Well a lot has happened since my last column. Lots of positivity. The Market is showing great signs of improving, thanks to the hard work of the new markets manager and his crew and all the stall holders showing faith. We have attracted quite a few new stalls and the rearrangement of stalls due to the ongoing roadworks has brought more footfall. The District Council have provided street entertainment and local young musicians Lewis Pittam and Hermione Johnson performed for 3 weeks running on a Saturday at the picturesque Conduit Tea Rooms. Funding has been approved to re-open the Conduit Public Toilets, methods of bringing an electricity supply into the Market Place are being surveyed to enhance future events. Cllrs Stooke and Gadd have been busy fighting anti-social behaviour in their ward. Cllr Cunnington has seen his hard work come to fruition with securing the re-vamp of West Grantham Community Centre on the Earlesfield Estate. This has led to the formation of a new trustee Group initially of Cllrs Steve Cunnington, Paul Stokes, Lee Steptoe and myself who will work hard to make this a venue for all. Cllr Cunnington also chased down funding for a complete refit of Beedon Park. Cllr Paul Stokes has become the Deputy Leader of the District Council bringing his vast wealth of knowledge to great use. Cllr Patsy Ellis joined the Grantham Independents and, along with Cllr Noon, has promptly got her teeth into setting up an exciting project they will publish next week. Grantham Independents have set up the towns own new website GranthamTogether.org, which has free advertising for independent businesses.
We formed our own Town Council after a 50-year absence, which will hopefully try to safeguard the Town’s future through the devolution process. 15 Independent candidates got elected to the 22-member council and I have ended up as Chairman with Cllr Marie Reid as Vice-Chairman. There is a lot of work to do to facilitate the setting up, but with Cllr Reid and our Clerk Anita Eckersley at the helm, I am confident that the team can get it up and running tout de suite. I have been liaising with young musicians (two mentioned above) and other talented youngsters such as Makenzie Brown (Reporting and Evaluating Events) and Josh Hardy (Photography and Publicity) who have given their talents for free, buying into the #GranthamTogether ethos. We will be bringing a showcase of Grantham Talent to the town later this year. This week we have spent time discussing the plans for Xmas, expect more of the same and a little bit better. Inspire+ have put two great events on in recent weeks with the mini-olympics and the collaboration with the National Opera House. The Rotarians smashed the £1 million barrier with their swimarathon with a massive total this year of over £50k. We are hosting visitors from Sankt Augustin with our twinning association in September. I could go on, but I only get so many words, so watch my social media or the new website for updates. Hopefully see you around town soon,
Tim Harrison
(Leader of Grantham Independents)
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