Hundreds turned out to a meeting in protest at Lincolnshire County Council’s plans to sell its land in Market Deeping known as Mill Field for housing.
The council said 11 hectare site off Millfield Road was included in major proposals for new homes in the South Kesteven Consultative Draft Local Plan, 2017.
Council bosses are now considering the sale of the land, currently rented to local agriculture farmers, to housing developers and local people were invited to a drop-in event at The Deepings School to have their say.
Over 170 residents attended the meeting, most of whom were supporters of the Friends of Mill Field campaign group which seeks to protect the land.
A large group of residents told Lincolnshire Reporter they were concerned as Mill Field is one of the “last remaining natural accessible green spaces in the town”, and argued the land is used by people for recreational purposes.
But the council says its main use is agricultural, besides a public footpath.
campaigners also added the land is the subject of an ongoing legal process instigated by local campaigners wish to see the area formally designated as a village green.
The county council, they say, is opposing the village green application.
Independent councillor Ashley Baxter who represents Market and West Deeping ward at South Kesteven District Council said: “This is another phoney consultation by the county council officers who plan to deliver yet another hammer blow to the community of Deepings.
“The so-called listening event was announced at very short notice. It was not publicised in any of the local press and the sparse information which was circulated was factually inaccurate.
“Nevertheless, I am pleased with the high turnout which is down to the efforts of concerned local residents and the Friends of Mill Field campaigners.”
Almost a dozen planning professionals were on hand to answer questions at the drop-in event, including representatives of property companies Savills and Keir.
Councillor Martin Hill, Leader of Lincolnshire County Council, attended the event with his colleague Councillor Eddy Poll to hear residents’ comments first-hand.
Council Leader, Councillor Martin Hill, said on announcing the plans: “This event is about listening to what local people feel Market Deeping needs. They may think that there is a lack of a particular type of housing, or that there could be better local leisure facilities.
“It’s important that people give their input as we look at the future use of this land and how it can best provide what the community needs.
“The county council owns parcels of land in various places in the county which were previously used by us or rented out, but where we no longer require them, it makes sense to release some of our funds and see them used for what the county really needs.”
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Nominations are open for schools and education settings to be recognised in the 2022 Lincolnshire Education Excellence Awards.
The event is organised by Stonebow Media, publishers of The Lincolnite, to celebrate the best school and teachers in Greater Lincolnshire.
The headline sponsors making the awards possible are Lincoln College Group.
Twelve categories are now open for nominations. The deadline for nominations is June 3, with a judging lunch scheduled for June 7.
Nominations are open from parents, carers, friends, families or education settings themselves, so if you know someone who deserving of winning now is the time to vote!
The awards ceremony will be held at the Engine Shed on July 7.
It’s been a week since the controversial statue of Margaret Thatcher was installed in Grantham’s St Peter’s Hill.
The £300,000 bronze monument immediately caused a stir and debate from both supporters and opponents of the first female Prime Minister of the UK.
Within hours of its 7am installation last Sunday, it had already been egged by a man later revealed to be 59-year-old Jeremy Webster, a deputy director at the Attenborough Arts Centre at the University of Leicester.
Mr Webster’s mother-in-law recently described his actions as “childish”.
Quoted in the MailOnline she said: “Margaret Thatcher lasted a long time in power. She was a trailblazer as the first woman prime minister and she had such energy, even though I know she slept very little.
“I’m very surprised to hear about all of this [egg throwing]. I’m going to have to call my daughter. I wouldn’t have thought Jeremy would be the sort of person to do this. It seems very childish to me – he has a responsible job.”
There have been reports of other antisocial behaviour taking place including people urinating up the statue, but investigations into these are yet to be confirmed by officials.
Away from the statue itself, others took to social media to react to the new monument.
Twitterer @BolsoverBeast thought Mr Webster’s actions should be expanded as a way to… get more people involved?
I think it would be a good idea to put Thatcher’s statue on a low loader and tow it slowly around the country so that we all have a chance to throw something at it. pic.twitter.com/uftMqr0LgR
— Chloe Schlosberg (@ChloeSchlosberg) May 19, 2022
Some called back to the fate of other statues
@Irritatedllama called back to the fate of slave trader Edward Colston who was thrown into the Bristol Harby in June 2020.
It's absolutely disgraceful that people are throwing eggs at the Margaret Thatcher statue in Grantham! We need to deploy a taskforce to give it jolly good wash!#Granthampic.twitter.com/RKftKUls4u
It wasn’t long before a parody account of the statue was set up on Twitter – nor before “she” was interacting with other parody accounts.
It was awful. I could see almost all of Grantham
— That Statue of Thatcher (@thatcher_statue) May 18, 2022
A… positive view?
There were supporters of the statue, however, Darren Grimes from GBNews was one of the few popular posts calling on people not to “give in to threats of petty vandalism”. He later posted the statue should be in parliament – where it was previously rejected from.
I honestly think Margaret Thatcher would have found this first round of petty vandalism of her statue to be utterly hilarious.
The statue looks absolutely glorious.
Almost a decade on from her passing, she’s still winding them up!
Some, like @Jonnyhibberd were more measured in their response.
I don't see a problem with a Thatcher statue and I also don't see a problem with people throwing eggs at it. Thatcher is an important part of our history, and so is what a lot of people thought about her.
— Jonathan Hibberd 🇺🇦 (@Jonnyhibberd) May 18, 2022
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