Long Sutton’s Phoenix Montessori Nursery is opening its doors to the public.
The nursery is holding two open days – Monday, November 12, from 9.15 am-11.30am and Wednesday, November 14, from 1.15pm-3.30 pm.
Principal Clare Harris said: “The nursery is opening its doors for two sessions and inviting anyone who is interested to visit, meet the staff and have a tour of the nursery.”
A 13-year-old girl had a lucky escape after she was hit by a car on Station Road, Morton, last Thursday.
Paramedics were called just before 10.45am and the girl was treated for minor injuries at a hospital in Peterborough.
Do you know of a shop or business where a particular member of staff always goes the extra mile to take care of customers?
If the answer is yes, then now’s your chance to get them the recognition they deserve.
In Tuesday’s Lincolnshire Free Press Service we launched our Service with a Smile award.
The idea is that readers use the form printed each week in the Free Press to nominate the trader or shopkeeper who they feel gives cheery, good service.
We will take a picture of all those nominated and invite readers to vote for the winner.
To qualify, businesses must be based or have an office or franchise within the circulation area of the Lincolnshire Free Press.
That means not only Spalding but also Bourne, Market Deeping, Wyberton, Crowland, Holbeach, Long Sutton, Sutton Bridge, Swineshead, Donington and Folkingham – and all other surrounding villages.
The competition has been sponsored by South Holland District Council and the winner will receive an award, along with a cash prize.
Anyone who deals with the public is eligible, so if you think your postman is perfect, your bank manager is brilliant or your supermarket checkout assistant is superb, it’s time to get nominating.
{https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFhpZHpOR2VqelRtZk5DQnBvNDJSUWc6MQ#gid=0|Service with a Smile coupon|To enter online form click}
G & J Peck Ltd of Pinchbeck has been recognised for its commitment to South Holland’s farming community.
Bosses received the New Holland Dealer Gold Standard award for setting high standards in sales and customer support.
If you have a business story, contact the newsdesk on 01775 765420 or email spalding.editor@jpress.co.uk
There’s just ten days to go for young businesses in the Spalding area to get a huge boost to help them grow.
The Lincolnshire Free Press and Spalding Guardian Local Business Accelerators campaign rewards promising young businesses with free local newspaper advertising and mentoring. – and lucky entrants could go on to win a national prize package worth thousands.
As the number of entries rise, the CBI, ICAEW and Freeagent have come on board to bolster the overall winner’s prize package.
In a further boost Business Accelerators, which is supported by the Government and private sector’s Business in You campaign, the three organisations have contributed a host of new prizes.
Now, the overall winner will receive free membership of the CBI for a year, free business advice from the ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales) valued at £2,000, and an iPad from Freeagent, which is also offering a year’s free access to its accountancy software to each of the national finalists, valued at £300 per finalist.
That’s in addition to the campaign’s main prize of mentoring from the campaign’s national ambassador Deborah Meaden, of Dragons’ Den, and a free ad campaign in their local newspaper. The Business Growth Fund has also contributed with a £10,000 cash sum for the overall winner.
The South Lincolnshire-based business mentors are Spalding Guardian and Lincolnshire Free Press editor Jeremy Ransome, Deborah Brown from Roythornes solicitors, Keith Forrest from NatWest bank and Alistair Main from Duncan and Toplis chartered accountants.
They will form a judging panel to shortlist entries before awarding one local company with the prize of business advice and free advertising.
To enter the Local Business Accelerators competition, which is also being backed by Governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King, visit www.accelerateme. co.uk
Deadline is Friday,November 16.
MP John Hayes is taking the battle to save Spalding Magistrates’ Court from “death by a thousand cuts” to the top levels of Government.
Court cells have been shut since July following a health and safety review and it’s likely the court house could close unless thousands of pounds are spent to upgrade the cells and a winding staircase leading from the cells.
Magistrates expect to hear next month if cash will be made available.
Remand prisoners are no longer dealt with at the court and, in a fresh blow, its workload is to be cut further still.
Weekly Tuesday motoring courts will be held fortnightly from January to April and then disappear altogether.
Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service refuses to reveal details of the health and safety assessment, confirm whether it has carried out its own independent report or comment on the reported £350,000 to £400,000 cost of the work.
In 2010, the South Holland and The Deepings MP, magistrates and solicitors saved Spalding court from closure by arguing the cause of local justice.
That campaign was backed by the nation’s top judge, Lord Justice Goldring, who said plans to shut the building were “unacceptable”.
Earlier this summer Mr Hayes was assured by then minister Jonathan Djanogly that there were no plans to close the Spalding court.
Mr Hayes said it seems the courts’ service is going “behind” the judge and behind the minister.
“I am not going to allow this death by a thousand cuts,” he said. “It is not the will of the minister, nor the will of the judges.”
South Lincolnshire Magistrates’ chairman Kevin Moody says Spalding Magistrates’ Court can only be saved if the minister comes up with funds.
He said: “A court without custody facilities isn’t really a viable court.”
Solicitor Mike Alexander understands the courts’ service has not commissioned an independent report on the cells and the one that exists was carried out for security firm GeoAmey, which would save money if it did not bring prisoners to Spalding.
He said it was written after a disabled person slipped on the spiral staircase up to the dock.
Mr Alexander said: “I am really, really cynical about that report.
“The bean counters only consider the cost rather than having an efficient and effective service for the public, which is what it is meant to be.”
Mr Alexander said the court has been “safe” for more than 100 years.
The courts’ service, HMCTS, refused to answer Free Press questions on the number of accidents involving the cells and would not comment on whether it had commissioned an independent report.
The spokesman said a decision was taken to list a court at Grantham on Tuesdays to deal with South Lincolnshire’s work, including custody cases, and it links with a new police court.
HMCTS says it has “no current plans” to close the court.
A father whose son died in a hit-and-run accident says his worst fear is that no one will be brought to justice for the tragedy.
Stephen Osborn says he had hoped a moving funeral service for 27-year-old Tim last month would help him and his family find closure, but said he is still struggling as he waits to find out whether a man arrested and bailed will face charges over the accident.
He said he is now hoping a partial police reconstruction of Tim’s accident, which happened just yards from the family’s home in Bourne Road, Pode Hole, just after 9pm on September 14, will ensure they can “dot all the ‘i’s and cross all the ‘t’s’ so a successful case can be built.
He said: “I hope they have the right person because if not there is very little chance they will ever find who did this. I also hope they have all the evidence they need to get a conviction.
“A vehicle in the wrong hands is a lethal weapon and if you kill someone you should be facing a murder charge.”
Stephen said although wife Lynne and daughters Emma and Zoe had returned to work and son Michael has returned to university, he is still struggling to return to his work as a DJ.
He said: “The day Tim was killed was the day the music died. I have got a DJ gig booked and although I really don’t want to do it, I’ve got to, but it’s going to be hard. Tim always helped me load the van, but now I have got to get used to doing it on my own.
“I still don’t feel as though we have said goodbye properly, I am still expecting him to come in the door.”
The family are hoping to use money raised by shoppers who donated at Morrison’s supermarket, where Tim worked, to provide a lasting memorial.
A bench and tree will be located at the supermarket and Stephen is planning a book of Tim’s short stories.
He is also hoping some money can be used for a trip to Scotland so Tim’s ashes can be scattered in one of his favourite places.
More than 1,000 cold weather tyres will be fitted to ambulances and fast-response cars as the ambulance service gears up to face plummeting temperatures and icy roads.
It’s the second year running East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EMAS) has fitted the seasonal tyres to its fleet to ensure that it can still provide emergency care even in the most treacherous driving conditions.
In total 306 ambulances and two-wheel drive fast response vehicles will be fitted with cold weather tyres.
Over the last few years EMAS has also invested in more than 60 four-wheel drive vehicles which do not need to be part of the programme.
Tests on cold weather tyres showed they could reduce ambulances’ braking distances by more than half and allowed for responsive steering and good traction with the road in all conditions – key features for the service which responds to calls every day, every hour, whatever the weather.
Steve Farnsworth, EMAS’ fleet manager, said: “Our ambulances are our treatment centres and when we receive a call we will go to that patient even in the most hazardous conditions. This programme helps to ensure the safety of crews and patients and is just another way we’re working to improve response.”
