People living in parts of Swineshead had to do without their green recycling bags being collected because of road closures in the village on Wednesday.
The streets affected were Bar Bridge Lane, Timms Drove and Tilebarn Lane, Swineshead.
A Boston Borough Council spokesman confirmed that an alternative date for collection would be made this week.
Three supermarket giants have recalled products after health fears caused by manufacturing errors.
Waitrose is recalling its own brand Asian Fusion Rice Noodles while Tesco and Sainsbury’s are recalling 1kg boxes of their own brand bran flakes.
Sainsbury’s is recalling its 1kg box of own-brand Wholegrain Bran Flakes with a best before date of August 2016 due to a production fault which has left some containing small pieces of plastic. Tesco is doing the same for its 1kg boxes with a best before date of May 2016.
Meanwhile, Waitrose is recalling its Asian Fusion Rice Noodles as they may contain egg and or wheat (gluten) which are not listed in the ingredients.
The recall is for 300g packs with ‘Use by’ date: 6 September (2015)
Items should be returned to the relevant supermarket for a full refund.
Latest statistics from the Met Office confirm this summer has been cooler and wetter than average.
This weekend high pressure dominates, bringing cool and mainly dry weather for most areas, with showers in the east and south coasts -not ideal for those attending Burghley Horse Trials at Stamford or Lodestar Festival at Norfolk Showground.
The Met Office blog looks back at our summer: ”No-one can deny that we have had a pretty disappointing summer with a lot of unsettled weather and only a few warm spells.
“Despite a dry and sunny June and a brief ‘heat-wave’ at the start of July, summer overall has been cooler than average and cooler than either summer 2013 or 2014. It has also been wetter than average, despite near average sunshine.
“Our weather has been dominated by low pressure over and to the west of the country that has brought us periods of heavy rain from the south – what we call the Spanish Plume.
“So what has been happening? If we look beyond our shores there have been some big changes in the global climate this year.
“El Niño is in full flight, disturbing weather patterns around the world.
“The low pressure that has dominated our weather is part of a pattern of waves in the jet stream around the world that has brought crippling heat waves to places like Poland and Japan.
“And, looking back over past El Niños, you could have expected that a more unsettled summer might be on the cards for the UK.
“Closer to home the North Atlantic is more than 2 degrees colder than normal.
“It seems quite likely that the unusually cold North Atlantic has strengthened and pushed our jet stream south, also contributing to the low pressure systems that have dominated our weather.”
Check the latest forecast at {http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/forecast/map/|metoffice.gov.uk|go to metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/forecast/map/}.
Dog owners in Spalding are being urged to make their pet pooches heroes by taking part in a charity walk.
A sponsored Dogs Unite event is being held at Ayscoughfee Gardens on Sunday in aid of Guide Dogs, the charity which raises money to create more life-changing guide dog partnerships.
Kate Alexander, the volunteer local branch organiser, said: “This is a great chance for families to come out with their dogs and enjoy a different walk, socialise their dogs and let their dogs be heroes for the day.
“As a huge thank you for their support, each pooch will receive a certificate and dog tag to wear proudly on their collar on completing their walk.”
With dog walkers spending more than 382 hours walking their pets every year, Dogs Unite is becoming a popular series of sponsored dog walks taking place around the country.
The Dogs Unite event in Spalding promises fantastic fun for all the family and their pet, who can dress up in a special hero cape.
Dog owners can be sponsored to walk around the beautiful gardens alongside Spalding’s local guide dog heroes, Ossie, Pickles, Nana, Barclay and Illya.
There will be tombolas, lucky dips and a chance to have your photo taken with some of our local guide dog heroes and their owners.
Ayscoughfee Cafe will be selling puppy inspired cakes on the day to raise money for the Spalding branch of Guide Dogs for the Blind.
You can sign up to this event online at www.guidedogs.org.uk/dogs-unite find it on Facebook by searching Dogs Unite, or pick up a sponsorship form at Ayscoughfee Café or Museum.
