Predictions that UK house prices will climb back to pre-2007 peak levels next year have been dismissed as pie in the sky for Spalding by local property experts.

But all the people we interviewed said that the homes market locally stabilised last year and that sales are continuing to pick up.

The average house price on the other hand remains at around the same level as last January, about £155,000 (from £100,000 for a two-bed semi and from £120,000 for a three-bed semi) with no sign of a sudden explosion, according to Jamie Hiller, AP Sales Spalding branch manager.

He said: “From 2010 when the number of sales plummeted, sales levels are bouncing back, but prices aren’t following them as it’s still tricky to get finance. I can’t see that situation changing dramatically this year.”

Jamie reported a continuing strong demand from investors for buy-to-let properties because prices remain low compared with other parts of the UK, but added that local first-time buyers are starting to come through too.

Housebuilder Ian Canham of Broadgate Homes said: “This week’s predictions of a 0.8 percent UK-wide price rise this year and 1.9 percent rise to pre-2007 levels in 2014 are a little adventurous for this area.

“Some mortgage lenders are relaxing their requirements so that it’s now possible to borrow to three and a half times your joint salary.

“Interest rates are low and prices are reasonable, so we’re finding local first-time buyers are buying our houses and I think a little price rise is definitely likely this year, and that’s healthy and necessary, as long as it stays little and rises very gently.

“No-one wants astronomic rises putting houses out of the reach of first time buyers.”

Russell Gregory of Munton and Russell estate agents said: “Activity in the market locally has been increasing since September/October last year but we’re a long, long way short of returning to 2007 price levels .

“To put it in perspective, nationally only one third of the number of houses sold in 2007 were sold last year, and while mortgage availability is improving, the number of mortgages made available each month now is also only about a third of 2007 levels.

“Also the figures quoted in some of the predictions made this week - showing average house prices now at more than £200,000 already - include London and the south east which distorts them.

“Take those figures out and what we need to do is keep our feet on the ground. What we need is stability.”

A developer’s dream of providing a football academy for Holbeach can now be a reality after objections to plans were given the boot.

Residents had expressed fears that the plan for six football pitches, a pavilion and changing rooms, as well as 30 new homes at Penny Hill, would put pedestrian safety at risk due to a potentially massive increase in traffic flow.

In addition there were concerns about added noise levels, floodlights and litter – and what would happen should the management of the pitches ever disband.

However, following a lengthy debate, the majority of councillors present at the South Holland District Council planning meeting on Tuesday were happy conditions imposed on the plan would address concerns.

The project, started by developer Ashley King’s late father, John, will be called King’s Academy and sit on the former PA Moerman nursery site.

Philip Wiseman, of Cherry Tree Road, spoke out at the meeting on behalf of residents who objected to the plan.

Mr Wiseman said that congestion problems already existed at the southern end of Penny Hill Road with parents parking to collect their children from University Academy Holbeach.

He said noise levels, floodlights and problems with litter were not acceptable for residents in a rural area and there were better sites available on the west side of Holbeach on the A17/A151 link road, which offered much better approach facilities.

Ward councillor Nick Worth said the football pitches would complete the parish plan for provision of leisure facilities.

Coun Worth said: “You only have to look at how busy the pitches at local schools are at weekends – and what a messy condition they are in now – to see how much this development is needed.

“Holbeach Football Club has also been using the school pitches for its youth teams.

“However, I do have sympathy for the residents and it is a shame the plan cannot go ahead without the homes, but they are needed to fund it.

“The underpass nearby will address pedestrian safety.”

Among the 26 conditions imposed on the plan was the pitches should have no floodlighting. A clause was also included to prevent further housing on the land should the management disband, unless it is the wish of the community.

Coun Gambba-Jones said: “Facilities where multiple games can be played bring people together and I am sure it can be a success.

“The crucial thing is that it is managed and maintained well, there is a good timetable in place and the group responsible ensures it is somewhere people will want to go.

“It would be an ideal location for a festival of sport. I really do hope someone gets a grip on this. It just takes one person with enthusiasm to do it.”

