Petition to the Secretary of State and the leaders of Lincolnshire’s councils

On 16 July 2026, the Government selected the so-called Lincoln “doughnut” model for local government reorganisation.

Under this plan, Lincoln will become the centre of an enlarged city authority, taking in parts of North Kesteven and West Lindsey. The remainder of Lincolnshire – including all of South Kesteven, the southern part of North Kesteven, South Holland, Boston, East Lindsey and much of West Lindsey – will be placed within one enormous new council.

The new authority will cover more than 5,000 square kilometres and serve around 574,000 people. Its precise name has not yet been decided.

That means we still have an opportunity to prevent the historic name of Kesteven from being wiped from the map.

Kesteven is far more than South Kesteven District Council

Kesteven is not a modern council invention and it is not confined to the present South Kesteven district.

It is one of the three historic Parts of Lincolnshire, alongside Holland and Lindsey. The traditional Kesteven area broadly encompasses what are now North Kesteven and South Kesteven – stretching from the villages south of Lincoln through Sleaford and Grantham to Bourne, the Deepings and Stamford.

The name was recorded more than a thousand years ago, long before any of today’s councils existed. It has survived the Norman Conquest, centuries of political change and repeated reorganisations of local government.

Yet it could now disappear from public life because those designing a new authority find a bland title such as “Rural Lincolnshire” easier to market.

Councils are temporary. Kesteven is not.

Reorganisation should not mean erasure

The Government’s chosen model will already split the historic Kesteven area between the enlarged Lincoln authority and the new council surrounding it.

We cannot now allow the name itself to disappear as well.

The new non-city authority will bring together communities from all three historic Parts of Lincolnshire. A name such as Kesteven, Holland and Lindsey Council would recognise that shared inheritance and give every part of the new authority a distinct place within it.

It would be more meaningful, more representative and more rooted in Lincolnshire than an anonymous administrative title invented in a committee room.

We therefore call upon the Government and Lincolnshire’s council leaders to:

• Include Kesteven in the official name of the new unitary authority covering the majority of the historic Kesteven area.
• Give serious consideration to the inclusive name Kesteven, Holland and Lindsey Council, recognising all three historic Parts of Lincolnshire.
• Properly consult residents before the permanent names, civic identities, symbols and branding of the new councils are chosen.
• Lincoln will retain its ancient and distinguished name. Kesteven deserves no less.
• Local government boundaries will continue to change, but once an historic identity is discarded from public life, it is extraordinarily difficult to recover.

Please sign this petition and send a clear message to those creating Lincolnshire’s new councils:

Don’t kill Kesteven. Put our historic name on the map!