Women have had a high profile in local government in the town for the past seventy years, ever since Mrs Caroline Galletly became the first chairman of Bourne Urban District Council in 1930-31. There have been others who have made their mark and the tradition they started is ably carried on by Linda Neal now in her fourth year as leader of South Kesteven District Council.

Linda Mary Rastall was born at Rippingale on the 5th October 1955, only daughter of Mona and the late Francis William Rastall, a retired civil engineer, and after the village school, attended Bourne Grammar where she passed ten O levels. University did not appeal because she did not particularly like school and every academic achievement was hard fought and so she chose to complete a one-year course on secretarial, accounting and administrative studies at Stamford College, subsequently working for Andrews, Stanton & Ringrose. a long established firm of solicitors in Bourne. There she worked in accountancy, the preparation of wills and the winding up of estates.

She married Christopher Neal, a gas engineer with Transco, in 1978 and moved to live in the town and they have one daughter, Rachel, aged 18, and a family home in West Road.

Mrs Neal has always had a deep interest in local affairs and in 1993 she was elected to Bourne Town Council and is still one of the representatives of Bourne West. She fought the local elections on a Conservative ticket in 1995 winning a seat on South Kesteven District Council for the Bourne West ward and has been with the authority ever since but despite her current elevated position, she says: "If I stop to think about it, I still find it hard to believe that I am presently the leader of the council." Yet she also finds time to serve as a governor of both Westfield Primary and Bourne Grammar schools.

But work dominates her life, even when tending the family garden or enjoying an occasional caravanning weekend with her husband who is always supportive of her council and community responsibilities.

South Kesteven District Council covers a wide area in south west Lincolnshire, a total of 365 square miles, extending from Long Bennington, just south of Newark in the north to Bourne in the east and Stamford and Market Deeping in the south, and acceptance of the leadership has meant continual travelling between her home town and the council headquarters at Grantham, 23 miles away, and it is this ceaseless shuttling, for committee and council meetings, consultations with officials and various public engagements that eats into her spare time. The council also has an awesome budget of £76 million.

The massive territory and vast sums involved in the job are a reminder that a leader must be impartial and, despite the temptation, resist giving preferential treatment to the town where they live. “You have to be mindful of being fair and recognise that everyone wants a slice of the financial cake and it is vital to try to balance the work done through the district. It is not an easy task although we have managed to move forward equally in town centre management improvement schemes for the main centres of population.”

It is a busy commitment for someone who also has to run a home as a mother and wife, often working 60 hours a week on council business, and although she receives basic and special allowances of more than £16,000, Mrs Neal is quick to point out that last year she took only two weeks holiday and so the rate for the job is probably less than £4.25 an hour which is well below the minimum wage rate.

But money is not at the heart of her work. “I have been a councillor for ten years and leader for three and a half years and the workload does not get any lighter”, she said. “But I am dedicated to what I do and hope that I can help make a difference for the better to other people’s lives.”

Mrs Neal is proud of her record to date, particularly in the field of recycling, a government-inspired initiative introduced by the council for the disposal of household waste during her term as leader and now being fine tuned in the interests of cost and efficiency. “We need to protect our environment for future generations to enjoy”, she said. “In Bourne, every household produces approximately a tonne of waste each year. The subject of waste management may, to some, seem rather boring but recycling is vitally important to us all because it helps cut down on the use of limited resources.”

She also counts her input on at least one major traffic scheme as a major contribution in helping to bring it forward by several years although continues to emphasise that targets for improvement apply equally throughout the district.

“The government needs to pay more attention to rural issues”, she said. “This council can be a catalyst for change but the public, of whichever political persuasion, cannot always identify with us. I realise it is difficult to understand our system and methods of running council affairs but I hope to put this right in the future.

“Whatever we do, I only want the best for South Kesteven. We are committed to the same initiatives across the area. Our immediate priorities are tackling anti-social behaviour, improving the street scene, offering better access to council services, regenerating town centres and increasing recycling. Next in line are our ongoing pledges to create more affordable housing and help the vulnerable, both young and old, in the community. All of these objectives are geared to building a better life for those who live in South Kesteven.”

There are challenging times ahead for SKDC therefore but what does the future hold for Linda Neal. “Who knows?” says Linda. “My immediate future will concentrate on what I am presently doing to deliver on the current priorities. In the longer term I would like to think I could find more time for travelling and just the ordinary everyday things I once took for granted.”

WRITTEN SEPTEMBER 2005

See also The importance of waste recycling

NOTE: Photograph courtesy South Kesteven District Council