Mr King said: “I am delighted we achieved planning permission for the development. The football pitches will be an asset to the community and I am looking forward to assisting in the delivery.

“My late father would be proud to be associated with the project and I hope it gives great enjoyment to all the youth using the facility.”

A cleaner future for Spalding is on the cards now ward councillors are putting their hands in their pockets to support road sweepers and keep rubbish off the streets.

At their last meeting, members of the town forum agreed a plan where they could call on the Community Payback team to do additional work when needed.

Councillors are being asked to give £450 of their budget to fund a weekly litter pick by the Community Payback team.

Chairman George Aley said at the October meeting: “We’ve talked about the litter problem enough so let’s just do it.

“I’d like to see the same thing happening in Spalding as in Disney World, where if you drop a piece of litter someone appears from nowhere to clear it up.”

Coun Andrew Miller had agreed to be co-ordinator and last week handed out forms to councillors for them to log work that needed doing and report back.

It is hoped a number of jobs can be logged together to reduce call-outs, paperwork and overall costs.

Insp Jim Tyner said full bins had been causing his officers problems.

He said: “It has been difficult for my officers to get people who are seen dropping waste to pick it up when the bins are full and there is nowhere to put it.”

Coun Roger Gambba-Jones reminded councillors there was already a scheme running at South Holland District Council which involved working with the Community Payback team.

He said: “You are not using what is already there. Assuming the council is not doing its job is a mistake.”

Coun Aley assured him Coun Miller’s plan was put in place to prevent any duplication of call-outs.

He said: “Keeping our streets clean is just as important as any other work being done in the town to make it a nice place to visit.

“We had a lot of compliments about the Christmas lights and it all goes towards creating a nice atmosphere.”

Members of the public can report items of rubbish that need collecting to their ward councillor by visiting www.sholland.co.uk for contact details or inform the district council’s service registering the request on the website.

Pupils who left St Guthlac School in Crowland in the early 1970s are getting set for their last ever reunion on the old school site.

St Guthlac’s is now known as University Academy Holbeach, Crowland Campus and it too will close later this year to make way for a primary school.

Long standing pals Linda Boor (nee Staniforth) and Val Hunter (nee Beeken) are helping to organise the gathering of pupils who left in 1970, 1971 and 1972.

They will meet up at 2pm on Sunday, February 17, for a chance to reminisce.

The former pupils, some of whom left at the tender age of 15, will be asked to take along old photographs for a memory board and there will be a special memorial section for those who have died.

Linda said: “We are not going to forget the people who are not with us any more.”

Partners are welcome but Linda, in common with a number of other former pupils, will be there with a former school pal who became her husband.

Linda and farmer husband Jonathan met up again four or five years after leaving St Guthlac.

“I married a school friend so we have got the same history,” she said.

Linda and three former school pals met at St Guthlac for our photograph and Hasmek Clarke (nee Hunt) is another who walked down the aisle with a school pal.

Joining them were Catherine Gibbard (nee Skillings) and Nigel Pepper.

Linda and Jonathan have a son, Adrian (30) and daughter Sally (28).

And it seems the maternity ward is the perfect place for bumping into an old school friend.

Linda said: “Val Hunter was in hospital at the same time as me having her twin daughters and I was having my son.”

Val works on the St Guthlac site as receptionist – the same job her mum used to do.

South Holland could have Bank Holiday Monday refuse collections if the council workforce agrees.

Plans for a so-called ‘slip a day’ collection – meaning everyone would have rubbish collected a day late after a Bank Holiday – were kicked into touch by the council’s own leader, Gary Porter, at Wednesday’s full council meeting.

He clashed with cabinet colleague Roger Gambba-Jones, who proposed slip a day instead of the current system where people who have Monday collections get their waste collected on the Saturday before a Bank Holiday.

Coun Gambba-Jones said only 30 per cent of the usual waste is left out on the Saturday and then the council has to put on extra manpower and vehicles to collect 170 per cent on the Monday following the Bank Holiday.

Coun Porter said a switch to slip a day would affect everyone in the district and everyone would have to remember to put their rubbish out a day late – while sticking with the present system affects just 20 per cent of the population.

