Volunteers 'devastated' as windmill funding pulled

Doug Porter-Robinson said volunteers had worked for years on plans to run the windmill

Volunteers say they are "absolutely devastated" by a decision to withdraw £1.2m of funding from a windmill restoration project.

East Lindsey District Council (ELDC) had promised the money for a new cafe, visitor centre and shop at Alford Windmill.

But the councillor in charge of the project said ELDC had "little choice but to pause the scheme" because the owners of the windmill, Lincolnshire County Council (LCC), had no "commitment to restore" the mill itself.

LCC said it was "disappointed" by the decision, but its "hands are tied slightly on timescales".

The money had been allocated from an £8m government grant for the Lincolnshire Wolds Culture and Heritage Programme.

ELDC previously said the plans would help to secure the future of the windmill. But the council has now "agreed to reallocate the money".

Doug Porter-Robinson, of the Alford Windmill Trust, which has been hoping to manage the windmill and outbuildings as a visitor attraction, said the "devastating" news followed "delay after delay".

Alford Windmill, pictured in 2018 before it suffered damage, is a grade I listed Building

"We're so disappointed," he added. "We just look at each other wondering what we're going to do now.

"It's just a catastrophic mistake. The people who will lose out are the people of Alford."

ELDC said the government funding had to be used by March 2026. It had "been left with little choice but to look again" at how to use the money.

Councillor Graham Marsh, the deputy leader of ELDC, said the mill was "the anchor for this whole project".

"Without a working mill – and a commitment to restore it from the owners – the whole site has no main attraction," he added.

Remaining funds will now go towards the Alford Manor project, where a new function room and other improvements are planned, amid hopes that more funding for the windmill will be found.

Plans for the restoration of Alford Windmill had been approved by the local council

Marsh claimed the deterioration of the mill meant "the projected cost of the repair is £1.2m".

Councillor Richard Butroid, executive member for corporate property at LCC, said: "We have recognised additional inflationary costs, but this does not diminish our disappointment that East Lindsey have withdrawn their funding for Alford Windmill."

"Nevertheless, the £460,000 we have allocated to the project remains committed, as well as our intention to repair the building."

Mr Porter-Robinson said: "It baffles me that Lincolnshire County Council and East Lindsey District Council haven't worked in harmony on this project.

"We've been spectators all the way through this until the funding has now been pulled."

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