with the Spalding and District Area Chamber of Commerce
Many of you will have read about South Holland District Council’s desire to spend the remaining Springfields s106 monies wisely, but to date they appear to be unable to reach a conclusion.
Perhaps a little background may help you understand the situation and why there is money available.
The developer of Springfields Outlet Shopping Centre, when it was built in 2004, paid £900,000 into a s106 fund. This money was to offset the effect of Springfields on Spalding town centre and the council acted as stewards to ensure that it was correctly spent.
Ten years on and nearly £700,000 has been spent on a variety of projects.
The largest payments over the last ten years, totalling £195,000, has been to the water taxi which links Springfields with the town centre.
Other funded projects include the Christmas lights, fingerpost signs, a bus shelter and a traffic plan.
There is £207,935 unspent at present, although this may have been reduced by the further £30,000 recently awarded to the water taxi.
Eighteen months ago the Council asked Chamber what would be the best use of the remaining money.
We consulted with our members and listed a number of projects, but unanimously agreed that the recruitment of a town centre manager with a fund to deliver selected projects was the best possible solution.
We were pleased that the Town Forum rated the manager as their preferred choice and this was endorsed by the online poll.
I would like to thank those that took the time to complete this poll and we eagerly await the outcome from the SHDC Cabinet working party which is now considering the final projects to be allocated the remaining funds.
Members’ Meeting
Our next meeting is on Tuesday at the Broad Street Business Centre, starting at 5.45pm.
All members are encouraged to attend and if you are a business and would like to meet others within the area, you are most welcome.
You can find out more about Spalding and District Chamber of Commerce at our website: www.spaldingareachamber.co.uk