The council backed his plan to ask the workforce to consider Bank Holiday working and, if they say “no”, stick to the present system.

Coun Porter said: “If we can’t maintain a decent refuse service, then we have got no business being in this council.”

The council backed new safety measures at Spalding’s West Marsh Road Depot following a visit from the Health and Safety Executive and heard steps are being taken to find extra parking there and possibly split the fleet of 77 vehicles between Spalding and Holbeach depots.

“At this point in time we would prefer splitting the fleet,” Coun Gambba-Jones said.

Valentina is in the UK as a result of a grant from the Comenius European Lifelong Learning Programme which gives a wider understanding to future teachers of European education systems and helps them improve their knowledge of foreign languages as well as their teaching skills.

She is also here as a cultural ambassador for Cyprus, sharing aspects of her country’s culture, values and traditions while learning how those aspects differ in the UK.

The programme allows participants to learn about the culture of other countries with the aim of building “a more tolerant, inclusive and flexible European society”.

Valentina tells us that Cyprus (Kypros in Greek) has 952,100 inhabitants and its capital is Nicosia.

Official languages are Greek and Turkish, although English is widely spoken.

Its currency is the Euro – Cyrpus took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union from July to December 2012.

In 2017, Pafos is going to be the European Capital of Culture – so even more reason to visit, quite apart from the sunshine and the beautiful beaches.

There’s a chance to give blood at Crowland next month.

Sessions take place on February 20 at the Methodist Chapel in Reform Street. Visit www.blood.co.uk or call 0300 123 23 23.

Drivers suffered minor injuries in a collision at Moulton at the weekend.

The accident happened at the crossroads near the pet stores in East Cobgate during Saturday teatime.

An ambulance was called to the scene and a 21-year-old Holbeach man and a 24-year-old Peterborough man were treated.

Passengers also received minor injuries in a separate incident in Donington this morning.

Three vehicles were involved in the collision in Bicker Road during the morning rush hour - a Ford Focus, a Vauxhall Zafira and a Honda Jazz.

People might be watching the weather on St Swithun’s Day because of the tradition that says if it rains then, it will rain for 40 days.

However, at the church in Bicker named after the saint, parishioners tend to watch the weather all the time because there is a leaky roof in the church and they have buckets in place to catch the drips.

Two applications for English Heritage grant funding have been turned down, but Sandra Dawson, treasurer of St Swithun’s, says they are starting the process again in the hope that a third application will be successful.

The church has been without a vicar since early last year, but Sandra says they are hopeful that they might have one in place later in the year.

In the meantime, the Rev Jenny Dumart and churchwarden Audrey Bennett take Sunday services.

The village was once very much a farming community, as Sandra’s sister-in-law Jenny Sheldon, can testify.

Jenny was born and brought up in the village, and says: “It’s changed quite a bit. Years ago there were a lot of farmers and agricultural business and now they have gone. I think most people have to travel for work.”

The church upholds the traditions of the farming year, celebrating Plough Sunday, Rogation Sunday, and harvest festival.

Elizabeth Benjamin organises a couple of dances a year, but the church’s biggest event is Bicker Steam Threshing weekend, the 27th this year, raising thousands of pounds for church funds and other village charities

Almost a dozen homes at Surfleet Reservoir have flood water lapping around them today (Monday).

Water has entered two homes but residents and Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue are battling to stop the water doing further damage.

There are fears that there could be more flooding around the time of this evening’s high tide, when sluice gates have to be closed.

• See tomorrow’s Lincolnshire Free Press.

The following decisions have been made recently by magistrates at court hearings. In all drink-drive cases the legal limit is 35 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, 80 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood or 107 milligrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of urine. Addresses of defendants published in these registers are taken from the legal records held by the magistrates’ courts. The details are given to the court by the defendant – but this may be some time after the original charge and they may have moved in the meantime.

Grantham Magistrates’ Court

Stanley Brimmer (50), of Mansion Gardens, Whittlesey. Speeding (Whaplode). £75 fine, £15 victim surcharge, £43 costs, 3pts.

