Residents in Louth say the number of housing developments in the town needs to be reduced or stopped and more facilities are needed ahead of local elections.
All of East Lindsey District Council’s 55 seats are up for election next month, however, the Conservatives are already three uncontested seats ahead of the game – with two others going to independent and Labour councillors.
The Tories hold power by 19 seats and would need to lose nine to have overall control taken away from them.
Ahead of the big day, local people have been expressing their views on what needs to be the focus of campaigns, ranging from reduced housing to better roads.
Dusty Miller, who moved to Louth from Lincoln some years ago, said the town was “on the breaking point of having major problems because of the expansion and not enough infrastructure built into the change in circumstances”.
“It has grown with great cost for children. We used to have nurseries and that kind of thing and there was plenty in the towns. Even the playing area near me has been reduced because of the leisure centre,” he said.
“Play areas for children have been compromised at the expense of children’s well-being. A lot more could have been done alongside developments.”
As a cyclist, he added that many of the roads in the town were unsuitable for the growth.
“At certain times traffic is never ending. You can have a queue from Upgate all the way down Eastgate.
“We are also getting increased pollution problems. There are days in summer when it does get still and it just builds up.”
The Westfield Park development is one of the major developments in Louth given permission in September.
Resident Mary Graves, said the number of houses being built on Grimsby Road was a worry. She believed it would negate the impact of the town’s bypass by bringing traffic back onto the road.
She added: “There’s not enough for kids to do either, when they’re denying the town McDonald’s and things like that they need to make sure they’re making up for it.”
Other residents called for prospective councillors to put continued pressure on hospital bosses to save or return health services to the area.
Issues included anti-social behaviour and vandalism of town facilities, while others criticised a recent introduction of charges to use the town centre toilets.
One resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “Why should we be charged for something that comes naturally to all of us? I know it’s for upkeep but I think it should be a voluntary donation, not an absolute charge.”
Businesses in Louth’s market area.
East Lindsey District Council is currently Conservative-led, with the party holding 36 seats. The next biggest party is the East Lindsey Independent Group, which holds seven seats, while the make-up otherwise consists of Labour four, Lib Dems two, UKIP two, and one Independent.
There are currently three vacancies on the council.
However, the two UKIP members Danny Brookes (Skegness Winthorpe) and Mark Dannatt (Skegness St Clements) are both running under a Skegness Urban District Society banner this time round.
Two of the independents, Stephen Palmer (Sutton on Sea) and John Byford (Skegness Scarborough and Independent), are not listed as running this time round.
They will join five Conservative party members who are also not taking part in this year’s elections, those being Pauline Cooper (Croft), Susanna Gorst (Woodhall Spa), Robert Palmer (Marshchapel and Somercotes), Alan Vassar (Willoughby and Sloothby) and Siobhan Weller (Holten le Clay and North Thoresby).
The uncontested seats encompass three in Coningsby and Mareham (Conservatives Stan Avison, Martin Foster and Alex Hall) and two in Holten le Clay and Thoresby (Independent Terry Aldridge and Labour Phyll Smith).
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We can now confirm that the 12-year-old who died in the collision at Branston on Sunday (16 January) was Ted Vines, from Alford.
In a tribute to Ted, his family said:
“Ted was loved by everyone – he was happy, fun and brilliant and had so many people who loved him.
“On Sunday, he was on his way to play football for Alford Under-12s at Branston, as he was a part of that team.
“Everywhere he went, Ted made friends. He was a special part of the community for everyone.”
The family are being supported by loved ones, friends and specialist officers at this time. They request privacy from media while they grieve their loss.
Plans for a series of business units and offices to the north of Beevor Street in Lincoln are set to be approved next week.
The City of Lincoln Council’s Planning Committee will be asked by officers to approve Lincoln Western’s plans for a total of 21 units on the site as well as outline plans to build two further office buildings nearby.
The main site, to be called Foundry Park, will also include new access roads, 43 initial car parking spaces, cycle parking, landscaping and two areas for sustainable drainage systems.
In a report before members next Wednesday, officers will say the site is allocated in the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan as for “strategic employment” and the principle of the build is acceptable.
“The developments would make effective and efficient use of land and would reflect the architectural style of the local surroundings,” said the documents.
Site layout plans for the business units which are up for full approval.
The build will break down into one large building containing a unit of its own and four others, each split into five units.
Although due to come back before planning at a future point for confirmation, the planned office buildings are designed to be four-storeys high.
Officers said that although there was initial concern over the height, the applicants were able to convince them it was “not unusual to see taller buildings at the edge of the urban area” and that there were a number of comparable buildings in the wider area.
The applicant’s plans for office buildings are only at outline stage at the moment.
The application has received an objection from a nearby business around potential noise issues, however, officers raised no objections, only asking that further noise assessments be carried out when the office plans returned to the council.
Lincolnshire County Council has also asked for £25,000 contribution from the applicant to be used towards upgrading pedestrian facilities on Beevor Street and Tritton Road as well as a Hirebike station within the site.
Fire crews have been tackling a house blaze in Skegness on Monday which caused the road to be closed.
Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue were called to reports of a house fire on Wainfleet Road in Skegness at around 11.50am on Monday, where it was discovered that the property was “well alight”.
Three crews, two from Skegness and one from Spilsby, were in attendance and used breathing apparatus, two hose reels, two thermal imaging cameras and a covering jet to resolve the situation.
Everyone inside the property was accounted for but people in the local area were asked to keep their windows and doors closed.
Lincolnshire Police requested for traffic management on Wainfleet Road, which was in place for a number of hours through Monday.
The fire was caused by an electrical fault in the domestic wiring of a bedroom, which caused severe damage to not just the bedroom but also slight smoke damage to the room above and subsequent hallway of the ground floor and first floor rooms.
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