Five Lincolnshire towns and Lincoln city will get more than £131.1 million towards priority projects as part of the government’s budget this year.
Lincoln, Boston, Skegness and Mablethorpe will all take a share of £175 million allocated to the East Midlands as part of the Towns Fund project.
Meanwhile Grimsby and Scunthorpe will also share in £199 million of funding spread across Yorkshire and the Humber.
The Towns Fund deals are a series of projects aimed at “levelling up” areas.
Here’s a breakdown of how much will be received by each town:
Lincoln – £19 million
Skegness – £24.5 million
Mablethorpe – £23.9 million
Boston – £21.9 million
Scunthorpe – £20.9 million
Grimsby – £20.9
Region’s leaders react
East Lindsey District Council leader Craig Leyland said: “We are delighted to have secured a Town Deal for both [Mablethorpe and Skegness]. This helps us secure more investment in the future.”
Meanwhile, Lincoln MP Karl McCartney said: “As a Towns’ Fund Board, we ranked the projects in order of what we believed was in the best interests of our beautiful city. I am pleased to see a number of them that I particularly supported have been granted funding.”
Jo Walker, Assistant Director for Growth at City of Lincoln Council, said: “It’s fantastic news that Lincoln will receive £19m of Town Deal funding.
“This money, and the projects it will fund, will help make a significant difference in the city as we come out of lockdown and begin our recovery from the pandemic.
“We now await the full detail on which of our projects have been approved. We will then put the wheels in motion to ensure these projects are delivered for the benefit of the people of Lincoln and to help consolidate our position as a leading visitor destination.”
Councillor Rob Waltham, leader of North Lincolnshire Council, said: “These plans have always been about investing in a better future for the people of Scunthorpe and North Lincolnshire.
“These very serious plans for investment across the next five years will create jobs, they will create even better conditions for growth and make the area a more attractive environment for businesses to invest.
“The end result be more highly-skilled, well-paid, sustainable jobs in Scunthorpe for the people who live here.”
Councillor Philip Jackson, Leader of North East Lincolnshire Council, which has not had its funding confirmed yet, said: “I’m delighted to hear that our Town Deal plans have been recognised in today’s budget.
“There’s real optimism for Grimsby’s future, and having a vibrant and enriched town centre that can serve the whole community is significantly important.
“There are many opportunities ahead for us, not least the prominence of our role to the UK’s green agenda, and the additional announcement in the Budget about the Humber bid for Freeport status being approved will only benefit the local area further in terms of local jobs and further investment in the area.”
The projects getting funded
Lincoln
Workers are currently removing the old paving ahead of an upgrade of Speakers’ corner in Lincoln. | Photo: The Lincolnite
In Lincolnshire’s capital, a £31 million wishlist of 14 projects include revamps of the Drill Hall, as well as the Barbican Hotel.
Regeneration of the Central Market in the Cornhill Quarter also features highly on the priority list of projects.
Money is also planned to go towards a new Hospitality Events and Tourism Institute and work in the Sincil Bank Area.
Plans also included the regeneration of a site on Tentercroft Street as well as transformation of Wigford Way through the centre of the city.
Skegness
Visual from the Skegness Foreshore Masterplan.
Projects planned for Skegness include further improvements to the resort’s foreshore, as well as establishing a new further education facility.
Renovations of the railway station and further transformation projects in the town centre are also a priority, as well as a new multi-user trail, a police training centre, a YMCA and development of the Skegness Gateway to the south of the town.
Mablethorpe
Draft plans for the proposed Colonnade in Sutton on Sea. | Photo: ELDC
This money could also go to a new transport hub and works on the colonnade at Sutton on Sea.
A new medical and innovation hub is hoped to focus on attracting healthcare professionals and research.
Money will also go towards the Seal Sanctuary and the National Trust at Sandilands.
Boston
An artist’s impression of Boston’s PE21 Town Centre Regeneration project.
In Boston, the projects include the development of a local radio station and media outlet “championing Boston” and broadcasting information about the town in a bid to “boost” its image.
It also has plans to transform the town centre and key gateway through funding public realm and green space improvements. Money could also go towards investing in “smart home” solutions as well as the conservation of St Botolph’s Church and Library.
Investment in the Trinity Centre will see the building refurbished for better use by church and community groups, while a new Centre for Food and Fresh Produce Logistics is planned.
All of this is on top of regeneration plans across the PE21 postcode and investments in Blenkin Memorial Hall, Shodfriars and Boston Train Station.
Scunthorpe
Designs for some of the plans North Lincolnshire has submitted to the government.
North Lincolnshire leaders are focusing their investments on creating an advanced manufacturing park with 4 million sq ft of space which is hoped to attract world-class engineering firms to the area.
Further development will include the town’s cultural quarter in and around Church Square and progressing work on a health and emergency services hub.
The development of around 500 new homes in the town and a skills development programme will be designed to ensure local people are best placed to take advantage of all the new opportunities.
Grimsby
Designs as outlined by North East Lincolnshire Council for Garth Lane and Frederick Ward Way in Grimsby.
The Greater Grimsby Board’s list of priority projects include the development of a new public square at Riverhead Square – the first phase of which has already started – along with better pedestrian and cycle loops connecting the town to Alexandra Dockside.