Patrick Dent (55), Jarvie Close, Sedgeford, Hunstanton. Speeding (Whaplode). £200 fine, £15 victim surcharge, £60 costs, 3pts.

Peter Kelly (63), of Sutton Road, Four Gotes. Speeding (Tydd Gote). £235 fine, £15 victim surcharge, £43 costs, 3pts.

Emma Stier (33), of High Street, Swineshead. Speeding (Pinchbeck) £200 fine, £15 victim surcharge, £60 costs, 3pts.

Sian Williams (32), of Shakespeare Avenue, Peterborough. No insurance (Bourne). £600 fine, £15 victim surcharge, £60 costs, 6pts.

Anthony Wyllie (70), of Lilyholt Road, Benwick, March. Speeding (Whaplode). £40 fine, £15 victim surcharge, £43 costs, 3pts.

Spalding Magistrates’ Court

Bob Aigbomian (28), NFA. Assault (Dowsby). Community order with supervision requirement, £60 victim surcharge, £85 costs.

Sam Curry (24), of Sluice Road, Saracen’s Head. Criminal damage (Saracen’s Head). Community order with 100 hours’ unpaid work, £145 compensation, £60 victim surcharge, £85 costs.

Cyril Waters (81), of Hampton Close, Spalding. Driving without due care and attention (Holbeach). £35 fine, £15 victim surcharge, £85 costs, 4pts.

Vernon Harris (46), of Roman Bank, Holbeach Bank. Harrassment (Holbeach). Restraining order, bound over for £500 for 12 months.

Jonathan Wyatt (25), of Little London, Spalding. Drink-driving (Spalding). Absolute discharge.

Around ten per cent of South Holland’s refuse collections were missed as last week’s snow took its toll on Monday and Tuesday.

A council spokesman said there were occasions when it was “too difficult or “dangerous” for collection vehicles to navigate.

He said: “Where refuse bags have been missed, our teams will turn out on the next scheduled collection day.”

The council apologised for inconvenience caused.

Two friends who helped a Boston man “stay at large” after he murdered a Holbeach factory worker were today (Mon) jailed at Lincoln Crown Court.

Natisha Nodder (37), was jailed for 18 months after she admitted helping to arrange a lift for her on-off boyfriend Stephen Sleaford (39), after he stabbed Janusz Smoderek (48) to death in Sleaford Road, Boston.

Another one of Sleaford’s friends, Stephen Ebbutt (44), of Ingelow Avenue, Boston, was sentenced to 30 months imprisonment after he admitted driving Sleaford to Newcastle and letting him stay at his static caravan after the murder.

Sleaford was jailed for 23 years last week after a jury found him guilty of murdering Mr Smoderek, who worked as a flower packer at Intergreen in Holbeach, at around 4.30am on 11 September 2011.

The jury heard Sleaford fled to Miss Nodder’s home in Skirbeck Road, Boston, after the murder. He then went on the run for 11 days – travelling first to his aunt’s home in Newcastle and then back to a number of addresses in Lincolnshire before he was arrested at a former girlfriend’s flat in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

Sheri Buckley (27), from Barnsley, was jailed for 21 months in April last year after she also admitted helping Sleaford. All three defendants admitted perverting the course of justice in helping Sleaford stay at large.

The court heard Sleaford told Miss Nodder he had been involved in a stabbing but she did not believe him and helped arrange a lift for him by getting in contact with Ebbutt. She also deleted text messages from Sleaford at his request.

Sleaford left Miss Nodder’s home in a taxi at 11.45am on the day of the murder and by early evening was heading north in Ebbutt’s flat bed truck. The court heard Sleaford stayed at his aunt’s home for three days before returning to Grantham by train where he was again picked up by Ebbutt.

CCTV showed Ebbutt picking Sleaford up from Grantham railway station before taking him to his static caravan in Tattershall where he stayed before moving on to addresses in Gosberton and Barnsley.

During Sleaford’s time on the run the public were warned not to approach him because of a previous 11-year jail sentence for shooting a man with a shotgun.