Walkers can also just turn up on the day at 2.30pm.
There is no fee for taking part in the walk, however if you are not being sponsored there is a suggested donation of £1 for the cape.
The NHS Health Check is a sophisticated check of your heart health and is aimed at adults in England aged 40 to 74.
It checks your vascular or circulatory health and works out your risk of developing some of the most disabling – but preventable – illnesses.
Think of your NHS Health Check as being your “midlife MoT”. It checks that some of your body’s most important systems are all running smoothly. Among other things, your blood pressure, cholesterol, and BMI will all be checked and your results given to you.
Crucially, your NHS Health Check can detect potential problems before they do real damage. Everyone is at risk of developing heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease and some forms of dementia. The good news is that these conditions can often be prevented.
Your NHS Health Check will assess your risk of developing these health problems and give you personalised advice on how to reduce it.
It’s free of charge, including any follow-up tests or appointments.
Why the NHS Health Check is important
Thousands of people have already had an NHS Health Check. They are now armed with information and support to reduce their risk of developing heart and vascular problems. Why not join them?
Together, the vascular conditions identified by the NHS Health Check are the biggest cause of preventable deaths in the UK, affecting more than 4 million people.
Every year, the NHS Health Check is expected to help:
• save 650 lives
• prevent 1,600 heart attacks and strokes
• prevent 4,000 people from developing type 2 diabetes
• detect at least 20,000 cases of type 2 diabetes or kidney disease earlier
If you want to avoid being a statistic, it’s worth making an appointment for an NHS Health Check as soon as you get your invitation.
How to get an NHS Health Check
You’ll be invited for an NHS Health Check every five years if you are between 40 and 74 years old, as long as you don’t have an existing vascular condition.
You’ll usually get your NHS Health Check at a GP practice or local pharmacy, but it could happen at other convenient places in your neighbourhood, depending on where you live
At the check, you’ll be asked some questions about your lifestyle and family medical history. You’ll also have some routine tests. From these, your healthcare professional will be able to give you an idea of your risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and type 2 diabetes. As well as a breakdown of your results, you’ll get an overall score giving your risk of getting heart disease or stroke. If you’re over 65, you will also be told the signs and symptoms of dementia, and you’ll be made aware of memory services nearby.
After your results have been explained, you’ll be offered personalised advice and support to help stay healthy, and lower your risk if any of your results need improving. This advice could include suggestions on small changes to your diet or how much exercise you should take if your risk is low or moderate.
If you are at higher risk, your healthcare professional might want to discuss whether you should be taking medicines to control your blood pressure or cholesterol, along with help to take action such as losing weight, becoming more active or stopping smoking.
By having a routine NHS Health Check for these conditions every five years, you can take action early and greatly improve your chance of a longer, healthier and happier life. You may be surprised how some small, long-lasting changes to your lifestyle can make a huge difference.
Once you’ve had your NHS Health Check, you’ll have a good idea of what your risk is of developing heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease and certain types of dementia.
More information about the NHS Health Check can be found at www.choices.nhs
Riders new to the sport of showjumping weren’t denied their fun in a competition at the Four Winds Equestrian Centre at West Pinchbeck.
‘Fun jumps’ ranging in height from 1ft 6in for beginners and 2ft 3in for riders in the intermediate class were constructed indoors because of pouring rain on Bank Holiday Monday.
The family-run Four Winds provides lessons in all disciplines of equitation, including showjumping, cross country and dressage – and has some wonderful horses for people to ride.
The centre takes riders from the absolute beginner to the best they want to be.
As the cabinet member for communities this gives me the opportunity to see first hand the large number of community groups and activities which take place in our area.
This time of year we see events from church flower festivals, music concerts to sporting events.
The introduction of the councillor’s designated ward budgets has enabled us to financially support hundreds of projects and good causes in our wards.
