Town Open Meeting A Success!

The Spilsby Town Council Open Meeting held at the Franklin Hall, Spilsby today (November 15) was a well-attended success.

Speaking to a near-full house, Councillor Pleming opened the meeting by stating that whilst there were a number of topics that he wished to cover there was no strict agenda as the meeting was intended to be open for discussion. 

Inspector French from Lincolnshire Police detailed some of the likely changes to come from the structural changes within Lincolnshire Police, with the merger of some of the Neighbourhood Policing Teams within the district and the removal of the division structure.

The attendees then received a presentation from Father Peter Coates, Chair of the Spilsby Community Led Town Plan Steering Group, on the progress of the Town Plan and some of the initial findings.  The next stages for the plan include suggestions for an Open Day for organisations and groups within Spilsby so that people can find out more about what is happening in their area.

Issues surrounding the Monday Market were also discussed.  Councillor Pleming stated that East Lindsey District Council had suggested that the Town Council may wish to take over the operation of the market.  Councillor Pleming stated that the latest figures showed that the market is currently running at a loss of around £20,000 per year, which is mostly due to staffing and transportation costs,

A suggestion had been raised by market stall holders about replacing the current stalls with new, pop-up market stalls.  However, concerns about the viability of such stands with regards to inclement weather conditions mean that there is still much to be done before this could take place.

The issue of communications were also raised as this is one of the key initial findings of the Town Plan and was evident from the comments given at the meeting.  Although there is no budget or spare capacity available for the production of a town newsletter there are publications made available by other groups and for the internet users among us, websites such as Spilsby Online hope to go some way in fulfilling that need.  We aim to ensure that we host all minutes and agendas for Town Council meetings as they are published, and will continue to cover developments in the Town Plan process.

The event was seen as successful judging by the multitude of comments and the community can hopefully look forward to working closely with a receptive and positive thinking council.

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