At the Market Deeping Town Council meeting on Wednesday, councillors agreed to seek to work with Deeping St James Parish Council to write a Neighbourhood Development Plan for the Deepings.

The first step in the process will be to make an application to South Kesteven District Council to designate the combined area of the two parishes as neighbourhood area for which a plan can be developed.

A Neighbourhood Development Plan has the opportunity to give residents in Market Deeping and Deeping St James greater say on development that might take place. The range of topics that can be covered in a plan is quite broad and one of the initial objectives will be to determine which areas we wish to focus to ensure the task is manageable.

I’m hoping we may be able to help promote cycling as a transport option in the Deepings by developing policies to encourage better provision as part of any future developments. Too much of the cycling infrastructure in our area is poorly thought out and in some cases actually unhelpful to cyclists.

We will soon need to advertise for interested people who might wish to become involved in the work of writing the plan to come forward. Ensuring there is a diverse group taking part will be key to the success of this project.

At this week’s meeting, the Council also agreed to pay for CiLCA training for our clerks. I expressed my strong support for this. Having well trained clerks is very much in the interests of the smooth running of the Council and therefore the interests of the town. It will also enable the Council to use the General Power of Competence which opens up possibilities not otherwise available to parish councils.

We also heard a report from the working group responsible for organising the Christmas Market on Sunday 29 November. It looks set to be a great event with all the stalls booked and entertainment organised. I’m looking forward to helping out on the day. At 4.30pm, the Mayor of Market Deeping will switch on the Christmas Lights. I hear Santa may even make an appearance.

Finally, a quick reminder that the closing of the Remembrance Garden at Riverside Park will take place at 3pm this Sunday.