Council

Planning officers were out of step with councillors when they recommended approval of a housing development slammed as a “slum” and “inappropriate even for Tilbury”. South Holland District Council’s planning committee chairman Coun Roger Gambba-Jones wasted no time in condemning Seagate Homes’ application for 14 homes at Little London. He said: “I make no bones about it. I don’t like ...

A new £1,000 fence due to be painted and have plants growing up it in an effort to improve the look of the neighbourhood must be altered, councillors have ordered. Simon Barker extended the route of an original fence to enclose a piece of his land which kept attracting litter and animal excrement. He had just finished putting up the ...

Historic Spalding pub The Station Gates is poised to become an Eastern European food store called Corner Shop. An application for a licence to sell alcohol from 8am to midnight seven days a week has been made to South Holland District Council. Applicant Zagros Abdullah has previously run similar shops in Wisbech. A spokesman said: “It will be a food ...

An option for council tax payers in South Holland to pay their bill over 12 months is being highlighted. Currently, only about 1,000 people take the full year. The norm is ten months, from April to January inclusive. South Holland District Council says it understands that some people struggle to pay their Council Tax on time or ahead of time, and wants to help ...

A plan for 37 new homes in Cowbit has been passed, although two ward members spoke against it. Coun Anthony Casson told last week’s South Holland District Council planning committee meeting that he is concerned about drainage of the site in Backgate. He also believes local schools and GP surgeries are under enough strain, and believes there are “too many” ...

More than 200 tonnes of rubbish – the equivalent weight of 30 adult elephants – has been cleaned up as part of the district council’s Pride in South Holland campaign. Litter and fly-tipping which blighted alleyways, footpaths, roadsides and verges has been blitzed by the council’s street sweeping team, with items including car tyres, bags full of rubbish and a bath removed. Areas cleared include Crowland, ...

The UK Independence Party has declared that it is actively trying to recruit EU migrants to stand in this year’s South Holland District Council elections. The move might come as a surprise to many people who accuse some of the party’s thinking at national level to be racist and anti-immigration. But South Holland and The Deepings group chairman Paul Foyster ...

The portion of council tax for Lincolnshire Police is to rise to ensure the current number of officers can be maintained. The county’s Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Hardwick has welcomed the decision by the Police and Crime Panel to approve his proposal to increase the 2015/16 Police Precept by 1.95 per cent. “I am delighted at the unanimous vote to ...

South Holland district councillor and former Lincolnshire county councillor Amanda Puttick has died after a long struggle with ill health. Coun Puttick (pictured) had been a ward member for Donington, Quadring and Gosberton since 1999, and was a former chairman of the district council. She passed away in hospital on Saturday. Council leader and fellow Conservative Gary Porter paid tribute ...

Phil Scarlett, the president of Spalding and District Area Chamber of Commerce, is standing for UKIP in the forthcoming South Holland District Council elections. Mr Scarlett, who is a member of Sutton Bridge Parish Council and lives in the town, will stand in that ward. He will be up against Conservative candidates Vicky Hills and Shirley Giles and sitting ward ...

This year’s South Holland District Council election is shaping up to be one of the most keenly-contested. The Conservatives – who currently hold 25 of the 37 seats – are contesting all 18 wards as they seek another term as the ruling group. However, the Labour Party – who put up just one candidate at the last election in May ...

A new, improved CCTV system for South Holland could be operational by the end of this month. Spalding, Holbeach and Crowland will benefit from the £108,475 system, which will provide clearer images, better coverage and be monitored 24/7. However, two towns currently monitored – Long Sutton and Sutton Bridge – will not be covered by the new wireless system. As ...

Two Holbeach projects will benefit from a slice of £14.8m funding, creating hundreds of new jobs and easing congestion in the town. Peppermint Junction interchange – where the A151 joins the A17 – and the Agri-Food Centre of Excellence at the University of Lincoln’s Holbeach campus will each receive cash from a pot secured by the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise ...

Poor network coverage is one of the factors that could lead South Holland District Council to move its 200 or so mobile phone accounts away from Vodafone. The council is in the process of considering negotiating a new mobile phone deal for staff that need a work mobile in a bid to make savings. The council is hoping to gain ...

The former premises of a clothes cleaning firm is set to be turned into a convenience store. A decision was taken on Tuesday to grant an application for a licence for the sale of alcohol from the proposed business at 2 Bourne Road, Spalding, which was a post office before it became H20 wet cleaning solutions. The application is to ...

A fly tipping blitz has been carried out alongside the A17 as part of the Pride in South Holland campaign. Rubbish that had piled up in laybys next to the busy road was cleaned up by South Holland District Council’s street sweeping team. The crews then headed to Long Sutton to sweep footpaths and alleyways in the area. More than ...

A further £33,115.40 in debts to South Holland District Council is set to be written off. It would take the total of council tax, business rates, accounts receivable, former tenant arrears and housing benefit overpayments written off during this financial year to to £222,914.87. The total in 2013/14 was £236,531.20. The council says in every case, all collection options have ...

The owner of Sutton Bridge Power Station is appealing against it being liable for business rates. MPF Operations is currently paying rates to South Holland District Council. However, a spokesman said: “MPF are aware of various claims currently being pursued in respect of business rates within the UK generation sector. “We believe such rates should be set in accordance with ...

More than £18,000 is earmarked for refurbishing the main gates to Spalding’s Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field. It means South Holland District Council’s budget for the facility in the forthcoming financial year is set to be hiked by 60 per cent from £30,200 to £48,400. A council spokesman said: “The funds have been earmarked for a one-off project to refurbish ...

A second Argos store is planned for Spalding. An Argos Insert – designed for click and collect digital customers of bulkier items – is expected to be developed within Homebase in Westlode Street. At 185 square metres, the proposed new store would occupy little more than five per cent of Homebase’s retail floorspace. The Insert would sell fewer than 3,000 of ...