A council video promoting Lincolnshire as the “perfect place to live, work, visit and invest” does not feature South Holland.
Lincolnshire County Council has been criticised by one of its own cabinet members for the omission.
Holbeach councillor Nick Worth – executive member for culture – said he was even unaware that the video had been commissioned before it appeared on the website.
The YouTube video, entitled “Lincolnshire is a place to grow”, is 103 seconds long, but features just a brief nod to South Lincolnshire – a woman flicking through a magazine in a Stamford bar and mention of Grantham’s rail link to the capital.
The £4,750 video – produced by Lincoln firm Epix Media and largely focusing on the city – was commissioned by the council’s strategic communications team. The council says it will be used to encourage people to come to work in the county, and to market it to potential investors and tourists.
Coun Worth said: “As a hard hitting, short, promotional piece for Lincolnshire it is a good enough video and will help to encourage new businesses into Lincolnshire, but obviously from a parochial point of view it needs to be more inclusive of the whole of Lincolnshire in the future, as otherwise they won’t know we exist. So in that context it does nothing for South Holland.
“The agri-food industry is massive in South Holland, Boston and Lincolnshire as a whole and has international recognition as such (National Centre for Food Manufacturing), so was a surprising omission, particularly with the headline, ‘Lincolnshire is a place to grow’!”
He said the video is “heavily Lincoln orientated” and has made his views on any future production known to the council.
Spalding and District Area Chamber of Commerce president Phil Scarlett was equally unimpressed.
“The video is going to do nothing at all for our area unless people find us by mistake,” he said. “I’ve said before that as far as Lincolnshire County Council is concerned the county stops at Sleaford.”
South Holland District Council leader Gary Porter, who is pushing for devolution for Greater Lincolnshire, and the district council’s economic development team chose not to comment.
Response by county council leader Martin Hill, who represents Folkingham Rural: “The concept was discussed with partners, such as the GLLEP (Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership), the University of Lincoln and the NHS.
“The content was selected by the county council, with the focus being the aspects of Lincolnshire’s lifestyle that would best sell the county to an outside audience.
“We decided that the video should highlight the county’s reasonably-priced housing, good schools, business opportunities, coastal areas, a university and the connectivity with King’s Cross.
“Epix Media then scouted for suitable locations that would convey these elements, making sure we had a selection of places around the county, including Stamford and Grantham in the south.
“We could have tried to include every village and town in the county, but the end result would have been a video that was over-long and didn’t do a good job of attracting people. It would also have meant a much longer shoot and additional expenses, resulting in a far higher cost, but with no extra benefits.
“The video was first presented at the council’s economic scrutiny committee, where it was well received by members.”
