Residents back calls for market place ‘shut down’ - but not everybody has the same opinion!

The News spoke to more than 30 people last Thursday and the majority were in favour of closing off the Market Place to traffic (except for High Street).

However, some were opposed to the idea, saying the loss of car parking in the Market Place itself would deter people from coming to the town.

Several people were also concerned about proposals to close off St Lawrence Street, adding to the recent decision to ban traffic from the road outside the Post Office.

Many people also criticised a delay in introducing the scheme, saying it should have been brought in before the summer.

Andrew Talbot, of Horncastle, said: “The town is struggling – and it was struggling before the pandemic.

“It needs something different and closing off the Market Place would have been positive.

“You could have had tables and chairs during the day – and at night in the summer.

“There could have been live music as well.

“You could still have had the weekly markets and perhaps with the roads closed off, there would have been more interest in them.”

Lisa Holmes, of Horncastle, added: “It would be great to see cars banned from the Market Place, especially with all the pollution they cause.

“But there’s no point putting tables out now because of the weather.

“This should have been done at the start of the summer.

“The few places where you can sit outside have been really busy.

“Asking people to sit outside when it’s freezing is pointless.

Betty Arnold, from Coningsby, said she’d like to see more craft markets and other locally based attractions in the Market Place.

She said: “You go to a lot of other market towns and they have pedestrian only areas which are really popular.

“As ever, Lincolnshire seems to lag behind the rest of the country.”

Mark Lambert, of Horncastle, said he favoured closing off the Market Place, but only during the summer.

He explained: “If you kept cars off it during the winter, what use would it be? It would just become an area for gangs of kids to gather and we all know 
what happens then.

“We’ve already got enough boy racers – and problems with anti social behaviour.”

Liam Johnson, of Horncastle, claimed the loss of the car park would hit the town hard.

He said: “At the moment, it’s 30 minutes free which means you can pop in to a shop, Post Office or the bank without any problem.

“The fact the car park is packed most of the day says everything.”

Several people said the closure of St Lawrence Street would add to the amount of traffic using Conging Street – the only access by car to the Tesco car park.

Ian Johnson said: “At busy times, you have to queue for ages to get out of the car park. If you added traffic from St Lawrence Street, it would be a nightmare.”

Martin Jackson added: “The junction of Conging Street and North Street is already a safety hazard.

“Putting more cars on that junction would be an accident waiting to happen.”

Alison Jennings was sceptical about any major pedestrian-only scheme.

She added: “People are talking about concerts and other things but how realistic is that, even after Covid-19 disappears?

“The markets are already struggling and to think closing off the Market Place might bring more people into town is ridiculous.

“What we need is free parking throughout the town and some sort of programme to promote what families can see and do.

“It’s not just antiques. There’s lots of independent shops, history, and some really nice walks but who knows about them?”