A new report has charted the ongoing disappearance of once familiar countryside birds in Lincolnshire.

The latest State of the UK’s Birds report reveals many of our most common countryside birds are undergoing sweeping changes, with some experiencing “plummeting population declines” compared with the 1990s.

In some parts of the UK, these birds have disappeared completely.

The statistics are particularly alarming for this part of the country, once a stronghold for farmland bird species that are now under threat.

However, senior RSPB conservation officer Simon Tonkin sees hope in the “wildlife friendly farmers” taking action to reverse the decline.

These include Nicholas Watts, of Vine House Farm at Deeping St Nicholas. He received first prize in the RSPB Telegraph Nature of Farming Awards earlier this year.

Simon said government policies were needed to ensure other farmers could become wildlife friendly.

Police have renewed their plea for witnesses following three arson attacks in Crowland.

Resident Peter Bird said the town looked like “a scene from the Blitz” in the early hours of Saturday with four fire crews and numerous police dealing with two car fires and a fire at the Co-op’s loading bay.

Police are pressing on with enquiries and forensic tests of the burned-out cars, but say the answer lies in the community.

Insp Jim Tyner said: “So far we haven’t had any response to my earlier appeal for information.

“We always treat arson seriously because of the potential for harm or significant damage.

“Crowland is a close-knit community and it is likely that the solution to who caused these fires lies within the community.

“I urge anyone with information to come forward.”

• Witnesses can call constable Andy Hill on 101, quoting incident 30 of December 7, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

The team at Sutton Bridge Crop Storage Research is gearing up to future-proof GB’s potato storage capability by 2020.

Team members will visit and audit at least 250 stores next year, and more in following years, in recognition of continuing storage challenges, said Potato Council director Rob Clayton

Launching the 2014 business plan, he said: “We will provide support for the sector that improves production of potatoes. We will assist industry in promoting potatoes and we will protect the reputation of the sector.”

The Potato Council is also to introduce a R&D strategy to serve until 2020.

Retailers are showing a marked improvement in sourcing British beef and lamb, new figures have shown.

Morrisons is performing particularly well, and Aldi, Lidl, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose are all continuing to choose British, according to figures released by EBLEX. The average percentage of British beef on shelves in November was 83 per cent, with lamb standing at 88 per cent.

The NFU has used December’s World Soils Day to show how farmers value this precious resource.

There are articles and papers on the website of the global union of soil scientists, the International Union of Soil Sciences, at www.iuss.org

Thieves have stolen at least £6,500 worth of meat from two trailers parked outside a Spalding factory.

Oven-ready partridges, venison and about 2,000 feathered pheasants were taken, along with a quarter of a tank of diesel from a firm in West Marsh Road at about 6pm yesterday (Tuesday).

Anyone with information should call PC Steve Birtles at Spalding Police Station on 101, stating incident 44 of December 11.

Police are asking for the public’s help after an attempted break-in at a shed in Market Deeping.

It happened in a back garden at a house on Pawlett Close between 5pm last Thursday and 8am on Friday.

Anyone with information should call 101, stating incident 58 of December 6.

Twelve wind turbines measuring 34.5metres to the tip could appear on farmland at Dawsmere.

Gedney Parish Council will discuss the plan tonight, but members – including county councillor William Webb – are staying tight-lipped until after the meeting.

District councillor Sarah Wilkinson, an Independent who represents Gedney, has fired off an objection to her own planning authority.

She says: “Gedney Dawsmere is predominantly agricultural and this application, if granted, will have an adverse effect on the scenic beauty of the area.

“I compare this to the siting of wind turbines at Grange Farm in neighbouring Tydd St Mary, which has an industrial setting courtesy of the power station at Sutton Bridge, therefore being a more suitable location for turbines.

“This proposed site is within the green belt close to a site of turbines already in existence.”

The Sycamore Small Wind company’s application is for Wiles Farm, in Durham Road.

Another objector, James Stobart, says that the “small” wind turbines proposed are slightly higher than Gedney Water Tower.

Mr Stobart, from Holbeach St Matthews, says the effect of 12 turbines scattered around “this pleasing marshland scene can only be detrimental”.

He says farmers have made considerable efforts to enrich both the aspect and ecology of the area while maintaining a sensitive relationship between farming and the “local human and wildlife communities” and it is not unusual to see hen and marsh harriers, merlins, barn owls and buzzards in the skies.

But Sam Godfrey, who neighbours the application site, supports the plan.

l The planning committee is expected to make its decision in January or February.

Police were forced to subdue an arrested man who refused to go with them without first smoking a cigarette.

Officers were called to the Spalding home of Jevgeuij Rubikis after he punched a double-glazed window, breaking the exterior pane of glass, during an argument with his wife and friends.