Tim Spencer, QC, prosecuting, said the nationwide operation to catch Sleaford used “considerable resources”.

“This was a large operation at some cost to the taxpayer. Four police forces were involved and because of Sleaford’s previous shotgun conviction a specialist firearms team had to be mobilised,” Mr Spencer said.

Edna Leonard, mitigating for Miss Nodder who had no previous convictions, said at the time of the murder Sleaford was coming and going from her property as he pleased and their relationship was over.

Neil Sands, mitigating for Ebbutt, said he did not know what Sleaford had done when he drove him to Newcastle and now wished he had told him: “No.”

Passing sentence Judge Michael Heath told Nodder: “On September 11, Stephen Sleaford murdered Janusz Smoderek by stabbing him. You then helped arrange for Sleaford to be moved to Newcastle.”

Judge Heath told Ebbutt: “You are an associate of Stephen Sleaford, you knew the sort of man he was.”

Youngsters at St Paul’s Primary School in Spalding learnt all about the magic of maths when magician Karl Gernert joined them in assembly on Monday morning.

The visit kicked off the school’s Magical Maths Week.

Pictured with Karl are pupils Sophie Bergin and Jacob Kightly.

Photo (NIKKI GRIFFIN): SG280113-112NG To order please visit www.spaldingtoday.co.uk/buyaphoto or call 01775 765433

If Bicker is looking rather tidier than it once did, it’s thanks to a group of energetic walkers who have dubbed themselves Bicker Buds.

They have been meeting up each Wednesday since August last year to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty as they carry out improvements to the village.

A chance comment on the state of the village between the walkers started it all. Now chairman Pete Windmill and the rest of this informal group – Dave and Barbara Webster, Tony and Kathleen Boughen, Judy Whitchurch, Brenda Trelford and Terry Coleman – cut back hedges, cut grass, strim the roadside and clear litter from footpaths.

Their work in lifting the overgrown canopy along the dyke has impressed the Black Sluice Drainage Board, which in turn has offered to bring in a machine five times a year to clear the dyke and keep the nettles down.

The group now has plans to convert a telephone box just outside the Post Office into a small information point, hopefully equipped with useful books and leaflets.

Tony Boughen is also chairman of the Bicker and District Gardening Club (which covers villages such as Donington, Quadring and Swineshead) and Kathleen is treasurer. It organises monthly meetings (third Thursday of the month, 7.30pm) with guest speakers at the village hall for its 40 members, as well as outings to see other gardens.

Bicker Buds has taken on a plot of land as a community allotment to grow a mixture of vegetables and herbs which can be sold to raise money for more projects and tools.

It previously belonged to the late Trevor Pell, and is to be named in his memory as ‘Nipper’s Plot’.

The group say there are a number of vacant allotments in Bicker – contact parish council clerk Diane Fairweather on 01775 821898.

Dave and Barbara are also joint bell captain and steeple keeper and their daughter-in-law, Maria Webster, is a bell ringer, as are two young learner ringers, Bethany and Joshua Croston.

Dave says: “The fact that there are eight bells in a village of this size is unusual.”

While Dave and Barbara are in the tower for bell ringing practice (Mondays, 6.30pm to 7.30pm) they also wind up the clock and Matthew Sheldon also winds it once a week. But Bicker is kept ticking thanks to all the Bicker Buds.

Former assistant head of Long Sutton’s Peele Community College, Simon Gilman, has now been appointed head teacher.

Mr Gilman (39), who stepped in as acting head last May when his predecessor Ian Charles left the 670-student school, came to Long Sutton seven years ago from a Skegness high school where he was head of faculty.

He lives in Spalding with his wife Jackie, a careers adviser, and their two children.

He said: “The school has made enormous strides, with 93 percent of students achieving five A* to C grades last summer. From open evening feedback we expect year seven will certainly be full and may be over-subscribed next year.

“We’re a science specialist college with high expectations, concentrating on sending out our students with a broad range of qualifications and skills to stand them in good stead as they move on to the next stage of life.”

New members and a treasurer are being sought by Deepings Business Club.