The programme will cost £80,000 and will see some vehicles fitted with as many as six winter tyres as they have twin wheels at the rear. The process will be completed by the end of November.
To ensure the work is cost-effective, where possible and following rigorous safety checks, cold weather tyres will be re-used from last year.
Tyres currently on vehicles will also receive a safety inspection when removed.
Life is looking up for a young man who has landed a job at a Spalding department store after months of searching - and according to latest statistics it’s all down to a jobs boom across the district.
Sam Hinde (21) joined the staff at Beales department store in the Market Place as a part-time sales assistant two months ago.
But Sam, of Fleet Hargate, won’t be the only one to enjoy being in work on the run-up to Christmas because the store is currently advertising for Christmas part-timers.
Across South Holland, Spalding Jobcentre has 754 vacancies, with an average of two people for every job - far less than any other region.
Unemployment in September was 1,440 - down 250 on February. The figure represents 2.9 per cent of the population of South Holland, compared with 3.5 per cent in the East Midlands and 3.8 per cent across Great Britain.
Vickie Chapman, assistant director of Beales, said: “We now have eight full-timers and 20 part-timers.
“Sales are certainly starting to improve and, after losing staff 18 months ago in the takeover, we are now able to build up our team and invest in training again.
”Hopefully, if this carries on we will be able to make the part-time jobs full-time.”
Sam said: “This job means everything to me. I’d applied for about 50 jobs and was at my wits’ end. It’s part-time but I’m just happy to be working.”
When I last wrote we were about a week away from starting our potato harvest and now, three months later, we are just about to finish our last field of 25 acres, which has been waterlogged for most of the summer, so it could be rather messy.
It has been one of the hardest harvests that I and many of the guys on the farm have ever experienced.
With the difficult harvesting conditions our change in planting and harvesting machinery two years ago has paid dividends.
We have hardly seen the effects of the prolonged rainfall on the quality of the ridges formed by the planting system and the Grimme self-propelled harvester has come into its own, being able to travel on days when others couldn’t.
We will have been averaging around 11 acres a day throughout the season, with a top day of 18 acres, thanks to the hard work and long hours of the farm’s team, and we are very grateful for all of their efforts.
Harvest in general has been very disappointing in the UK, with wheat production down by an estimated 13 per cent, and the potato crop will be similar.
This will no doubt have a big effect on the price we pay for food and will hit the whole country hard.
We are now pushing on with sugar beet harvest and in the next few days expect to start the maize harvest, delayed by about a month because of the cold and overcast summer and the crop not maturing quickly enough.
Professor Jack Rieley, Special Professor of Geography at the University of Nottingham, is guest speaker at the next meeting of South Holland Growers’ Club next Monday.
The topic under discussion is peat in the light of DEFRA’s ambition, outlined in the Towards Sustainable Growing Media report, to progressively phase out peat use in horticulture to zero by 2030. The report was drawn up by DEFRA’s Sustainable Growing Media Task Force in response to a Natural Environment White Paper.
Professor Rieley, who has 40 years of experience in vegetation ecology, nutrient cycling and conservation of peatland ecosystems, will draw a balanced view on the current position on peat and its future as a growing media.
The meeting is to be held at Whaplode Manor Hotel, near Saracen’s Head, at 7.30pm.
The number of injuries on farms has risen by 9 per cent in the past year, according to statistics released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Between April 2011 and March 2012 the agricultural industry recorded 1,033 injuries, an increase of 9 per cent on the 948 accidents in the previous 12 months.
More than 670 of those were serious, forcing workers to take more than three days’ absence.
Bonfire night in South Holland was a safe one, with only a handful of incidents for the fire service to deal with.
Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue confirmed there were four callouts across the area between October 30 and November 6, compared to just three for the same period last year.
Across Lincolnshire, there were 24 callouts over the period, compared to 22 in 2011.
A Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue spokeswoman said: We are pleased that bonfire night-related fires have remained low across the county.
“There were no significant incidents reported, but people should remain vigilant if they are planning a late bonfire celebration.”
Meanwhile, East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) confirmed the number of calls it received across the East Midlands went down from nine in 2011 to seven between November 3 and 5 this year.