Shelly Wilson, prosecuting, said police were called to the Laureate Grove address after Rubikis broke the window, cutting his hand, at about 4.30pm on November 11.

Mrs Wilson said Rubikis was arrested on suspicion of causing the damage, but refused to leave the address without first smoking a cigarette.

When this wasn’t allowed, he “started throwing his arms and body around and he eventually threw himself on the floor”.

She said incapacitant spray was used so the officers could restrain him.

At the police station, Rubikis said his relationship with his wife had broken down and he was in the process of leaving her to establish another relationship.

Mrs Wilson said Rubikis told police that some of his friends had tampered with his car, he became angry about that and accepted he had broken the window by punching the pane of glass.

He resisted the police officers because “he wanted to display his distress” to his wife.

Mrs Wilson said Rubikis specifically apologised to the police officers involved.

Rubikis (32) was fined a total of £100 when he pleaded guilty to resisting police and criminally damaging a window.

Spalding magistrates on Thursday ordered him to pay £260 compensation and £85 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

Speaking through an interpreter, Rubikis told the court he had resolved his difficulties with his wife and they were living together as family again.

He apologised to the court and said he damaged the window as a result of “family problems”.

People can find out how to keep themselves and their belongings safe when an information stall pitches up in Weston on Saturday.

Advice on home, shed and car security, personal safety and the Smartwater property marking system will be available from PCSO Bev Robinson who will be at Baytree Nurseries between 9.30am and 3pm.

The stall is part of Operation Fusion, a campaign by Lincolnshire Police to cut burglary, robbery and vehicle crime.

Spalding is a step closer to getting an “inspiring” town centre manager.

Six projects have been considered for a slice of £207,935 Section 106 money unspent from a £900,000 Springfields development pot.

The three projects recommended by Spalding Town Forum – a town centre manager, a bandstand for Ayscoughfee Gardens, and a water taxi mooring at Chain Bridge Forge – are expected to cost £190,000.

Spalding police inspector Jim Tyner at Wednesday’s meeting welcomed the project submitted by Spalding Chamber of Commerce for a town centre manager.

He said: “This is the only project which could impact on preventing crime in the town.”

It is proposed the manager would be “non political nor a trader” and “well-motivated and inspiring”.

The manager would also need to be careful “not to duplicate any of the work of South Holland District Council”.

However, it is still not known whether the post would need full-time employment.

In addition it is hoped there will be enough cash left for a fourth project – to refurbish the aviary in Ayscoughfee Gardens.

The two unsuccessful projects were for a community studio at Tulip Radio and a joint marketing campaign with Springfields Outlet Centre.

Recommendations of the town forum are to be presented to the district council’s cabinet by Tuesday, January 14, but there is no anticipated timescale as to when the projects will be implemented.

Forum members are calling for a more detailed study of the role of the new town centre manager and how the person would liaise with South Holland District Council over targets and outcomes.

They would also like to see clarification over what the bandstand would be.

Coun Roger Gambba-Jones said: “We need to lose the word bandstand because what is planned is a performance area.”

Spalding hairdressers The Salon has found a new home by the river after moving out of the town centre.

Owner Kim Maddison used to be based at premises in Sheep Market but has moved to 34 Albion Street, opposite Castle Sports Complex.

The address may have changed but Kim is still offering the same services, including cuts, colourings and perms.

She said: “Someone told me there was a place available on Albion Street, so I came to see it and that was it.

“It’s nice and warm, well-lit, next to the river and out of town which is lovely for my clients who now don’t have to try and find somewhere to park in town.”

Kim has been running her own salon in Spalding for more than six years and has clients from Holbeach, Sutton Bridge and March in Cambridgeshire.

She said: “I draw my clients mainly through word of mouth and I’m very busy coming up to Christmas.

“I’ve only been at the new salon since September but my clients love it and they are happy with the move I’ve made.”

Janet Strickland grew up making her own clothes because she couldn’t buy fashions she liked in Spalding.

Since then she has graduated in Clothing and travelled all over the world, working in the fashion industry in a variety of roles.

After having children, she moved back to Spalding and is now encouraging the people of South Holland to become creative at her new sewing cafe in the town, Sew What.

It’s at the club house of the South Lincs Competitive Swimming Club near the Castle Swimming Pool .

Each weekday between 10am and 3pm Janet is helping people make something for Christmas.

It might be Christmas decorations, Christmas stockings, a fabric advent calendar with pockets, or even giving an old jumper a festive face lift with some seasonal embellishments.

The sewing cafe is free to attend, although hot drinks and mince pies are available and donations will go to the swimming club that Janet’s children Atticus (10) and Anya (7) attend.