In many cases if the project operates across the district, a number of councillors join in to add a contribution towards the project. We have supported projects which have provided equipment to schools and to groups which support some of our most vulnerable residents. A full list of all the projects supported is available and if any community group or organisation wishes to apply to this fund, please contact your local councillor.
I am also a member of the East Lincolnshire Community Safety Partnership (ELCSP) – at present it is inviting residents to complete its latest community safety survey to help identify the issues that the group will focus on in 2016.
The community safety partnership is based on multi agency working, which consists of district councils, the county council, police, fire and rescue, the probation service and the health service.
It’s vitally important that we ask our community for their views on issues which affect their safety. Last year’s partnership worked on issues which included programmes to encourage young people into positive activities and away from criminal and anti social activities and led to the introduction of the voluntary code of conduct for off licences in Spalding town centre to promote responsible alcohol sales. The police are continuing to enforce against anti social street drinking, particularly when this is reported to them on their 101 number.
This survey can be completed online at www.sholland.gov.uk<http://www.sholland.gov.uk> Paper copies can also be obtained from the reception at the district council reception at Priory Road, Spalding.
I would also like to thank the many people, who have helped over the summer to organise and support a community event. These people have given up their time and energy in order to make our communities truly come to life.
Holbeach Community Bus could come to a grinding halt unless fresh volunteers are found for the committee – and new drivers step forward.
Organisers of the community bus, also known as Holbeach and District Community Vehicle, made a rallying call for potential volunteers to attend their annual meeting at 7.30pm on Wednesday, September 9, in Coubro Chambers, West End, Holbeach.
The charity’s Michelle Rhodes explained: “We are currently experiencing good use of the bus with a strong and regular user base, and our users seem extremely happy with it. We have a healthy bank balance and everything is running very well, however we are in dire need of new committee members.
“As with any charity, we rely on volunteers to undertake committee roles – booking agent, treasurer, secretary, chairman – and for various reasons those currently holding the positions are considering standing down.
“This of course means that Holbeach and District Community Vehicle will effectively cease to exist unless we can find a replacement committee. We also require volunteer drivers, and this is something we have struggled with for some time.
“We were hoping to build up a driver bank, however this has not happened. We would welcome anyone to the meeting to discuss the work we are doing, and especially those that may wish to volunteer.”
The latest £44,000 community minibus had its official launch in Holbeach in December 2012 – there has been a Holbeach bus in and around the town for around 30 years and the new vehicle was the third to take to the road thanks to generous community support.
In December 2012 ...
A cyclist has been seriously injured on the A15 near at Market Deeping, which remains closed this morning, Saturday September 5.
The collision took place at around 5:55am, a female cyclist sustained serious injuries when she was involved in a collision with a red DAF box van owned by the Royal Mail.
The cyclist was taken to Peterborough City Hospital but is expected to be transferred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.
Police are in the process of trying to trace and inform the family of the 19-year-old cyclist who is believed to live locally.
The driver of the Post Office van a 50-year-old man from the Peterborough area was not injured.
The road is closed and is likely to remain closed for some time.
The A1175 is closed between the A15 roundabout and the junction with the B1525 in Market Deeping.
As of 6.35am today (Saturday September 5), diversions have been set up through the Northfield Industrial Estate
Motorists are asked to avoid Market Deeping if at all possible until the road reopens.
Police are appealing for witnesses to the collision or the people who assisted at the scene but left before their details had been obtained, to get in touch. They can call the 101 non-emergency number or the Collision Witness Hotline on 01522 558855. In either case it would be helpful if they are able to quote incident 43 of 5th September 2015
So, last week we went away for our holiday and travelled down to Bournemouth.
We had booked an apartment and once our bags were deposited, got ready to spend the day at the beach. I hadn’t realised that the Bournemouth Air show was on, so finding a spot on the beach was tricky. I’ve never really been one for aeroplanes and so, having found a good spot, took out my library book.