They were for burns and other fiirework-related cases.
Patients at a Spalding medical centre have welcomed news that its “expensive” 0844 telephone number, which was at the centre of a national investigation, has been changed to a local one.
NHS Lincolnshire said: “After listening to feedback from our Patient Reference Group and survey, we have renegotiated our contract, and installed a new phone system which allows us to receive more incoming calls and track and respond to callers more quickly.
“As a result the surgery has switched to using the local phone number 01775 715999.
“This local number also ensures that patients are not being charged more than the geographical rate, regardless of where they are phoning from.
“We would ask callers to be patient with us as we monitor the volume of incoming calls, and will arrange for additional lines to be installed if we find there are extended periods where all lines are in use.”
Within minutes of patients being texted about the change on Friday, the news was being hailed a victory on the Lincolnshire Free Press and Spalding Guardian’s Facebook page.
Louise Creek said: “It’s about time. I recently had to call from a payphone during my stay in hospital and it cost me £6 for two to three minutes. Needless to say I was less than pleased!”
In May, Monroe Medical Centre was named in a Which? magazine investigation, claiming it was one of only eight surgeries in the UK still using 0844 numbers and “making money out of people’s calls for help”.
Concerns were again addressed in the West Elloe Avenue centre’s 2012 Patients’ Survey Results.
The document stated: “It is not true we seek to profit from the use of an 0844 – under the terms of the contract we are not permitted to do so.
“Longer term we would like to move away from using an 0844 number and if possible return to using a local 01775.
“However, telecoms contracts are long-term deals and at present ours isn’t due to end for a further two-and-a-half-years.”
At the time, a spokesman for NHS Lincolnshire said: “Patients contacting Munro Medical Centre on the 0844 number are not being charged any more than the geographical rate.
“However, the practice is looking to move away from the existing 0844 number and is currently looking at all options available to them in the short, medium, and long term.”
A man who had to have hospital treatment after falling in a pothole is considering taking legal action.
Tony Rawling said he was appalled when a Lincolnshire County Council highways inspector told him the pothole near his home in Lowgate, Moulton Loosegate, was not bad enough to need repairing.
But within minutes of a call to the county council from the Lincolnshire Free Press on Friday, a highways truck was spotted down the lane and Mr Rawling was told the pothole would be repaired after all.
Mr Rawling (65), of College Farm, said he was taking his dog for a walk down the lane on Monday when he walked through what he thought was a puddle.
He said: “A lot of heavy tractors use that lane and there are some major potholes but I didn’t realise I had walked into one because it was full of muddy water.
“I stumbled and fell and couldn’t get up until my wife came and helped me.
“When my leg started to swell she took me to the Johnson Community Hospital in Spalding and they sent me to Pilgrim Hospital in Boston.”
As well as suffering painful sleepless nights, severe bruising and stretched ligaments, Mr Rawling broke his glasses, scratched the glass face of his watch and damaged clothing.
He said: “I reported it to the county council on Tuesday but not just because of the damages.
“A lot of families and dog walkers use that lane. Kids on bikes like to have a bit of a burnout down there too, But you’d only have to hit one of those potholes and you’d be dead.”
County council senior highways officer, Sue Cooper, said: “We don’t inspect tracks like this, known as ‘green lanes’, as a matter of course. It would be inappropriate to comment any further at the moment, as the matter may be subject to legal proceedings.”
All you need to know about secateurs
The other pair goes everywhere with him, and he was recently lamenting the fact that should he lose these, it would be a tragedy, because this brand was no longer on the market.
I told him I thought I’d heard they were back, and rashly promised to buy him a new pair for Christmas, so I did a web search this morning and found that, yes, they are back, but no, he wasn’t getting a new pair, as they are now nearly as costly as the most expensive alternative.
Luckily I found a pair on eBay for £12, so he’ll have to make do with these.
I can understand why many gardeners like anvil secateurs such as the Rolcut. They can be used right or left-handed, there are few parts to break or go wrong, and a sharp blade cutting onto a hard surface will make a nice, clean cut.