The sewing cafe is open during school term times – other than January 7.

However, from January 14 onwards Janet will also be offering more formal classes for everyone from beginners to advanced sewers.

For beginners, this might mean becoming familiar with a sewing machine that was a Christmas gift, or learning how to maintain it. For people with some experience, Janet can help them become confident with using commercial patterns to make their own clothes. Advanced stitchers could be making their own coats and jackets, or learning how to adapt patterns, or even make their own, thanks to Janet’s post-graduate studies in creative pattern cutting.

She says: “Obviously, it’s very cheap to buy from supermarkets now, but if you want something special and something that will fit nicely, then you make your own.”

Her interest in fashion and clothing generally has taken her to Turkey, Dubai, Egypt, Bangladesh and Singapore, where she was looking after production for the whole of south east Asia – about 15 countries.

Janet says: “It was an exciting career and extremely interesting. It was a management position in Singapore but I have been very hands on.

“I haven’t done much making for myself because I have been busy working, but I am looking forward to making clothes for myself again.”

What woman hasn’t ever tried on an outfit in her “usual” size and found it doesn’t fit?

Naturally, a custom made pattern guarantees a better fit than buying off the peg.

That is something Janet Strickland, of Spalding’s sewing cafe Sew What, knows a lot about. One of her jobs during her international career in the clothing industry was as a garment technologist, making patterns and grading them to fit all sizes.

Now people can learn how to make their own clothes with classes for all abilities at the sewing cafe.

The first one is on January 14 (6-9pm) and classes cost £20 – more if Janet is providing fabric. Janet buys fabrics from The Sewing Box in Spalding or from Leicester or Nottingham where there is a resurgent fashion industry.

Drop in at the sewing cafe in the South Lincs Competitive Swimming Club house in Spalding or contact Janet on 07799 813007 before classes start to discuss what expert advice you are looking for.

Polish communities in Spalding are “very scared” there are not enough jobs in the town for a new influx of migrant workers.

From January, residents of Romania and Bulgaria – two of Europe’s poorest countries – will be entitled to travel to the UK.

Prime Minister David Cameron has attempted to reassure the British public about new EU migrants by announcing a plan that will stop them claiming benefits.

However, Diane Gajek – who moved to Spalding ten years ago and runs the Polish Education Centre – is not convinced this will be enough to deter the Romanians.

She said: “I was there when it happened in Poland. Romanian men were sending women out with their babies to beg on the streets.

“In the end they got deported.”

Ms Gajek said she realises being able to claim benefits is not popular, but stressed that was not why the majority of Polish people moved to Spalding.

She said: “They came for a better lifestyle and a better job and to pay for their homes.

“People in Spalding are already struggling to find jobs. The town can only take so much.

“We are very scared – it’s going to be a mess.”

South Holland District Council is not so concerned. A spokesman said: “The 2011 Census information from the ONS has provided a valuable insight into levels of migration that have been experienced since 2001 and enable us to provide fair and equal access to services for all residents, regardless of their nationality”.

Immigration Minister Mark Harper told the Spalding Guardian: “Our tough reforms are working and net migration is down by nearly a third.

“Last year there were nearly 100,000 fewer people immigrating to the UK than in 2010.

“We are bound by the treaties and directives that successive governments have signed and no EU national has unrestricted access to the UK.

“By addressing the factors that drive up immigration we are doing everything within our power to discourage it from the EU.”

A man facing three charges of possessing cannabis with intent to supply it to another has been sent by Spalding magistrates to Lincoln Crown Court.

Sam Ward (25), of Commercial Road, Spalding, is also accused of possessing criminal property – namely £1,233.53 cash – at his home address on March 26 this year.

The drugs allegations relate to dates on or before February 3, March 26 and June 5.

He entered no plea when he appeared before magistrates on Thursday and was sent on bail to appear at the crown court on April 10.

South Holland and the Deepings MP John Hayes described a suggested 11 per cent pay rise for MPs as “unacceptable” while “many people are feeling the pinch”.

The £7,000 rise was recommended by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) and sparked a huge outcry in the national press.

MPs currently earn £66,396 and are still regarded with public suspicion following a huge scandal over expenses in 2009 and recent revelations about perfectly legal claims for heating and lighting second homes.

The Daily Mirror called on every MP not to accept the rise, saying “to take the money during this austerity drive would not only be greedy, it would repeat the backlash of the expenses scandal by turning the public against politicians”.

Speaking from Westminster yesterday, Mr Hayes said the recommendation from IPSA will not go ahead without a further review after 2015, but MPs need to sort out something “more sensible and fair” to deal with matters after that.

Mr Hayes told us: “When I became an MP I gave up a much larger salary that I had previously as a businessman because I wanted to serve the people of the area in the Mother of Parliaments.

