'THE GOOD OLD DAYS' IN BRIGG AND DISTRICT WERE NOT ALWAYS SO

Older folk living in Brigg and district these days are sometimes criticised by younger people for looking back to 'the good old days' and suggesting that some things were much better then than they are now. Brigg Blog has to plead guilty to this charge from time to time.
However, something that is coming up tonight (Wednesday, January 5) is a definite exception, and an example of a very welcome improvement.
West Lindsey District Council's Planning Committee will be considering a number of current applications, including one involving the Brigg area, and is inviting members of the public to use the web to view the discussions and watch and listen to the decisions being taken.
It has even sent Brigg Blog (and others) emails to alert us to the fact that this meeting is coming up, and provided helpful links to the agenda.
This is a far cry from the 1980s when Glanford Borough Council's Planning Committee met in its ornate debating chamber within Hewson House, Brigg, and we used to attend on behalf of the Lincolnshire & South Humberside Times and the Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph.
In those days the local authority objected if the press publicised the contents of agenda items in advance of meetings for the benefit of local residents interested in particular applications before these were discussed!
During one planning meeting we recall a councillor being ticked off for showing his agenda to a member of the public who had turned up to listen to the debate prior to a decision being made. The meeting was halted until the council in question had returned to his seat (agenda in hand) from the public gallery at the back of the chamber.
Glanford Borough Council was not alone in its policy at the time; what it did was mirrored across the country.
Thankfully, local government is much more 'open' these days in respect of planning issues, with applications being posted online through planning portals (websites) with all supporting documentation available to anyone who is interested.
Comments (in favour or against applications) can also be posted online.
West Lindsey's Planning Committee will be convening at 6.30pm tonight in the Council Chamber at The Guildhall in Gainsborough  for a meeting which the public may attend in person.
Among applications to be considered is an outline one seeking approval for the erection of up to four dwellings "with access to be considered" on land to the south of Clixby Lane, Grasby (within the Kelsey Ward).
People can watch this meeting live via https://west-lindsey.publici.tv/core/portal/home

PICTURED ABOVE: The oldest part of Hewson House, Brigg, including a former detached residence (centre) off Bigby Street which was acquired by Brigg Rural District Council in the 1930s and converted to office use. The RDC and Brigg Urban District Council, plus other small authorities, were merged in 1974 to form a new 'second tier' of local government, Glanford Borough Council. It lasted until 1996 when North Lincolnshire Council was established, providing all council services other than those at parish level.