I used to have a pair as a youngster (yes, I was keen, even then), but, like bro-in-law’s second pair, they disappeared, possibly ending up in a compost heap or bonfire.
When I started professional gardening, I treated myself to a pair of really expensive Felcos, but I lost these, and after about three replacements I decided I would be better with a cheap and cheerful alternative that could be replaced about four times for the price of one of these up-market tools.
Most serious gardeners are divided into two camps – the ones who prefer the anvil types of secateurs and those who get on better with those with a scissor action.
Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but, having used both for lengthy periods, I tend to favour the latter as I find I can see more accurately where to cut.
Their only real drawback is that if your prune left handed, you need a left-handed model, but I have overcome this by learning to use them right-handed, which isn’t difficult if you do a lot of pruning.
It’s usually cheaper and easier to adapt!
Parents and staff are being asked their views on plans to move a town primary school to a bigger site.
Lincolnshire County Council has begun consulting on proposals to relocate and expand South View Primary School in Crowland to refurbished buildings of the former St Guthlac School, currently the University Academy, Holbeach.
If the plan goes ahead the bigger primary school would open in September 2014 and address the shortage of primary school places in Crowland by increasing the number of pupils on roll from 322 to 420 pupils.
It would include additional classrooms and, according to the county council, lead to “enhanced teaching provision and career opportunities for staff to benefit the learning experience of the children”.
The school has also said it wants to create an establishment that is at the centre of the community.
Coun Patricia Bradwell, executive councillor for children’s services, said: “This will bring important improvements to facilities and provide more places for local children, but we also want to stress that community access to South View Primary School is at the forefront of our plans.”
Crowland parish councillor Bryan Alcock added: “Following a recent constructive meeting with the county council it was agreed to enable and support community access to the areas previously covered by the Chance to Share scheme at the very least.
“Indeed, we hope that enhanced facilities could be made available in the future.
“The parish council is pleased to note that ongoing access will be made available, where possible, during the refurbishment.”
The deadline for comments on the consultation is Monday, November 19 at 5pm, after which a planning application will have to be submitted.
Outstaying your welcome at a South Holland car park will cease to be a criminal matter from next month as changes in parking enforcement come into force.
Although people who stick to the rules in the council’s off-road car parks are unlikely to notice any difference, from the beginning of December those who fail to pay for a parking ticket or park incorrectly will face civil enforcement rather than criminal sanctions.
The changes mirror the situation in on-road parking after Lincolnshire County Council applied to the Secretary of State for Transport for the whole county to become a Civil Enforcement Area.
A South Holland District Council spokesman said, in the main, the change from criminal to civil enforcement of parking would not result in any noticeable changes, but it is taking the opportunity to make alterations at one or two car parks during the changeover.
One change is the charging hours at Spalding’s Herring Lane car park, where in the past users have had to pay a separate night-time fee for parking after 6pm.
The all-day charge will now run from 8am to 8pm, with no night-time charge, making the car park more user-friendly for people wanting to use it while enjoying an evening out in the town centre.
The maximum waiting time at the Albion Street (Castle Sports Complex) car park will also be reduced from 24 hours to four hours and existing parking times at the West Street (north) car park in Long Sutton will be changed to correspond with the sign on site.
Penalty charges will either be £50 or £75 depending on the severity of the breach, or £25 to £35 for early payment within 14 days.
Almost half a million pounds was spent on “compromise agreements” with former staff by Lincolnshire County Council in the past year.
The agreements, which usually involve a pay-off in exchange for the employee agreeing they will have no further claim against their employer, are often used in cases where staff have been off work on long-term sick leave or there has been a grievance.
Of the £459,806 Lincolnshire County Council paid out between October 1, 2011, and September 30, 2012, £317,147 was paid to 14 members of school staff.
The agreements were also made in cases where there was a question over the employee’s capabilities and in school restructures.
A further £142,659 was paid out in children’s services and resources and community safety cases.
Reports of a missing man being seen in Moulton brought a strong police presence into the village on Tuesday.
A search for the man, reported missing from another police area, took place in East Cobgate at about 3.20pm and local residents claim that as many as six police cars were drafted in.
Police said they were called by a member of the public who thought they recognised the man from a description given out previously, but they were unable to find him.