LETTER: A struggle to get anywhere

Reading Jennifer Hemingway’s letter in the Voice recently and her concerns about the council not promoting Spalding but points out it seems to want to promote the Springfields Shopping outlet I offer the following:
This might be due to the fact that it was only in recent times the public learnt that Springfields gave over a £1m, with more since, at the time they were establishing themselves in the town to the council for whatever use it deemed to use it for.
By coincidence one to benefit from this gracious payment was the Spalding Water Taxi that takes passengers from the town centre to Springfields so they did well out the deal as in a double whammy for Springfields.
Then another recipient was the now defunct Tulip Radio that was in essence a vanity project as when its closure was announced there were no outcries of ‘save our radio’, no protesters chaining themselves to railings or petitions to our MP or the Prime Minister, just nothing, it was not missed, it was as if it never happened.
The problem is to assume because we have councillors that ‘know everything’ but in root terms they are elected because of their party following, not for their expertise or ability to do anything for the benefit of the town as they mostly seem to work to their own agenda.
The ‘Jewel in the Crown’ that was the annual Spalding Flower Parade that went for decades that is still missed nowadays that brought tourists – and their money – into the town in their thousands was a tragedy in both tourism and economic terms.
Nowadays we have bright ideas such as hanging flower baskets with decorated empty – note empty – shop windows is about the limit it would appear but so far no coach parties seem to have arrived to see these wonders of excellence plus the seemingly, quietly winding down of the town’s market, it makes one wonder who came up with all this.
The town does need promoting but when you see the occasional committees set up to do so, of which there are many but usually made up of the same old names and faces of those involved with other so-called committees with their amazing ability to attend photo opportunities to help in their social ladder climbing pastimes, it’s going to be a long hard struggle to get anywhere now.

A Dawson
Spalding