blastLincoln

Splendid turn out, well done everyone! A head-count over 150, the overwhelming majority very angry indeed. Mr Briggs invited, but conspicuously absent, his chair+nameplate at the top table empty. Edward Leigh, our MP, took the trouble to turn up again. Duncan Sharkey (Chief Exec, WLDC) was obviously washing his hair that night, but Wayne Lambert and Mick Gent from Environmental Services had the guts to turn up, and took the full barrage. It would have been nice if more invited people (HSE, Planning) had had the backbone to come and face the music but, well, you know…..

Wayne Lambert struggled bravely to keep his end up, but what we can gather is roughly this: WLDC do not know who they’re shooting at (they have no idea who is licensed to do what at Faldingworth, bearing in mind that “Skydock” doesn’t exist)   -   they don’t know what counts as “acceptable” noise levels   -   they don’t have anything like enough resources to monitor the situation properly (as some of us have said all along). They are pinning all their faith in a firm of consultants, but admit that they can’t afford to employ this firm for the length of time it would take to overcome Mr Briggs’s known tendency to change the size of bang when he’s being watched.

This may strike you as depressing, but a number of very positive things came out of this meeting. First is the scale and depth of the anger; we always knew Briggs was lying when he tried to make out that all this was the work of a few trouble-makers, but you can’t argue with 150 angry people! (we’re discounting the elves that Briggs sent to report back to him   -   pity you didn’t have the guts to come along yourself, Mr Briggs!)

Second was the overwhelming support for a Residents Action Group. With the parishes scattered like this, getting information around is very difficult. Though we understand that not everyone is connected to the internet (shamefully   -   yes you, BT!   -   Newtoft doesn’t have broadband yet), this site remains the best and quickest way to disseminate news and information. We hope in the next day or two to add the facility to sign up your email address for mailouts. Maybe if you know a concerned neighbour without internet connectivity, you could relay information to them, keep them informed?

Watch this space for developments!