Two thirds of Grantham residents say their town needs its own council.
There has been broad public support for the idea in a consultation launched by South Kesteven District Council, with many calling for more local control of the town.
A total of 66% of people agreed either a town or parish council should be set up, and only 20% said it shouldn’t.
Another 13% were unsure or didn’t know.
Grantham is the only major town in South Kesteven without its own council.
People responding to the survey said local councillors would be able to make better decisions than those at a district level.
However, some skeptics questioned whether it would make any difference.
The responses will now be used to draft recommendations, which will go to a second consultation. The full review could be completed within 12 months.
A total of 1472 people living in or around Grantham responded to the survey, with just under 1,000 giving plans their support.
“Grantham needs more of a voice. Rightly or wrongly, there is a feeling the SKDC finds it difficult to assess and respond to the very particular needs of the town,” one response said.
“I never understood the reason for the largest town not having its own town council. I believe the people of Grantham should have more say in the running of the town,” another person wrote.
Several people mentioned having a greater say in planning decisions as a reason for their support.
“In the 10 years since we have moved to Grantham from Boston (which has had its own town council for many years) we have seen a substantial growth in housing development. We have sensed a perception that Grantham is often influenced by councillors made from outside in the area in SKDC,” another person said.
“Many towns in Lincolnshire and beyond have a council, and we think that with the continued growth in housing and infrastructure, there is a compelling case for a town council in Grantham.
The potential cost and lack of faith in politicians were some of the reasons people gave for not wanting a town council.
Negative responses included: “I don’t believe it will improve anything and may cost more”, “We already have too many tiers of government”, and “Just another reason to squeeze money out of taxpayers without any real benefit.”
The cross-party plans to review Grantham’s ‘unusual’ organisation were passed by a full council meeting in October.
The results will go before a South Kesteven District Council meeting on Friday, April 29.
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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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