City of Lincoln Council leaders have defended a £2,500 spend on independent consultants who backed their plans for the 3,200-home Western Growth Corridor.
A Freedom Of Information request to the authority revealed it had paid independent highways consultancy BSP £2,550 for its report into the proposed sustainable urban extension which said the impact of an initial 300 homes could be mitigated.
The 3,200-home development, which includes a shopping centre, primary school, leisure facilities and a new football stadium, was approved by councillors on January 12, 16 votes for to 11 against, despite objections from Lincolnshire County Council, councillors and residents.
Conservative opposition leader Councillor Thomas Dyer has hit out at the spend, indicating the money could have been better spent elsewhere.
“In the grand scheme of the city council budget, £2,550 may not seem a significant sum, however, as an example, the closure of the uphill toilets was to only save just short of £10k, which Labour tell us they cannot afford,” he said.
“We must also consider this in the context of the £2million-plus which has already spent on this project, without a brick being laid.
The consultant’s report may have provided justification for the council to recommend approval, but it hasn’t alleviated the concerns of the highway authority, the third of the city councillors who voted against this project and the hundreds, if not thousands of local residents who will be negatively impacted by the development in its current form.
Labour council leader Councillor Ric Metcalfe, however, said the spend was “modest” when compared to the “huge benefits”.
“Western Growth Corridor is a hugely important development, which we anticipate will bring much-needed housing, employment and jobs to the area,” he said.
“To develop on a very challenging, partly brownfield site requires significant upfront investment that the free market is unlikely to make.
In proportion to the huge benefits that will be realised, the investment in the necessary expert advice to look at traffic management, flood mitigation and tip remediation, for example, is modest.
“It is essential that we meet all kinds of statutory requirements as a planning authority in order to make a decision based on the very best advice.”
On Thursday, an attempt to get the government to derail the plans was rejected.
However, fewer than 10 days after City of Lincoln councillors voted in favour of approving the plans amid a backlash from opposition, the government has declined to get involved.
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Lincolnshire’s biggest rock festival was back with a bang over the weekend – after being delayed four times.
Thousands of rock fans descended on Lincolnshire Showground for Call Of The Wild festival, and were treated to a host of upcoming and well-established acts.
Headliners included Massive Wagons, Reckless Love, and Phil Campbell & The Bastard Sons, established by legendary Motörhead guitarist Phil Campbell after the death of frontman Lemmy.
The four-day rock extravaganza also had many local bands on the billing, including Lincoln-based The Velvet Queens, who announced their new single ‘The Morning After..’ in collaboration with the festival itself.
Many of the attendees had bought early-bird tickets for the festival back in 2019, following the inaugural event three years ago.
Speaking to The Lincolnite Podcast, Dave O’Hara, co-founder of the festival, spoke of his gratitude to the ticket-holders for sticking by them through a difficult couple of years, and admitted the atmosphere at this year’s event had lit a fire within his team going forward.
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Call Of The Wild festival started in 2019, and the second show has been pushed back numerous times due to changes in COVID-19 legislation, including one instance where the festival had to postpone just weeks prior to the guidance changing.
Improvements will be made to the cycle network between Pinchbeck and Spalding after the government awarded a payout of £1.8 million to fund Lincolnshire County Council’s Active Travel Plans.
The money allocated to Lincolnshire will be spent on improving facilities along both the Spalding and Pinchbeck roads, subject to feasibility.
The two communities of Pinchbeck and Spalding will be connected with a safe and direct active travel route while also linking up with the important destinations along Wardentree Lane and Enterprise Way.
This route was identified as a priority for active travel development during the council’s work with stakeholders on the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan for Spalding.
Councillor Richard Davies, executive member for highways at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “I’m delighted to see further active travel money coming to Lincolnshire. Active travel is something that can benefit all of our communities and I’m pleased to see the development of a route in the south of our county.
“Having been actively developing this idea for one of our Local Cycling and Walking Plans (LCWIPs) it’s clear to see that the benefits are going to be widely felt. This is a great success in one of our bids to the Department for Transport.
“Lincolnshire has invested in developing a LCWIP for each of our strategy board areas. We believe the LCWIPs will be the key for unlocking more of the active travel funding and we look forward to working with the DfT to develop more ideas from our plans for Lincolnshire.”
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