“When I became a minister, along with others, I took a voluntary five per cent cut in pay.

“When, as a result of Labour’s dreadful legacy, many people are feeling the pinch I think that an 11 per cent pay rise for MPs – such as that suggested by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority – would be completely unacceptable, as would MPs deciding themselves on what they get paid.

“None of this is to happen without a further review after 2015 and we need to sort out a more sensible and fair way of dealing with matters after that.”

Prime Minister David Cameron has also described the suggested pay rise as “wrong” at a time of public sector pay restraint and has refused to rule out scrapping IPSA.

If the pay rise went ahead, it would cost an extra £4.6million including extra national insurance contributions.

The Environment Agency (EA) is now assessing flood defences in the wake of Thursday’s tidal surge that came within inches of flooding homes at Sutton Bridge.

Parish council chairman John Grimwood said the river level was within six inches of overtopping the West Bank – and he wants to see the riverbank raised to protect people and their homes.

He said: “It appears that the bank this side (west) is lower than the bank the other side.

“If I had my way, we would have the bank built up, seeing how close it came – it’s very concerning.”

The EA says it is carrying out “an ongoing assessment” of its flood defences, which will determine its next steps, but it’s too early to say whether defences at Sutton Bridge will be improved.

As the tide rose, water from the Nene poured out of a drainage valve and cascaded along Lime Street and the EA says it placed eight one-tonne sandbags over the drain and 500 smaller sandbags to protect the area.

Coun Grimwood, fellow parish councillors and residents filled sandbags to put across doorsteps in Lime Street, but didn’t get the key to a district council unit where the sand was kept until teatime.

Parish councillor Jenny Rowe said the parish council should have a key to the unit so it can act straightaway when flooding is threatened.

A South Holland District Council spokesman said the key was handed over at 6pm and an additional eight tonnes of sand were delivered.

The spokesman continued: “We regret the fact that access to the unit has become an issue and have agreed that a copy of the key be cut for future use by Sutton Bridge Parish Council.”

l The district council sent vehicles and men to help Boston’s clean-up operation after the town centre suffered widespread flooding.

I have noted some of the key points from last week’s autumn statement:

Basic State Pension: The (full rate) Basic State Pension will increase to £113.10 from April 2014 in line with the triple-lock guarantee.

State Pension Age: There will be a new approach to future reviews of state pension age to reflect changes in life expectancy. We’ve already seen the rises to 66, then 67, brought forward to 2020 and 2028. Expectations have now been set for further rises to 68 by “the mid 2030s” then 69 by “the late 2040s”.

Topping-up state pension: Those reaching state pension age before the new single tier state pension starts in April 2016 will also have an option to pay extra (new Class 3A) voluntary National Insurance contributions to boost their Additional State Pension. Details of this new option, which will only be available for a limited period from October 2015, are awaited.

As previously announced the personal allowance will increase by £560 to £10,000 in 2014/15. This means there will be more tax-free income for many basic rate taxpayers.However, the basic rate band will contract from £32,010 to £31,865, meaning that some may become higher rate taxpayers for the first time.

Those who make an individual pension contribution will increase their basic rate band, and could potentially take income out of higher rate tax again.

Non-taxpayers who are married or in a civil partnership can pass up to £1,000 of their personal allowance to their basic rate tax paying spouse/partner in 2015/16. It will mean an extra £200 tax-free income for couples who can use it. Around four million families could benefit but its success will depend on how easy it is to claim.

ISA allowances will be increased to £11,880 in 2014/15 (half of which can be saved in a cash ISA). The Junior ISA and Child Trust Fund limits will both be increased to £3,840. But there is no news yet on whether it will be possible for the 4.1 million children with a Child Trust Fund to transfer to a JISA.

More than 30 children who took part in this year’s Great South Holland Artsathlon have been presented with medals and certificates. 


Organised by South Holland District Council, the event is aimed at encouraging people to participate in different forms of art and consider trying new ones. 
The level of award – bronze, silver or gold – reflected the number of activities which participants were able to complete across the three categories of visual, performing or literary. 
In its second year, the event was again organised by the district council’s arts development officer Rachel Rowett. 
Presentations were made at Spalding’s South Holland Centre by district councillors Nick Worth (portfolio holder for community) and Sally-Ann Slade (junior portfolio holder for community). 
Coun Worth said: “It’s great to be see the pride of the children and their parents and grandparents as the youngsters collect their medals and certificates. 
“This is a great arts programme for all ages to become involved with. Hopefully next year we’ll have some adults collecting their rewards too!” 
Award winners are pictured after the presentation. Photo (NIKKI GRIFFIN): SG131113-333NG