There were a couple of helicopters flying around the bay, landing on the deck of a huge ship and re-enacting their defence of a pirate boat attack… I glanced up briefly and carried on with my chapter. Then, there was the unmistakeable sound of a Chinook helicopter and as I looked up, it appeared on the horizon, coming in quite low.
Across the tannoy, a pilot on the local radio described how the Chinook would now do some stunts. I was interested, as this was a huge machine that seemed to defy gravity and looked impressive. My stomach lurched as it seemed to go up vertically, held itself in the air and then swung back down, like a huge fairground ride. It spun round as it flew upwards and even moved sideways, completely opened up so that the guy at the back of it could clearly be seen waving.
The Hunter jets were next, making a huge noise as they showed off their aerobatics and I marvelled that there were human beings operating these machines, flying upside down and performing incredible stunts.
The announcer then said there were some special jets about to appear from behind us.
As the Red Arrows flew over the clifftops in perfect formation, I was surprised to find myself feeling emotional as the crowds cheered their arrival…there is something quintessentially British about them, enhanced by the red, white and blue smoke from their tails. The pilot’s flying skill was phenomenal, often within 7 feet of each other, turning upside down and rocketing up vertically…by now, I was hooked and wanted to watch more, much to the annoyance of my children.
The Vulcan was up next and my husband told me that this would be one of the last times to see it fly…the lump in my throat returned. Hearing it rumble in from the west, with its massive wing span and deep sound of the engine, I marvelled that it could fly at all, let alone zoom around the bay so low, we had to put our hands over our ears against the deafening roar.
I felt sorry for the bi-planes that were up next, because although they were acrobatic, nothing compares to seeing the jets.
We headed back to have our evening meal and I turned on the TV. The horrific accident in Shoreham involving a Hunter jet was just being reported and detailed the devastation caused.
Watching the Red Arrows and the Vulcan again the next day was even more poignant…
Human beings are incredible ... the overwhelming support of the community of Shoreham for the relatives of the victims portrays this well.
It’s another British response of which I’m proud.
A man who ‘took the law into his own hands’ after his partner and child were were allegedly burgled, stole a handbag and contents from a house unrelated to the incident, a court has been told.
Joshua Luke Bloodworth (24), of St Paul’s Road, Spalding, appeared unrepresented at Boston Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday accused of entering a house on Pinchbeck Road and stealing a Ted Baker handbag, Ted Baker purse and Sony Experia mobile phone, along with other contents of the handbag.
Prosecutor Marie Stace told the court that Bloodworth had entered the property through an insecure sliding door into the kitchen, seen the items, taken them and left.
She said: “He had wanted to show the offender how close he could get to them.”
She told the court he was seen by the postman and the son of the victim, and left the area in a dark car.
She said: “He was looking for a male who he believed was responsible for a burglary of his own home.
“He discovered quite quickly the bag had nothing to do with the male.”
She said he had admitted everything to police and said he had intended to return the bag.
He wasn’t sure how he planned to do it and had hidden it in the meantime.
Representing himself, Bloodworth pleaded guilty to the charge of burglary dwelling and theft – no violence.
He told magistrates: “My partner and child had got burgled a week prior to the offence.
“I took the law into my own hands and I know I shouldn’t have, but I realise my mistake and fully admit it.
“They got the items back as soon as they could and even if they didn’t get police involved it would have been returned as soon as possible.”
Magistrates ordered a report to be completed by probation and adjourned the sentencing to Wednesday, September 9.
Work has started on a major new Next Outlet store for Spalding.
The store, which combines three units and will cover 10,000 square metres at Springfields Outlet Shopping centre, is expected to be open in time for peak Christmas trading in December.
Springfields is in the 11th year of continual turnover growth since opening in 2004 and has won several awards, including one recently for Best International Commercial Landscape Architecture 2014-15.
Ian Sanderson, head of Springfields, said: “We have worked hard for years to secure the introduction of Next, the most requested brand from our customers.
“The new anchor store will be in excess of 10,000 sq ft and sit in between M&S and Gap Outlet stores.
