Dear Members and Guests
THE FUTURE OF THE HERITAGE SERVICE IN LINCOLNSHIRE
As you may be aware Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) has put out to consultation plans to withdraw from nearly all off its Heritage Sites outside of Lincoln, including Discover Stamford which is presently housed in Stamford Library.
The Stamford & District Local History Society committee because we are very concerned over their proposals are taking the unusual step of writing to you on this matter. We strongly urge that you contribute to the debate by completing the Future of the Heritage Service questionnaire.
The Council’s strategy is based on focusing support for a Lincoln-centric ‘Supersite’ rather than the current county dispersed ‘Microsites’. The ‘Discover Stamford’ exhibition will NOT BE RETAINED and if no third party comes forward would close to the public. Stamford is after all a major Market Town ‘hub’ for villages in surrounding counties and any attraction which increases footfall is good for shops in the centre of the town.
The Committee takes the view that the loss of this centre of historical information for our unique market town would detract from the overall visitor experience. Stamford more and more depends on its heritage attraction to retain its commercial viability and the Committee strongly believes that Local Government should be supporting undertakings that increase the Town’s appeal not detract from it.
After all providing ‘Supersites’ in Lincoln does nothing for Tourism across the County, a location that is far from easy to access from Stamford with current public transport arrangements and where car parking can be a nightmare. Lincoln is over fifty miles away and takes just over an hour by car, on the train the journey takes close to two hours of travel and costs around £30.00p, and by bus via Bourne a couple of hours but only on Tuesdays.
The closure of our local Museum which was unfortunately lost some years ago was just one step towards isolating Stamford totally from Lincoln. This is an opportunity for you to have your voice heard and fight back by completing a form.
Even if you do not live in Lincolnshire and reside across the county boundary you should still take part, after all Stamford is still your Market Town.
Here is the link to the LCC consultation on the Future of The Heritage Services. https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/local-democracy/your-comments-and-feedback/future-of-the-heritage-service-consultation/future-of-the-heritage-service-consultation/133340.article We would encourage you to complete the Consultation Survey contained within this LCC link. Access to the Survey itself is afforded towards the bottom of the first page where a statement appears as follows: “You can participate in the survey here (opens a new window)”. Click on this link to bring up the Survey.
If you would prefer a paper copy of the Survey to fill out, these can be obtained from (and returned to) Stamford Library and of course you can write a letter to ‘Leader, Lincolnshire
County Council at County Offices, Lincolnshire County Council, Newland, Lincoln LN1 1YL’.
The closing date for the consultation is 24 April 2019 at 12 noon.
Thank you