EDITOR - In response to the main story of last week re the Old Police Station, the town council applied for funding from the East Midlands Development Agency to buy the building.
West Lindsey put nothing into the pot nor did the town council from their coffers.
The only thing West Lindsey was prepared to do was to buy it on our behalf, then rent it back to us. We didn't fall for that one!
I wasn't happy with the price t
hey were asking for the building, so I asked for the cost of the police's move to the new police station which came too less than the price they were asking. I wasn't prepared to pay more than this and use public money to top up the police's coffers.
EMDA said if we could get it for less, we could use the extra money to refurbish the office side of the building. This we have done!
As for the NHS dentists, if it wasn't for the hard work put in by Councillor Granger in securing the contract we wouldn't be where we are today. With a glut of office space to let in the town we would be sitting on empty offices.
The building is generating a steady income and it is secure for the foreseeable future. This income has got to be reinvested into the building, under the original agreement with EMDA.
It has always been our intention to move the town council office over there. The little office at the Festival Hall is rented from West Lindsey, costing over £3,000 pa. Moving would save us money.
This building has got to work for us or as Councillor Chater put it "it will become a money pit". This is the reason why all the spare space has to be utilised.
The Heritage group came onboard to help apply for a heritage grant to refurbish the courtroom side. This didn't happen for many reasons, mainly clash of wills. So plans were never drawn up, only wish lists.
The only things stored in the courtroom are table and chairs belonging to the Heritage Group.The reason why it has taken so long is that every hole drilled, every piece of mortar replaced, every drop of paint applied has to go past West Lindsey's heritage department, this can take 6-8 weeks or even six months each time.
The councillors are all volunteers who put in many hours of hard work on behalf of the people of Market Rasen. Where was the queue when we had spaces on the council, enough said!
Ken Bridger
Market Rasen town and county
councillor
The full article contains 449 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
