News

Disabled residents have started to be moved out of Hovenden House ahead of its closure in August.     As reported in The Voice in April, the service run by Leonard Cheshire Disability is shutting due to “considerable” repair and renovation costs for the Victorian Grade II listed property at Fleet.   At the time of the announcement in April, ...

In honour and support of a family friend whose cancer recovery has been described as “miraculous,” two 12-year-olds will take on a fundraising 5K.     Allison Law (40), mum to Jada (6) and Jet (4), was diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer in January, which had spread to her bones and kidneys. Doctors said there was no cure and, privately, ...

Public artwork, new markets and loyalty cards are all in the pipeline for Holbeach.     The town is “buzzing” with enthusiasm after a public meeting to reveal results of a survey into improving its shopping appeal.   Three South Holland district councillors, Tracey Carter, Nick Worth and Francis Biggadike commissioned Leicester-based company Kerching to conduct the survey and present ...

Spalding market stall holders Stuart and Lynn Dunn have served their last customers after more than 30 years in the town.   The couple have been familiar faces on their spice stall but are now looking forward to a well-earned rest.   Although a love of cycling, spurred by tickets to the Velodrome at the London Olympics, will keep them ...

Staff at a South Holland company volunteered into the early hours to help re-house Londoners evacuated from their homes.     The team at Infotel, based in Gosberton, was called upon late Friday when tower blocks in Camden were deemed unsafe. When director Tanya Beresford called in help at 6.30pm, it arrived in 20 minutes.   But aside from those ...

Three South Holland men have been jailed for their part in a shooting in Long Sutton.   Lloyd Peter Hook (22), Samuel James Tooke (26) and Shane Kelk (23) were all convicted of possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence after the incident in Anfield Close.   The men went to a property on Sunday, January ...

Vandals smashed hundreds of panes of glass in a nursery greenhouse on the same night a neighbouring derelict building – known to be used by rough sleepers – went up in flames.     Two local boys, aged 14 and 15, have been charged with arson in connection with the blaze on the former Groom Bros nursery site in Pecks ...

Three friends are set to embark on a fundraising adventure driving a banger across Europe.     They will be taking their multi-coloured van to the Two Ball Banger rally to raise funds for the East Anglian Air Ambulance.   Mark Robinson, Ashley Goodale and James King will be heading off next month for the run which is due to ...

Thousands of visitors flocked to the Crowland Show at the weekend and local good causes are set to benefit.   Glorious summer weather ensured a steady flow of visitors to Snowden Field to enjoy a range of attractions on Saturday.   Circus workshops, dog shows, horse shows, music, birds of prey and refreshments were all on offer at the event. ...

A town centre building society will close its doors for the last time in October.   The Norwich and Peterborough, in Spalding’s Sheep Market is due to close on Friday,  October 20.   The date was confirmed by the group’s owners, the Yorkshire Building Society, this week.   A Yorkshire Building Society Group spokesperson said: “Our Spalding branch will close ...

More than 150 serious illnesses will be prevented and up to five lives saved if weight loss support programmes are rolled out in Lincolnshire, it has been suggested.     South Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) told The Voice estimates are that £805,000 would be saved in reduced reliance on healthcare services relating to those individuals.   The estimates were ...

Population growth in South Holland has been higher than anywhere in Lincolnshire outside of Boston in recent years and will continue, a new report says. The Lincolnshire Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) – which will help inform future health commissioning – highlights increased rates of domestic violence in the district, the lowest county figure for adult activity rates and some ...

A family whose home was transformed on the BBC programme DIY SOS have put it on the market – and are hoping someone else with a disability will now benefit. Four years ago, Paula Wheeldon returned to the home following a ten-day overhaul by the programme’s team and volunteering local tradesmen to make it more accessible to disabled daughter Dakota. ...

Lincolnshire police is looking for new recruits to join the ranks in a neighbourhood role.     There are up to 24 posts at the service for the police community support officers (PCSOs) offering a uniformed presence in the community while helping to tackle anti-social behaviour and offering reassurance.   PCSO Paul Coupland, of the Spalding Estates Team, said: “I ...

A new bid to put housing on Pinchbeck’s Nursery Fresh Plants premises is recommended for approval – albeit for 100 homes instead of the previously indicated 200. AMJ Construction was previously refused permission to build 200 homes on the Keston Nurseries site, in Mill Green Road. The site is located outside of the current settlement boundary of Pinchbeck as outlined ...

A developer wants to build 40 homes on an agricultural field diagonally opposite Birchgrove Garden Centre in Surfleet Road, Pinchbeck. Kirk Homes, of Enterprise Way, Pinchbeck, has submitted the plan to South Holland District Council for a field a little closer to Surfleet than the garden centre. The plan states permission would normally be turned down for the proposal but ...

An air of positivity has arisen from an independent assessment of Holbeach town centre. It showed that 29 per cent of the businesses were “excellent beacon status”. And even though the percentage of empty shops at the time of the survey was more than one in seven (15 per cent)  – against a national figure of 11.4 per cent – ...

The Deeping St Nicholas firm given planning permission for a controversial anaerobic digestion plant is weighing up the latest technology before proceeding. WD Branton was granted consent for the development on land south of Counter Drain Drove in Tongue End. Several residents had objected to the planning application on the grounds of disturbance to their amenity. However, after a year ...

Holbeach Hospital has been gifted £39,200 by Holbeach Nursing Association to enable it to continue to help the local community.   Holbeach Nursing Association (originally Holbeach Sick Poor Fund) was set up before the Health Service was established in order to provide help to the local community to cover the extras required when illness happened in a family. Over the ...

A motorist is being investigated on suspicion of drink-driving following a crash which saw another motorist seriously injured. It happened on the B1166, Hulls Drove, Crowland, at 4.45pm last Friday, leading to a two-hour closure of the road. A 43-year-old from the Peterborough area was taken to Boston’s Pilgrim Hospital under arrest and later “released under investigation” – a new ...