Agenda item

The Strategic Operational & Property Manager will be in attendance to provide a presentation on recent improvement works to Spalding Special Expenses funded assets.

Part of the presentation will be about the recent improvements to the Daffodil Walk between Pinchbeck Road and the Johnson Hospital. Upon enquiry with LCC they have confirmed that there is currently no plan to extend this route up to Enterprise Way and the Chairman is looking for the support of the Forum to formally request that LCC treat the Daffodil Walk as a priority.

The Strategic Operational and Property Manager attended the meeting to provide an update on the following Spalding Special Expenses funded assets:

• Ayscoughfee Gardens – A significant range of jobs, both large and small, had been completed:
  • New toilets were being installed and improvements were being made to the Café which was expected to re-open fully at the start of July.
  • Benches had been repainted, new LED security lights installed, the community wall rebuilt, and the war memorials had been cleaned.
  • The pond had been refurbished and had received positive feedback from the public
• Water Fountain
  • A proposed planning application was to be submitted, to place the fountain in Ayscoughfee Gardens. Railings would be added around the fountain to help prevent anti-social behaviour and historical feature boards would also be added to create a visual feature.
• Spalding Cemetery:
  • A new one-way system had been installed and roadways resurfaced
  • The old toilet block had been demolished to create new parking bays.
  • Notice boards had been placed around the site to display the history of the cemetery – one noticeboard gave information on the hidden footstones that had been found next to a tree in the cemetery.
  • The cemetery improvements had received very positive feedback from the public.
• Daffodil Walk
  • Work had been completed at the end of March 2022 to install 850 metres of new cycle lane and walkway.
  • It was hoped that in the future, work could be undertaken to enhance the entrance to the walk to make it more noticeable.

Members raised the following points:

• Was there any logical route for visitors to the Cemetery to follow in relation to the historical noticeboards?
  • Officers responded that preliminary diagrams for the four noticeboards around the Cemetery were being drawn up, but there was no particular order for them to be followed.

• Some members raised concern that showing an image of the proposed siting of the fountain was unnecessary, given that a planning application had not yet been submitted.

• It would be helpful to have a noticeboard at the entrance of the Cemetery to show visitors what could be seen inside.

• It was clear to see that major investment had taken place at Ayscoughfee Gardens, and the Cemetery improvements had received many positive comments from the Public.

• It was noted that the work of the Friends of Spalding Cemetery group should be highlighted - they were very dedicated in assisting with the upkeep of the site and worked hard all year round.

• The Daffodil Walk had taken some time to get to the stage it was at, and lots of positive feedback had been received. It was noted that Pedals had done a tremendous amount of work in consulting with the Assets team in advising what works should be undertaken at Daffodil Walk, and in campaigning to ensure that monies available from a Section 106 agreement were utilised on completing the route.

• It was noted that it was important to keep the notice boards up to date and to listen to resident’s feedback.

• Residents had raised some concern with members about the Daffodil Walk surface being uneven and that more bins could be placed along the route.

• Members offered to assist in the production of a leaflet for the Cemetery by including some statistics from the 1851 religious census.

• Councillor Sneath, who was the County Councillor for the area between Spalding and Pinchbeck said she would raise the completion of the Daffodil Route with a County Council officer.

• It was noted that Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) had recently announced another tranche of funding for South Holland to promote cycling - it should be stressed that the rest of the cycleway should be completed to the same standard.

• Had any more surfacing been undertaken since the completion of the Daffodil Walk project at the end of March? Members had received some feedback from residents that certain areas of the route were uneven.
  • Officers confirmed that the current surfacing would be left to settle for the rest of 2022 and then a decision would be made as to whether further surfacing was needed.

• If there were areas of concern raised by members of the public, could signage be put up to advise that the surfacing had to settle?
  • Officers noted this suggestion and confirmed they would look into this suggestion.

• The Civic Society explained that they had been engaging with the Council about the placement of the water fountain and had provided additional information. It was an ongoing conversation where no final decision had been made as far as the Society was concerned.