“Springfields already attracts over 2.3 million visitors per year from up to 90 minutes away, and we are confident that additional footfall created from the arrival of Next will not only benefit Springfields but Spalding and the entire South Holland district.’’
Next trades from more than 500 stores in the UK and Eire and around 200 stores in more than 40 countries overseas. A spokesman said: “Springfields is already a popular destination attracting visitors from various regions and we are certain that our new Outlet store will give our loyal Next customers a fantastic shopping experience.”
Bryan Robinson knows how to put on an effort when it’s needed, as he puts it.
Bryan did that at the VJ Parade in Spalding, when the 90-year-old – the only member of the old Boston and South Lincs branch of the Burma Star Association present – carried the standard during the ceremony.
He – and countless other men like him – did it in a major way 70 or so years ago when they gave up the comforts of home and hearth for the unknown in far-flung parts of the world during World War Two.
For Bryan, who lives with Marion in Donington, that meant walking away from a job at H Leverton, where he was learning how to drive and maintain a motor car, to join the RAF, aged just 17.
It was a time of transition on his family’s farm at Donington, with tractors replacing horses, and the idea was that Bryan would be at the forefront of the switch to mechanisation.
Instead, he found himself training, first as a flight engineer and then in motor transport with the RAF.
From there he was shipped out to India and then to Burma where he was stationed for just short of a year, driving anything from food to ammunition and servicing aircraft, until the ceasefire.
A posting in Shanghai followed before Bryan could return to the UK, but not before he had spent 12 weeks in hospital suffering with malaria and Typhoid fever.
He returned to the farm, where he worked until he retired about 15 years ago.
During the intervening years he joined the local branch of the Burma Star Association as well as the RAF Association, of which he was both chairman and president. The comradeship he found in both organisations was very important to him.
Bryan still has the picture of the first veterans’ trip – to the Albert Hall to hear Vera Lynn sing.
“Mostly we were really good mates,” he says. “I was lucky because one man, Simeon Creasey, went to school with me and we were in Burma together. He was best man when we married.
“I was disappointed when we had to hang up the standard. There’s not so many of us about. There are three or four from Holbeach still alive and that’s about it.”
Bryan Robinson has not only made the effort to attend the VJ parade in Spalding, but has attended the one in London for the past five years thanks to the Royal British Legion.
He and Marion had two children, Jane and their son Richard who sadly died. It is Jane and her husband, also called Richard, who accompany Bryan on the route, pushing him in a wheelchair following a second hip replacement.
There Bryan meets former prisoners of war and hears some of the horrifying details of their detention.
The demise of service organisations is understandable as these veterans age, and Bryan says: “The younger generation don’t seem to get involved with service organisations as much as we did. It was more or less the comradeship we enjoyed.”
More bogus calls purporting to be from the county council have sparked a further warning for people across South Holland to be vigilant against scammers.
Lincolnshire Trading Standards is renewing the appeal it put out in July, after more people reported being called by the authority.
In each case the caller claims that they are calling from the council about an accident that happened last year, sometimes suggesting that it may be possible to claim compensation.
Kirsty Toyne, principal trading standards officer at Lincolnshire Trading Standards, warns people not to fall for the scam.
She said: “If you receive a phone call like this one please just hang up. Lincolnshire County Council will never contact you in this way so you know it’s a bogus call.
“It’s not clear what the fraudsters will do with any information gained so please do not give out any of your personal information to them. Just put the phone down”
Other scams include telling people there has been illegal activity on their computers in order to access and lock them, demanding payment in return for access to their property.
People also purport to be from police, bank officials or a representative of HMRC – and some have even tried to convince people they are from charities.
Report scams to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or visit www.actionfraud.police.uk
You can find out the latest scam warnings by following @Lincsts on Twitter or ‘like’ Lincolnshire Trading Standards on Facebook.
Life as a Macmillan nurse means that no two days are the same. It is a varied and challenging role but that is why our Macmillan nurses enjoy it so much.
