Councillors in Spalding have welcomed enquiries from developers outside the region to turn the area into a rail freight hub. They view this as a way of securing existing jobs, and creating new ones, in an area which struggles with high unemployment rates.
Local residents have signed an 850 strong petition against the development, saying that it falls outside the development plan and lacks a business case. But councillors told an almost full public gallery that the freight hub would be vital in helping to keep businesses in South Holland and strongly supported the development.