News

Members of South Holland District Council drew praise from both sides of the political divide as they met for the final time of the current administration. The Conservative and Independent groups agreed that councillors had gone about business during the past five years in a “generally courteous way”, which had enabled much good work to be achieved. Council leader Gary ...

Network Rail says loose wires were to blame for level crossing barriers failing twice in one day. The incidents at Mill Green level crossing, in Woolram Wygate, Spalding, caused the barriers to remain down for more than four hours in total. The first fault of “loose wires in a barrier pedestal” on Saturday, March 21, was between 12.26am and 2.20am, ...

An anaerobic digestion plant can be built in Crowland, say councillors. South Holland District Council’s planning committee passed Mr J Tansley’s plan for Adam’s Farm in Common Drove. A meeting on March 18 heard the plant would produce electricity and heat from rye grass and maize. Public objections centred chiefly on noise and odour pollution, but after planning officer Mark ...

Spalding and District Civic Society is having to work particularly hard to find the detail it needs to enable a fifth blue plaque marking events of note associated with the town. The founder of The Salvation Army – General William Booth – lived at two places in the town centre. Investigations led by blue plaques scheme manager Judy Chapman have ...

Landlords can get useful advice on housing issues at a South Holland District Council forum. The session on Wednesday, April 8, will offer the chance to talk with housing professionals about relevant topics and key changes to government legislation. A guest speaker from the Department for Work and Pensions will discuss Universal Credits and how this will affect landlords. Advice ...

Barely a day goes by without another horrific story of child sexual exploitation hitting the headlines. Every day, police across the country are called in to investigate yet another case of children being sexually abused. Last week, the issue was in the spotlight during a national child sexual exploitation awareness day. Among those backing the campaign was Lincolnshire Police, with ...

A county councillor has been targeted by blackmailers threatening to expose him as a paedophile unless they pay £10,000. Lincolnshire County Council is calling for residents to be vigilant in light of the blackmail attempt. The elected member, who has not been identified, received a letter threatening to publicly accuse them of being a paedophile if they didn’t pay the ...

Residents at Beech Lodge Nursing Home were treated to an afternoon of music by Sam Wray and her recorder group. Sam is head of music at University Academy Holbeach and has previously taken her students along to play a variety of instruments and genres. It was her idea to return with the recorder group. She said: “It is lovely to ...

The number of households in Lincolnshire living in fuel poverty has fallen, according to new figures. Following a nationwide review of the problem, the Government has adopted a new “definition” of fuel poverty, which deems those on the lowest incomes and in the most energy inefficient homes to be in fuel poverty. Under the new definition, around an eighth of ...

A homeowner concerned about an increase in vibrations caused by heavy freight trains has built a monitoring device. The issue of vibration nuisance has been a hot topic on internet forums since the £280million upgrade of the GNGE line, which runs through South Holland, enabled larger trains and higher speeds. Retired couple Andrew and Carol Hebden live in Mill Green ...

A community centre for Spalding’s Wygate Park could come to fruition without the church which was due to be a partner. In the next couple of weeks, about 1,400 homes on the estate will receive a survey aiming to gauge enthusiasm and suggestions as to what should be included. The project has been mooted for a long time, but it ...

A controversial 76.5m wind turbine which will supply the electricity needs for about 450 homes can be built in Long Sutton, say district councillors. The company behind the plan – Little Sutton Energy Company, which already runs a turbine in Winters Lane – has moved to ease fears of nuisance from visibility, noise and shadow flicker, an issue which dominated ...

A pre-school’s efforts to make an exciting outdoor play area for its children have been ruined by vandals. Stepping Stones pre-school, based at Pinchbeck Church Hall, had received a £500 donation from county councillor Elizabeth Sneath’s Big Society Fund to repaint the play area and buy new equipment – only for some of the items to be stolen and the ...

Casting is under way to find future stars of the big screen for the first ever feature-length action thriller to come out of South Holland. Newly-formed Holbeach Film Company hopes cameras will roll within just a couple of months, with all the action of its first film Dishonoured being shot around Holbeach, Spalding, Long Sutton, Boston and Peterborough. The idea ...

The Allison brand of house is to make its first large-scale return on a controversial site in Pinchbeck. Larkfleet Homes was granted planning permission on March 18 for 169 homes on land between Wardentree Lane and Enterprise Way. There will be 24 different house types in a mix of properties from one to five bedrooms. Larkfleet planning director Mark Mann told ...

The design of Spalding’s new logo has been given a largely frosty reception. Whilst there has been support for it, the majority of comments have labelled it “uninspiring”, “boring” and “awful”. Emma Spridgen wrote on our Facebook page: “Sorry to say I think it’s truly terrible. Awful font and terrible old fashioned stylised tulip, looks like clip art. Would love ...

Two tractors and a cultivator worth £68,500 which were stolen from a Moulton farm last weekend have quickly been recovered. The John Deere 6830 models – one of which was still coupled to a cultivator – were brazenly driven away from bulb growers F Dring and Sons in High Road between Saturday night and Sunday morning. Managing director Richard Barlow ...

A proposal to turn a former Spalding care home into 17 flats has been labelled “completely unsuitable”. South Holland District Council leader Gary Porter made the remark about Market Homes’ plan for Halmer Grange in Grange Drive. Speaking as a ward member at a planning committee meeting on March 18, he said: “Yes, it’s a brownfield site but this is an ...

Pressure to find further burial space in Spalding has intensified after a plan to extend the cemetery was rejected. Estimates put remaining capacity in the Pinchbeck Road site at four years. South Holland district councillors voted against the council’s own proposal to convert a playing field in Chiltern Drive. That means all extension options have been exhausted – unless one ...

The dual benefits of exercise and meeting new friends are being promoted by Spalding’s Fifty Plus Badminton Club. The club has about 40 members and holds sessions in the Castle Sports Complex for two hours on Tuesday afternoons and three hours on Friday mornings. Club chairman Wally Wells said: “In any doctor’s waiting room you will find a notice encouraging ...