Our Macmillan nurses are based in Johnson Community Hospital, Spalding and work both on the hospital ward and in the community. They provide specialist palliative care to patients with advanced, progressive incurable illness with complex symptoms or problems. Care can be given directly when patients have highly complex needs that require specialist assessment and care planning, or indirectly through supporting and guiding other health and care professionals to provide treatment, care and support.
The Macmillan nurses work closely with GPs and hospital and community teams to enable people to be cared for and to die in their preferred place of care. It is always our aim to work together to ensure the right care is given, at the right time, in the right place for our patients.
Macmillan nurses see patients with cancer and other life limiting conditions. They recognise that the patients’ journey can be complex and disjointed, and involves care and interventions from various multi-site professionals such as oncologists, surgeons, physicians and counsellors. The Macmillan nurses provide information, advice and support, and liaise with other professionals and agencies to improve the care for patients, their families and carers.
We are very fortunate to have the Tulip Suite here at the hospital on Welland Ward. We have four dedicated palliative care beds for people requiring care of complex or difficult to manage symptoms, or care and support when they are approaching the end of their life.
The Macmillan Nurses support the ward team by providing expert information and advice to staff to support them to care for patients and support their carers and families. Many patients are discharged to their preferred place of care following a stay on the Tulip Suite with on-going support from the community nursing team and Macmillan Nurses. We are all very grateful for the wonderful work and support the Macmillan Nurses provide to patients, their families and carers but also to the dedicated staff here at the hospital.
• Jenny Hinchliffe is the head of clinical services for the South at Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust.
Back in 1971 the late Enoch Powell toured the capitals of Europe warning the people of France, Germany and Italy of the dangers of excessive European integration.
Speaking fluently in their respective languages, Powell highlighted that ‘a common currency means common government; the one is meaningless and impossible without the other.’
More than forty years later, the prolonged euro zone crisis has shown us all the wisdom of Powell’s words. It is folly to believe, as continental European politicians persist in doing, that a single currency can be made to work over the long-term without a strong central bank and single euro-wide fiscal policy. Yet, as Powell understood, such centralised government is impossible because there is no single European identity by which it might be legitimised. European unity can only come about, as Powell said in 1969, ‘though a settled, deep and instinctive conviction felt by those concerned that they below first and foremost to the whole and that its interests override those of the parts.’
Given that Powell was an eminent scholar with an expert knowledge of Ancient Greece (he was a Professor of Classics) it is ironic that it should be the Greek debt crisis which has clearly demonstrated that such a common European wide identity simply does not exist and is never likely to come into being.
Within a nation state, such as the UK, financial support to counter disadvantage is taken as part and parcel of nationhood. Yet, during negotiations over Greek debt each member state sought to protect its own interests; there was no evidence that the pain felt in Athens was felt in Berlin.
I have always opposed British membership of the Euro and will continue to do so. In the pages of this newspaper, when others enthused about its prospects, I warned of its likely consequences.
In 1973 Britain joined what was essentially a trading organisation, indeed we were told it was a ‘common market’; we have never signed up to a United States of Europe. As the Chancellor George Osborne said in an interview in July, what Britain wants from the EU is ‘a single market of free trade.’ Trading with our European neighbours is in our national interest, being subsumed into a European super state is not.
It must never happen.
Having to wade through those programme bits between the adverts on the gogglescreen of late, it’s getting a bit much these days to work out just what the super glossy, stylish (?) adverts that include anything from computer generated trips to outer space to seeing folk sitting there in false amazement (well the rehearsals must have gone well) as their status symbol reverses itself into a space are all about, until the last few seconds that you realise its about flogging cars to the unsuspecting public plus a lot of them feature left hand drive vehicles so do they know something we don’t yet?..
Now based on this wondrous age we live/survive in, do the following sets of numbers mean anything to you?. 49.6, 72.4 and 61.4. No, not the scores for Celebrity Went Dancing but these are the fuel economy figures for a certain breed of car currently waiting in a showroom for a new owner to be enchanted enough to buy it and drive off into the sunset, weather permitting, to bore those around them with its abilities like self reversing but you still have to be with it plus how many cup holders it has.
