Town plan is ‘key to success’ in Market Rasen

A ‘neighbourhood concept plan’ to be developed over the coming year will be ‘the key to the success’ of Market Rasen.
Market Rasen Market Place EMN-190804-162632001Market Rasen Market Place EMN-190804-162632001
Market Rasen Market Place EMN-190804-162632001

Speaking at Market Rasen’s Annual Town Meeting, Deputy Mayor Steve Bunney outlined to residents why the town needed a neighbourhood concept plan - and what it would involve.

Coun Bunney - who is also chairman of the Town Partnership responsible for developing the plan - said: “We’ve got to decide what the town needs from the amount of houses to the infrastructure it needs.

“I’m told there’s not enough room at the doctor’s.

Market Rasen Market Place EMN-190804-162632001Market Rasen Market Place EMN-190804-162632001
Market Rasen Market Place EMN-190804-162632001
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“It might say ‘you need a new primary school’... or you might even need a swimming pool.

“Alongside that, we need to look at traffic because there’s a big problem with queues of traffic, people not stopping.

“That’s [the neighbourhood concept plan] going to be a focus for this year.

“Getting that information so we can get the infrastructure right.

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“And tackling ‘grot spots’ - we’ve got to do something about it.

“That’s going to be the focus of the Town Partnership.

“The key to success is this town plan.”

Coun Bunney said the neighbourhood plan would be supported by the town council, but that the lead organisation would be the Town Partnership.

He said: “The town council has agreed to do the admin work on behalf of the Town Partnership to save money.

And Coun Bunney said he believed a neighbourhood plan would mean the town would get more benefits from ‘section 106’ money - cash given to councils by developers who build new houses.

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He said: “We suspect that the councils, county and district, put it into general coffers and not just Market Rasen.

West Lindsey will tell us what we need to do - they still have the control.

“If we have a neighbourhood concept plan, we can have more say in what’s done.

“If we don’t have a plan, West Lindsey or the county council get the money.

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“It’s not just Market Rasen, we need to bring in parts of Middle Rasen as well.”

Coun Bunney added: “The concept plan will be part of putting Middle into Market Rasen but won’t change the boundaries and the way rates are done.”

Coun Bunney said the Partnership would look at neighbourhood plans that have been done elsewhere, such as Caistor, as an example of how to do it.