and accessories at the cost of more than £1,000 each, totalling £41,000, minus tax and data contracts (a further £600 per month). Councillors who had previously been elected had iPads already provided by the ...

A police officer has received a fine and three points on his licence after being found guilty of a driving offence in Weston. PC Ryan Martin Murphy (33)entered a guilty plea at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court last Tuesday (June 11) after being charged with driving a Suzuki Swift car “without due care and attention” at Broadgate, Weston, on December 8 last ...

A Long Sutton woman has set up a food bank from her home after gratefully receiving donations herself during a time of need. Julieann Ward set up Helping Hands as somewhere to go once people had exhausted their allocations with other local food banks, with which she’s not affiliated. She said: “I got stuck a few months ago and couldn’t ...

Two sisters from Spalding have won the Great Daffodil Award from Marie Curie charity. Elizabeth and Victoria Hammond have been awarded Mini Superstar Collectors 2019 for the Lincolnshire Region awards for their tireless fundraising. Lauren Alexander, Community Fundraiser for Lincolnshire, said: “These young ladies are by far the cutest collectors we have supporting our Great Daffodil Appeal. “Their endless array ...

A charity centre was broken into over the May bank holiday weekend and thousands of pounds worth of items were taken. The Sense Centre in Pinchbeck provides day service provision to almost 30 people with complex needs from the surrounding area. The items stolen enabled individuals to access and enjoy the sensory garden at the centre. A spokesman said that ...

A woman is bidding for listed building status to be granted to a historic Spalding building subject to a planning appeal. The Spring Garden property, which was formerly a Christian Association and Literary Institute and social club for Geest employees, was most recently owned by The Fitness Company. A change of use application to turn it into flats from a ...

The emergency first responders charity LIVES has had a boost from a councillor who has helped fund the purchase of three new suits – one for each LIVES responder in the district. Coun Tracey Carter said: “I approached other councillors to see if they were also able to assist, of which a number of other councillors from across South Holland ...

A charity that organises sessions for parents and their disabled children is opening a new session in Holbeach. The South Holland branch of Little Miracles was re-established last year by Elizabeth Kilbon whose 10-year-old son Jayden Batterham has ADHD. The first sessions held every Friday at Tonic Health in Spalding are coming up to celebrating their first birthday with around ...

A woman who helped raise around half a million pounds for charity stopped off at her former work place on the way to her funeral to be applauded by former colleagues. Pat Baxter worked at Bakkavor (formerly Geest) in Spalding for 39 years where she set up the Staff Shop which raised thousands for local charities and employee days out, ...

A local charity is urging you to think of them when you’re getting rid of unwanted furniture rather than giving it away online. The Meadows, which was formerly part of Age UK, raises money for its Sir John Van Geest Day Centre by collecting and selling furniture from their Pinchbeck and Holbeach warehouses. The funds raised helps provide the elderly ...

South Holland Freemasons have helped provide relief after a cyclone that affected 10 million people in India. All 21 Masonic centres in Lincolnshire, including those in Spalding and Long Sutton, have contributed to the £15,000 fund to support victims of the recent Cyclone Fani which particularly devastated the Indian state of Odisha. The aid has been given by the Freemasons’ ...

A former chief executive of Lincolnshire County Council picked up £292,263 for less than six months service, it’s been revealed. The authority announced last November that Keith Ireland was departing the role after being announced in it in May 2018. The figure of how much money he received is just short of £300,000 according to the BBC’s Local Democracy Reporting ...

Staff shortages are being blamed after waiting times to see breast cancer specialists in Lincolnshire dipped alarmingly earlier this year ahead of possible changes to the service. The national standard is for 93 per cent of those thought to have the cancer to be seen by a specialist within two weeks of their referral. But in January just 5.5 per ...

Pinchbeck Carnival is back this weekend with ‘Careers’ being the theme of three days of fun in the village. Newly crowned carnival queen Abigail Slade will lead the ever popular parade on Saturday flanked by prince Samuel Start and princess Gabriella Santana. It will leave Wimberley Way at 12pm and make its way to the Rotten Row Playing Fields were ...

Plans to potentially improve the Johnson Hospital to an Urgent Medical Centre will be among those the public can discuss at an event in Spalding. The NHS’s engagement event is at the United Reformed Church from 2pm to 7pm on Thursday, June 13 where residents can air their views on the proposals and NHS care throughout South Holland. The proposals ...

I would like to thank Couns Christine Lawton and Roger Gambba-Jones for the  quick work in getting the manhole cover replaced in Wygate. For weeks we had to listen to the constant thud, getting louder and louder each day from the manhole cover on the main road as cars, lorries, etc, ran over it. Residents were getting more agitated as ...

I am absolutely dumbfounded by the amount of money wasted on buying councillors ‘top of the range iPads’ and at how quickly they authorise themselves to buy them – councillors are given a lot of money which should allow them to buy their own iPads. I have been chasing Coun Brewis for three and a half years for something to ...

I had a very interesting evening at the SHDC Planning Committee meeting regarding sections one and five of the Spalding Western Relief Road. From the discussions on section one, some councillors raised concerns over the proximity of the road to the main drain, as in other parts of this area road stability was an on-going problem where they were adjacent ...

I appeal to your readers to proceed with caution rather than reaching out towards The Brexit Party. I understand the frustration that, three years on, Westminster has still not implemented the result of the EU referendum and the farce of the recent EU elections; which were an appalling waste of resources and funds. However, the Brexit Party is a private ...