Lincolnshire residents have right to three 24 hour hospitals, says council leader

Anglian Water has “a lot to answer for” after a long-running sinkhole debacle, Holbeach’s MP has claimed.

Nearly £500,000 has been spent over the last three years by various authorities attempting to repair the hole on Boston Road South.

People whose lives had been disrupted demanded answers from the water company and council at a town meeting on Wednesday evening.

The delayed sewer works have now been completed, and the road repairs are currently expected to be completed by Friday, August 26.

Most of the anger was directed against Anglian Water for not keeping people informed of what was happening.

Sir John Hayes, MP for South Holland and the Deepings, said: “There has been a breakdown between Lincolnshire County Council. Local people have been put out. Anglian Water have a lot to answer for,” he said.

“It is not acceptable that the people I represent have had to have this since 2019. This cost is our money.

Problems have persisted on Boston Road South for years | Photo: The Lincolnite

“It is not acceptable people not knowing what is happening next. There is also the noise which is affecting people’s lives.

“Only Lincolnshire County Council are taking responsibility and not Anglian Water. People will know who to hold accountable.”

He also called for people to be compensated for their trouble as a gesture of goodwill.

Anglian Water said they were very sorry for not communicating better, and claimed that they had been working closely with the council to fix the problems.

A spokesperson said they would look into compensation.

One resident told the meeting that they hadn’t been informed about recent roadworks, and hadn’t been able to get off their drive for work on Monday.

Lincolnshire County Council apologised for not dropping letters off to all houses affected.

Questions also revealed that tankers full of sewage and storm water were being taken away from the sinkhole daily.

Anglian Water has spent approximately £350,000 trying to rectify the problem, and another £115,000 has come from Lincolnshire County Council.

The road repairs were pushed back from July 4 after Anglian Water said that more time was needed to repair the sewer.

The three-week repairs finally began on Monday.

Emails obtained through a Freedom of Information request revealed the fractures between the council and Anglican Water over what had happened and who was to blamed.

A former pub in Boston will be merged with a neighbouring building to create larger residential home.

Plans have been granted for a new use for the Red Cow Hotel on Wide Bargate.

The pub has had a turbulent history recently, briefly closing and reopening in 2014, before shutting again shortly after.

Planning documents say it’s fallen into a poor sate of repair. However, applicant SHWilkinson Architects Ltd is now working to bring it back into good condition.

Boston Borough Council has granted permission to build a two-storey extension to link it with the Georgians, an 18th century townhouse used as a care home for the elderly.

The extension will be set back from the road so it doesn’t detract from the historic architecture.

Artists impressions show what the larger, combined care home would look like.

The extended care home on Wide Bargate, Boston
Photo: SHWilkinson

The recently-approved application states: “The link will allow both buildings to operate under a combined management and staffing rather than two independent staffing units, were they kept separate.”

It adds that the plans are an “opportunity to bring the derelict and deteriorating building back into use and to address localised issues with vermin appearance.”

The buildings’ external features will be restored and replaced where needed.