It’s the fuel figures that grab me so to speak as where do they get the .6, .4 etc. from?
Bearing in mind fuel is sold with the cost per litre ending in .99 and I have yet to clap eyes on a .99 pence coin, so has anybody ever popped in for a single litre in a specimen jar or whatever container of choice to power their ciggie lighter or chainsaw and got the .1 in change back?. Answers on a postcard, to the usual address and rules apply.
Some years ago in the last century my then next door neighbour Tom and I came up with a sort of system that graded cars or vehicles by the size of their petrol filler caps – yes, honestly – would I fib to you? – and now after many years I can reveal to you the Ward-Hawkins Fuel Assessment System which was based on observation of the vehicle in question and this is how we did it on a cool summer’s evening.
We called it F A G which went as follows: F was for Frugal and was usually fitted to small cars and A was Acceptable and G was for Gobbler as in the size of the filler and the amount of fossil fuel it got through to maintain its mechanical lifestyle in its size and ability to burn fuel and for the record I had a Austin Mini which was Band A and Tom had a Morris Oxford which was Band A although Gerald at the end of the street had a Standard Vanguard which we decided, without his knowing input, as being in Band G due to its petrol filler cap size.
There was talk about making a steam car locally as there was an abundance of coal and coke – the burning sort used in fires and not the drinking or other varieties – and Ken the railway man was quite helpful but plans came to zero as he pointed out ‘they’ would then put the price of water up if it was popular and judging by today’s bills, he got that about right and I may go to a seance to tell him so as well.
An electrical firm based in Tydd St Mary is seeking consent to have a base in farm premises in Jarvis Gate, Sutton St James.
Rollins Electrical, of Lowgate, want to change the use of a disused farm building at Homefields to offices as well as set up a new panel assembly (electrical) workshop.
A planning application submitted to South Holland District Council says the development will see the company’s full-time workforce boosted from 30 to 40. Supporting information says the firm has been an established business since 2007 and carries out commercial electrical work for local food factories as well as national contracts for larger organisations. A division of the company makes service pedestals for caravans and marinas.
We can all agree with our MP, John Hayes, (‘Protecting our Fen towns and villages’, Free Press, August 25) that preserving our countryside from insensitive development is vital.
But this is not necessarily the same as agreeing with Prince Charles; whatever the words ‘inspired by tradition and the laws of nature’ actually mean in terms of the built environment, housebuilders, in particular, have been guilty of using such arguments to justify poorly-designed developments in our area.
And let’s not forget that St Paul’s Cathedral would be an even more stunning building today if Wren’s original design had not been rejected as too radical for public taste.
But what Mr Hayes fails to mention in his article is that the biggest threat to our Lincolnshire countryside comes from his own government’s obsession with imposing fracking on rural communities, whether they like it or not.
Licences have already been granted covering large areas in and around the county, and many more are in the pipeline.
Yet Mr Hayes recently voted in favour of a government bill (Infrastructure Bill, February 11, 2015) to severely restrict the length of time local authorities will have to determine planning applications for fracking sites, even though the issues they will have to consider include the danger of dirt, pollution, traffic disruption, earth tremors and groundwater contamination.
What a contrast with the Government’s approach to the generation of renewable wind power; in June, it changed planning rules to make it easier for local communities to block wind turbines, which now must be ‘clearly backed’ by local people in a local or neighbourhood plan.
No wonder there has been a deafening silence from our local Tory councillors on this shameless threat to their democratic right to defend their communities.
I’m afraid our MP can’t have it both ways. I challenge John Hayes to make it clear in the pages of your newspaper that, in line with the principles he set out in his article, he will personally oppose any fracking application that affects a community or communities within his constituency and which does not have majority local support.
Martin Blake
South Lincolnshire
Green Party
Spalding