Council

Spalding Christmas Market – scheduled for Sunday (November 29) – has been cancelled due to forecasted high winds. Organisers contacted The Voice at 7pm on Saturday with the news. Spalding town centre manager Dennis Hannant said: “We have had to cancel the Christmas Market tomorrow due to the expected bad weather; wind speeds of between 30-45 mph.” Ayscoughfee Hall Winter ...

South Holland District Council leader and Local Government Association chairman Gary Porter (55) last week (November 18) had his first day in Parliament’s second chamber as Lord Porter of Spalding. It coincided with an #ourday Twitter initiative to highlight the work of local government. We’ve fleshed out his tweets to give a flavour of a memorable day in his life. ...

Planning councillors stand accused of being “draconian” after getting tough over work done without permission. Homeowner Simon Barker has been ordered to reinstate the line of a replacement boundary fence which he extended to enclose a 9m x 2m piece of his land that had attracted animal fouling and litter. And Zagros Abdullah has been told to restore a window ...

By Coun Nick Worth, deputy leader of South Holland District Council Public services are likely to be severely tested as a result of the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement this week. This stems from his incessant drive to tackle the national debt and balance the books by 2020. District councils are proportionately likely to take a larger hit – our main funding ...

The wait of more than 30 years to get a proper footpath for a popular pedestrian route in Holbeach is over. Issues over land ownership and public rights of way hampered efforts to get a path – known locally as Skinners Chase – installed between Langwith Gardens and Stukeley Hall Drive. Coun Francis Biggadike, in particular, has put a lot ...

The gritters covering South Holland’s roads have been blessed ahead of their winter programme. The annual service took place at Lincolnshire County Council’s Highways Alliance depot in Pode Hole. There are six gritting routes out of Pode Hole and a spare gritter to cover for breakdowns, making a total of seven lorries. Pictured (back, from left) – Nicholas Bell, Tom ...

Opening hours at Spalding tip are set to reduce further after South Holland District Council approved a pilot scheme for a garden waste collection service. Lincolnshire County Council, which runs the Household Waste Recycling Centre in West Marsh Road, has indicated that it will also stop Saturday morning skip collections around the district. District council cabinet members last week approved ...

A non-profit organisation is the preferred candidate to run Lincolnshire’s restyled library service from next April.  County council officers are recommending that Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) be awarded the contract when the executive meets to take a decision on December 1. If approved, GLL would take on the running the county’s 15 major libraries, along with online services and specialist ...

A Spalding eaterie described as looking like a “dog’s dinner” has hit back after suffering a loss of trade. Takings at Sunshine Café and Restaurant have dipped since reports of a South Holland District Council planning committee meeting. Owner Alex Aydin blames people believing the comment referred to the food, when in fact Coun Pete Williams was talking about the ...

A former South Holland district councillor has challenged leader Gary Porter over the introduction of wheelie bins for waste collection. On Tuesday (Nov 10), the council’s cabinet approved a proposal for a two-year pilot scheme for a kerbside garden waste collection scheme. The subscription scheme would see residents issued with a 240-litre brown wheelie bin. Households can apply for up ...

A pilot garden waste collection scheme will launch in South Holland next April. Members of South Holland District Council’s cabinet unanimously approved the project at a meeting on Tuesday. The two-year pilot will initially be available to 5,000 households with residents who sign up provided with wheelie bins. A total of 500 kerbside collections will be made daily on a ...

Youngsters who took part in The Great South Holland Artsathlon this year have been awarded medals and certificate. The South Holland District Council scheme invited children aged from four upwards to take part in arts activities during the summer holidays. This year there were over 100 sessions, including visual and performing arts workshops, creative writing sessions and watching shows at the South ...

The £13,000 bill for tidying up a Spalding eyesore remains unpaid by the site owner after 12 months. In November 2014, South Holland District Council cleared up the Bull and Monkie plot in Churchgate and secured the site with railings after an order served upon Crispen Holdings went ignored. The cost was then recharged to the firm. A council spokesperson ...

A major developer has been pulled over the coals by South Holland district councillors for wanting to build less affordable housing at a Crowland scheme than was previously agreed. Ashley King (Developments) Ltd was granted permission for 50 homes – including 16 affordable units (one third) – on land off Peterborough Road last year. But the Holbeach firm has since ...

A wheelie bin collection scheme for garden waste is set to launch in South Holland from next April. The two-year pilot would initially be available to 5,000 households across the district. The proposal for the two-week rota is for Spalding to be covered one week and then Holbeach, Crowland, Long Sutton, Sutton Bridge, Donington, Gosberton and Surfleet the next week. ...

A Spalding charity is hoping to raise funds and offer volunteer working opportunities by opening a secondhand furniture store. The Lighthouse Project has applied to South Holland District Council for a change of use for a unit at Broadgate House in Westlode Street. A statement with a planning application lodged with South Holland District Council said: “Unwanted furniture will be ...

By Coun Gary Porter, leader of South Holland District Council This is the first of a new regular column by district council cabinet members and I would like to take this opportunity to thank The Voice for giving us a voice. Over the coming months different members will try to write interesting and sometimes provocative articles that will hopefully get ...

A £150,000 grant application is being made to help fund improvements at Carter’s Park in Holbeach. The aim is to make the clubhouse at the football ground a hub for a variety of sport and social uses. The building needs reroofing and rewiring and in order to improve its aspect and make it more appealing a new entrance on the ...

A proposed housing development described as “a slum of the future” has been approved on appeal. South Holland District Council’s planning committee was unanimous in its disdain for Seagate Homes’ application for 14 homes in Little London, Spalding. The proposal for the site next to The Drayman’s Arms pub is a T-shaped development with two homes at the front near ...

A Spalding off-licence which was caught selling counterfeit alcohol and illicit cigarettes has withdrawn an appeal against a decision to revoke its premises licence. Europe Store, in Holbeach Road, had its licence revoked by South Holland District Council’s licensing committee in August. The decision was made after police and Trading Standards officers discovered 79 bottles of smuggled whisky and vodka and 1,420 ...