Mablethorpe set to receive £20 million to regenerate the town - but officials warn the money must be spent in the right places

Members of East Lindsey District Council (ELDC) have agreed to allocate £20 million in Government funding to make improvements to Mablethorpe over a 10-year period.

The funding is part of the second phase of the Government’s Pride in Place programme which aims to regenerate ‘left behind’ towns across the country.

But officials have said that residents must have a say in where the money is spent.

At an ELDC annual general meeting on Wednesday, May 20, Coun Stef Bristow (East Lindsey Progressive – Sutton on Sea) said she wasn’t happy with the make-up of the proposed Mablethorpe Neighbourhood Board and said it needs to fully represent all residents if it is to effectively regenerate the area.

She added: “At least 51 per cent – I think we need to be closer to 100 per cent of the people from the local area.

“I think we need to make sure that that is cross village and cross town – so if the money’s being shared in Sutton (on Sea), there are people from Sutton on said neighbourhood board. That we are going across the generations. That it’s not just people of a certain age.

“The youth of Mablethorpe and Sutton (On Sea) leave us and they do not come back.

“How can we make this a place that they want to stay in – that they want to come back and perhaps raise their families there? Give them a say now.”

ELDC is working to develop a neighborhood board for Mablethorpe which will allow residents to have a say over how this money is spent to improve the area.

As part of its plans, at least 51 per cent of the neighbourhood board members must be people who ‘live or work in the town’.

The ELDC said that members of this new board must be appointed by July 17 this year.

Coun Bristow went on to say the neighbourhood board should remain non-political and focus on delivering improvements that local people want.

She added: “At such a local level, party politics should not be coming into it at all.

“So, if someone is wearing their rosette, we need to make sure that all colours are represented on that.”

Coun Travis Hesketh (Independent – Withern and Theddlethorpe) also called for a clear plan of how these projects will be funded.

He added: “This is a well-run council actually and I’ve always said that.

“But I have been consistently disappointed with its approach to capital projects and the justification of controls.

“I hope that it can be very clear that any projects that are undertaken have a clear, quantified financial and community return on investment for each project which is undertaken.”

But portfolio holder for the coastal economy, employment and skills, Steve Kirk (Conservative – Skegness Scarbrough and Seacroft) explained that ELDC was just the ‘accountable body’ for the funding and the neighbourhood board would decide on what projects the money should be allocated to.

He said: “These aren’t East Lindsey projects. These are projects that are brought forward by the community within that boundary map.

“They are their projects, so I don’t want you to think this is East Lindsey spending another load of money – it isn’t.

“We are nothing more than the gatekeepers for that funding. It will be the residents of that area – the children, the adults, whoever takes part in the consultation – who will decide what the money gets spent on.

“The town board for that area of Mablethorpe – whatever the board may be – will finalise them.”

In December 2025, the government confirmed that Mablethorpe would be part of the phase two delivery model, which focuses on smaller, more specific neighbourhood areas.