City councillors supported plans to give returning traders to this year’s Lincoln Christmas Market a price freeze.
Members of the City of Lincoln Council voted through a proposal to freeze prices for stallholders planning to return to the event for 2017 while increasing prices for new traders by 8%.
Park and ride and coach fees will also be frozen at last year’s prices under the proposals.
But Conservative councillors said that the plan to increase the cost for newcomers was a problem.
Councillor Hilton Spratt said: “We understand why costs have to go up in order to breakeven.
“The problem is that the 8% increase is almost treble the rate of inflation.”
The first day of the 2017 market brought thousands to the Cathedral Quarter. Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
He added that the charge should be halved and proposed an amendment to charge new traders 4%.
But Labour council leader Councillor Ric Metcalfe said that the plan would only affect a small number of stallholders.
“The proposed increase will only affect less than 20% of stallholders,” he said.
“What we are proposing is that the vast majority of traders will be revisiting and will receive a price freeze.”
The Conservative amendment to halve the basic charge for a stall was lost.
The move means that the basic rate for a stall in the castle grounds this Christmas would be increased from £1,814 to £1,959 for new stallholders.
The cheapest stall price would be in The Lawn area where new traders looking for a basic 3×3 stall would be charged £1,469, an increase of £109 on last year.
The council estimates that the price freeze and increase for new stallholders would generate around £417,000 with a total income of £605,000 when including other costs.
Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Moves to implement the price freeze come after the council closed the Sunday of last year’s market due to expected heavy snowfall.
Closing the market on the final day saw a total increased expenditure of £56,180, according to a council report.
Simon Walters, Assistant Director Health and Environment Services said that the additional amount was unexpected.
He said: “Last year’s Lincoln Christmas Market was unprecedented in that we had to spend an additional amount on continuing to ensure our visitors had an enjoyable and safe experience.
“In light of incidents that had happened at large-scale events throughout Europe over the previous year, we took the decision to increase the security arrangements.
“The safety of our visitors is of utmost importance to us, and if we have to increase our security at the Lincoln Christmas Market to ensure that everyone has a safe and enjoyable event, then we do so without hesitation.
“This extra cost, which has been seen in an increase in overall policing and vehicle security barriers has therefore translated into an operational loss for the council.
“The Lincoln Christmas Market is a much-loved event, and the losses incurred in 2017 will not have an effect on the event in the coming years. Indeed we are already well advanced in planning for an even bigger and better market in 2018.”
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A pair of anti-vaxxers have decided to temporarily stop sharing conspiracy theories on Facebook and stage a protest at a roundabout in Lincoln instead.
The duo were spotted on the Riseholme roundabout on the A15 on Friday afternoon, armed with misinformation signs that appear to suggest England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty has an “evil agenda”.
The protest signs appeared to be against child vaccinations, which suggests that the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation were against young people being jabbed, despite a statement in July saying the Pfizer dose had been authorised for use in people aged 12 and over.
They seem to be at loggerheads with Lincolnshire’s own Jonathan Van-Tam, none other than England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, who urged people this week to “trust professionals, not Instagram” as fake propaganda posted on social media is being attributed to vaccine hesitancy.
Another sign held up spouts rhetoric about heart problems from the COVID-19 vaccine, while a third notice shows children with masks on and reads: “Is this the future we want for our kids?”
For reference, in case you cannot make it to the Lincolnshire Showground for your vaccination, there will be a free shuttle bus service to take you to and from the jab site starting next week. Read more here.
Up to 86% of adults in Lincolnshire are double-jabbed, and over 25% of 12-15-year-olds.
A special lights show celebrating Lincolnshire’s plants will take place at Boultham Park on Saturday.
The Lincspirational Lightshow will start at 5.30pm on October 23 after the original event was postponed earlier this month due to the weather forecast.
The free show is the final of event of Lincolnshire Wildlife Trusts’ LoveLincsPlants project.
The evening will feature a lightshow parade, artwork projects, park illuminations and music inspired by nature from Sinfonia Viva. During the event the 30 artworks created by the public will be projected onto a large screen.
There will also be an opportunity to bid on the 130 artworks submitted as part of the exhibition. They will be available via an online action, with the 30 winning pieces starting at £40.
The evening will feature a lightshow parade, artwork projects, park illuminations, and more. | Photo: Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
The money raised from the sale of the artworks will help fund nature’s recovery in Lincolnshire. It will also help the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust create wildflower rich habitats across the county.
Lincolnshire County Council’s Labour Group will call on the Conservative-led authority to rethink its policy of turning off street lights in built-up areas overnight.
The present situation, introduced in 2016, means that most street lights in Lincolnshire are turned off at midnight, as the council said in March this year that lighting has “no impact” on night-time crime levels.
This statement came after a petition signed by over 5,000 people demanded that street lights were kept on overnight following the death of Sarah Everard in London this year.
The response to Sarah Everard’s death was one of concern for women’s safety, to which the council responded by saying “women’s safety is about much more than street lights.”
A memorial for Sarah Everard in Lincoln on university campus. | Photo: The Lincolnite
More than half of Lincolnshire’s street lights were turned off in 2016 as the council looked to save £1.7 million, and despite the petition and concerns raised, just one parish council asked for lights to be switched back on in 12 months, according to the county’s highways chief.
Now Kev Clarke, Labour County Councillor for Boultham Division in Lincoln and member of Lincolnshire County Council Highways Scrutiny Committee, will be raising the issue at the next meeting on Monday, October 25.
He will be calling for a review of LCC’s street lighting policy, and asking for the council to consider the possibility of keeping the lights on overnight.
Councillor Clarke argues: “After recent sad events – attacks on females – a lot of people feel unsafe and anxious when walking home at night when the county is plunged into darkness at midnight.
“Lincoln is being promoted as a university city with young people leaving home for the first time and moving to Lincoln to study here and gain a first class education. Wonder if the parents were told that lights go off, if so they may look at other locations for their children.
“To boost our local economy we want to attract visitors to Lincoln to visit not only as day–trippers, but to stay over for longer periods to enjoy the benefits of the city and county – one of which is not the turning off of the lights.
“Labour County Councillors are not alone in this plea to Lincolnshire County Council to review the current street lighting policy particularly in Lincoln before it’s too late. Students at the University of Lincoln also want to see changes to the current policy.”
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