The Towns Fund could also go towards the next phase of a new major residential waterfront community off Garth Lane, as well as refurbishment of the Central Library and the development of Victoria Mill Quarter.
The board would also like to complete further regeneration of St James’ Quarter in the town.
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Removal of the steel support frames on Lincoln Cathedral’s West Front is under way, and once complete it will see the area scaffolding-free for the first time in 36 years.
However, that is about to change as those works gradually come to an end. The project to clean and protect the Romanesque Frieze carvings started in 2016 after £1.5 million of national lottery heritage funding, and scaffolding has been up there from previous conservation works long before that.
Lincoln Cathedral’s Romanesque Frieze has been the subject of a large conservation project, and that is now almost complete. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
The Lincolnite was told the works were set for completion in mid-January, to allow for the West Front to be scaffolding-free for the first time since 1986.
Lincoln Cathedral has now announced that from Monday, January 24 to Friday, February 4, Minster Yard will close to vehicles to allow for the safe removal of steel frames from the building.
The scaffolding is being taken down, and Minster Yard will close to vehicles in the meantime. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Visitors can still access the cathedral via the visitor centre, and if you are attending services you should enter through the judgement porch.
Meet the stone carvers hard at work to bring the Romanesque Frieze exhibition to life at Lincoln Cathedral. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
It will also allow visitors to the cathedral to see all of the wonderful carvings on the Romanesque Frieze, both on the walls themselves, and with the copy carvings at the visitor centre.
A 17-year-old from Scunthorpe has qualified in the top 50 of a worldwide competition that seeks to find the next female star motorsport driver.
Alicia Barrett, 17, has reached the final 50 of Formula Woman, a competition introduced in 2021 to encourage more female participation in motorsport, and to hopefully provide a platform for potential future world champions.
Formula Woman has had more than 800 women from 28 countries apply, including Alicia from Scunthorpe, who is currently head girl and studying for her A-Levels at Worksop College.
The top four ranked drivers will earn a prize of a fully sponsored McLaren GT4 seat in the UK GT Cup Championship 2022, a seven-round motorsport series starting at Donington Park National Circuit on April 9 and 10.
Alicia has no previous car racing experience and only passed her driving test in September 2021, but has been a keen go-kart racer from the age of eight, winning the 2017 X30 Ladies Championship at the iconic Le Mans circuit.
Forumula Woman has been launched to offer a female platform in a male-dominated industry. | Photo: Racing Talent
She will now take part in Formula Woman on March 2 and 3, where she will be given practical and written tests covering mind coaching, reactions, social media, driving, racing and technical skills.
Just 10 out of the 50 women will progress from this stage, moving on to a ‘shootout’ in Europe which will decide the final four winning drivers.
Alicia said: “Being selected as one of 50 females to reach the final stages of the Formula Woman competition brings me one step closer to my goal of being a professional racing driver – something I have aspired to since I was young.
“During the pandemic I was unable to continue funding my kart racing. For
me, Formula Woman has come around at the perfect time and if I was successful in winning a championship drive in the McLaren GT4, I would finally be able to make the transition from karts to cars.”
If Alicia is one of the lucky winners, she will undergo full training and coaching ahead of the April start of the televised GT Cup, which will see her get behind the wheel of a 3.8 litre twin turbo V8 race car.
To track her progress, you can follow Alicia’s Instagram and Facebook pages, and for details on sponsorship you can email [email protected].
A wallaby called Ant who has been missing from a Lincolnshire farm for almost three weeks is now back home and reunited with his brother Dec.
Ant escaped from Tracey and Dave Hall’s Tiny Steps Petting Farm in Thurlby on January 5.
There were early sightings of him in Edenham, Toft, Swallow Hill, Manthorpe and Lound, and various other locations. He buckled one kind trap around a week ago before he was eventually caught close to a local resident’s home on January 23, thanks to the help of RSPCA inspector Justin Stubbs.
Other than a small cut on his face which he has been given antibiotics for Ant is otherwise fine. Now that he is back at the farm safely it turns out that he’s had quite the adventure.
Tracey told The Lincolnite it is still unclear how he got out, but they have added in extra security cameras and more robust fencing.
She said: “He’s been visiting a golf course, a physiotherapist’s garden, and a tennis court where he has been sitting and watching a gardener do bits in the garden.
“Heat seeking drones and wallaby watchers have been trying to spot him and, after sightings at Swallow Hill, we knew he was more local.
“It has been hard work and we’ve been worried about him getting caught in the traffic as he crossed the road occasionally and was hopping down the verges.
“It is a big relief to have him back. He’s there for people to come and see, and he is fun, so it is nice to have him back as he is part of the family.”
She added: “Hundreds of people have been trying to help keep him safe, and we’ve had lots of well wishes. He definitely made a home at Swallow Hill and residents will miss him.
“We wouldn’t have caught Ant if we hadn’t had the help from Justin from the RSPCA, with his support and help, even on his days off, so a big thank you to him. He was the main person that kept us going.”
Ant’s brother Dec is also glad to have him back again, but Tracey said the two of them are very different.
She added: “Ant is more energetic and constantly jumping about, whereas Dec has always stood and watched and is a quiet wallaby.
“I can’t believe a little animal like Ant has been out for three weeks avoiding being runover, and also having his own routine. It’s shown he’s quite a clever little thing.”
Tracey added that they are busy getting ready for when the farm reopens to the public on April 4.
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