There are suggestions for the new Spalding town plan that I think are good.
The drinking fountain would be an excellent addition to the town, placing it in Hall Place in the centre of the existing circle of seats.
When COVID is controlled what will be left in Spalding? The majority of shops will be empty, so what will attract visitors and shoppers?
It will be impossible to fill large vacant places left by Beales, Peacocks, and possibly many more.
Would the council consider making a feature of a market? We already have a market place, perhaps some new stalls, with colourful awnings and a rent to encourage new traders.
Where were the four new traders that Charlotte Paine Environmental Services Manager reported to SHDC (The Voice 8 October)?
Spalding needs people to come into the town on a regular basis not just once a year, although a yearly event could be an additional attraction.
There are still some real treasures such as Bookmark, Ayscoughfee Hall and Gardens, The Forge, The Gentlemen’s Society, and a Cenotaph which would be the pride of any town, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.
A reduction in the car parking fees, or take a leaf from Boston who have two hours of parking free for shoppers, perhaps this could be done for market days?
Yes, we need some shop fronts to be spruced up – Smiths take note – but is that enough to entice anyone to come into the town?
Atmosphere would be provided by a busy market and perhaps then some shops would start to appear. Surely we don’t all want to shop in Springfields?
The rhetoric which I have recently heard about the expansion of Springfields was almost exactly the same as the rhetoric heard when the outlet was first opened. People who shop in Springfields are not persuaded to travel – by the excellent Water Taxi – into Spalding.
SHDC please take this opportunity to put life back into Spalding.
Jennifer Hemingway
Spalding
