Connexin signs pledge to reduce roadworks wherever possible
Internet provider Connexin has become the latest utility company to sign up to the Lincolnshire County Council Street Works Charter, aimed at reducing disruption because of roadworks.
The charter is an agreement by major utility companies to ensure minimum disruption, maximum traffic flow and a ‘working-together’ ethos wherever possible.
Connexin made the move to join the charter after being awarded a significant contract to bring gigabit broadband to remote areas of Lincolnshire as part of the Government’s ‘Project Gigabit’ rollout. The contract will see the company upgrade around 14,000 premises across the west of Lincolnshire in the coming months.
Connexin’s Paul Coles said: “Our collaborative approach with Lincolnshire County Council, and other utility providers, will allow us to roll out our infrastructure with minimal disruption to residents.
“For the majority of our network build, we will be using existing infrastructure from other providers where possible. In the more rural areas of Lincolnshire, we may need to install new network infrastructure. The Street Works Charter and our Community Engagement Team will allow us to complete these works efficiently, and with reduced disruption for the community. We look forward to bringing fast, reliable connectivity to the region and opening up more digital opportunities in remote areas.”
Connexin joins ten other utility providers and companies in the Lincolnshire County Council Street Works Charter, which was launched last year to cut the amount of disruption roadworks cause across Lincolnshire.
The Charter is the work of the county council and has been put together in a bid to cut down both the amount of time a road is closed, and the number of times different utility companies carry out work in the same spot.
Dumping commercial waste costs drive-by operator £2,300
A drive-by scrap collector who dumped commercial waste he was paid £350 to dispose of properly has been charged £2,300 and told to do 15 days of rehabilitation and 150 hours of unpaid community service work.
Tommy-Lee Barras pleaded guilty at Lincoln Magistrates Court to three charges relating to fly-tipping after North Kesteven District Council responded to the dumping of a large amount of material near Leadenham a year ago.
He admitted fly-tipping on August 18, 2023, not having the necessary waste carrier’s licence to take the waste away and failing to assist in the investigation by providing the required information or assistance.
The waste included flooring, signage and construction items as well as paperwork relating to a premises in Kirton, Boston. After being traced back to its origins the property owner confirmed it was his. He said a white Ford Transit van – later found to be Barras’ – pulled up at the premises looking for scrap and the driver offered to take the waste away for £350.
The business owner admitted he made no checks for a waste carrier’s licence – which anyone engaging waste removal should – and accepted that he failed in his duty of care to ensure that Barras was a legitimate waste carrier, for which he was fined £400 through a fixed penalty notice.
Through North Kesteven District Council’s investigations, CCTV and ANPR data tracked two collections being made on August 17, journeys back and forth to Newark where scrap was weighed in, and payment to Barras. He repeatedly failed to respond to requests for information and the details he eventually gave of a waste carriers number were not valid.
Councillor Mark Smith, Executive Board Member with special interest for environment and public protection, said: “There were numerous complaints received regarding the dumping of this waste in a popular walking location. Members of the public were understandably outraged by this blatant environmental crime, as were we.
“Barras was paid and trusted to deal with this material properly but instead sought to profit through criminality, without any consideration for the law, the environment harmed by dumping it in open countryside, or the people affected. