Council will lose car parking revenue for good of the town

Another impression of how the remodelled Market Place would look, if plans are approved.

North Kesteven District Council has anticipated a number of points that might be raised about the plans to remodel Sleaford Market Place and has come up with answers to as many as it can.

Now that UKSPF funds are available and have been allocated, and because they need to be spent by March 2025 to ensure they can be used for the project, NKDC says it is working hard not to miss the opportunity to utilise this funding for Sleaford and ensure it can happen.

The council explained : “Covid showed us how much people value their local centre, but as people can and do travel further once again, we need to ensure that Sleaford can compete with other destinations.

“ Car parking is an important part of this, however Sleaford is already served well by both central and outlying car parks which only have car parking as their main purpose and are all charged at reasonable rates which have been frozen for this year.

“The Market Place is a historic location however, and one which has the potential to provide a central and welcoming space for people to utilise while in the town centre.”

On disability access, it added: “There are disabled spaces in the town’s other central car parks which offer dedicated, marked bays and take into consideration the needs of those using these spaces.

“ Removing car parking from Market Place actually represents a loss of income for the council, but we are confident that this is the right thing to do for the local economy, business and tourism.”