Anyone interested is invited to the Club AGM at The Deeping Stage on February 5 at 6.45pm for 7pm. Networking follows business.

A Spalding man has been charged with manslaughter this afternoon in connection with the death of Martin Lipsis on Christmas Day.

Guntars Gansons (26), of Pennygate, is on conditional bail to appear before Spalding magistrates on February 14.

Mr Lipsis, of of Broad Street, was involved in an incident in Wisover Road two days earlier.

At the time five men aged 19, 20, 22, 26 and 28, plus a woman aged 28, all of whom live locally, were arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm.

They were subsequently interviewed and later released on police bail to return to Spalding Police Station today (Monday).

* Please note web comments on this story have been disabled until a judgement has been made in this case.

A charity music concert is being organised in memory of a courageous teenager who passed away from cancer on New Year’s Day.

Shock-Fest at Pinchbeck Village Hall on March 9 is a tribute for Callum Pite (14) who fought a two-and-a-half year battle with a rare form of bone cancer called Ewing’s sarcoma.

Callum, who went to the Sir John Gleed School, underwent treatment at Peterborough City Hospital and Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, but died on January 1.

He was remembered by family and friends during a celebration service at Gedney three weeks ago and now a concert is being put together featuring local bands, Kamikaze Hotshot, Smokescreen, Gypsy Heart and Flawless Victory and Welsh group Defy All Reason.

Organiser Andy Turner said: “Callum’s death has hit us quite hard and we thought of a concert to honour him and raise money for charity.

“I pulled in two of my bands, Kamikaze Hotshot and Defy All Reason, but then we publicised the concert on Facebook and the other three bands asked to play as well.

“We’ve had a lot of interest and we hope to invite Callum’s family and the headteacher of the Gleed School.”

Proceeds from the concert, which costs £5 on the door, will be shared between children’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent and a memorial garden for Callum at the school.

His family paid tribute to the avid footballer and passionate Liverpool supporter.

In a statement, Callum’s mother Michelle, father Simon and brother William said: “Callum was a quiet, sensitive, caring lad from a young age and loved helping his childminder amuse the younger children.

“He was loved greatly by his parents, grandparents, family and friends, enjoyed life to the full and just got on with everything that came his way.

“Callum always considered others and his stock answer was ‘I’m always fine,’ before asking others ‘How are you?’

“He went to Pinchbeck East Primary School where he joined many sports clubs and captained the football team, before going on to the Gleed School.

“Callum has been described in the many messages received from his friends as inspirational, a hero, courageous, a great lad, amazing, strong, happy and always smiling.

“These messages have been a comfort and we would like to thank everyone for their support, including Addenbrooke’s Hospital and Peterborough City Hospital for the care Callum received and our friends for helping us through many difficult moments.”

Janet Daniels, headteacher of Sir John Gleed School, said: “Callum was an absolutely amazing student and an inspiration to everyone who knew him.

“His death is a huge loss for all of us and we’ve been struck by how much the students are really keen to do something to remember him by.”

Social life revolves around the village hall at Bicker, where a number of events take place.

Sheila Wing, who is on the village hall committee, is currently promoting a Prom Fayre being held at the hall on Saturday, February 16 (9.30am to 4.30pm).

The fayre will have everything to do with proms: from tiaras, dresses, jewellery and make-up, to limos and cars, spray tans and flowers.

Sheila says the hall, originally constructed in the 1940s and re-built in the 1980s, is in good condition.

More recently, the hall has had a make-over, with new kitchen, toilets and windows, much of the money coming from grants from the wind farm at Bicker Fen.

Sheila said: “It’s well used and we have lots of things going on, such as keep fit for the over 50s on Thursday mornings, bingo every Monday evening, the WI and a gardening group meet once a month, and we have our own functions. We also have a bowls club that meets behind the village hall and I am secretary of Bicker Bowls Club.”

Other events at the hall include Bicker Railway & Model Engineering Show, on Sunday, March 17 (9.30am to 4.30pm), with several working railway layouts. Admission £2.50, £1 eight to 16, under-7s free.