By Protest to take place tonight against the proposed 3,500 new homes along the Freshney Valley
A protest is set to take place at Grimsby Town Hall tonight by the Save the Freshney Valley group, in a bid to stop the construction of the new road and 3,500 new houses on the edge of town.
The group aim to “preserve the green spaces and natural habitats” in North East Lincolnshire, and claim the new buildings will destroy the eco-systems of the Freshney Valley.
Roy Horobin, a member of the group and the local Liberal Democrats candidate, told Gi Media about what they hope to achieve by protesting this evening from 5.45pm to 7.00pm.
He said: “Our first aim is now saving the Freshney Valley, which lies behind Morrisons and stretches towards the west of Grimsby, but developing it into the sort of resource that Hubbards Hills is for the people of Louth.
“The River Freshney is a rare chalk stream that contains water voles, otters and other important wildlife. This could be an excellent resource for all residents of North East Lincolnshire and visitors; nature is essential.
“This leads on to our second aim: we want to use the funding to regenerate the centre of Grimsby, a place which many people avoid. Regeneration with vision will help us attract and retain our young people,” he continued.
“As part of this regeneration process, we want to see the 2,000 empty properties brought back into use. But to do this, we need money from the government.
“Rather than spending £50 million on unwanted roads and houses which will be bad for nature and the economy, let’s put in a new levelling up bid to get the centre of Grimsby buzzing as a place which people of all ages want to go to.
“Our final aim is not to work against the council but to work with them to adopt the local plan using the expertise and local knowledge within our group. Our group has over 1,600 members, and many are very well informed and keen to help.”
Roy said the protest will be “peaceful and good-natured”.
He said: “Once we get councillors listening to us, we will be able to stop protesting.
“Our consultations have been extensive, and we have uncovered deep opposition to the proposed development. We understand the council are short of money, but the existing proposal is damaging to the environment, our local economy and our people.
“We can help the council be successful and for our town to thrive.”
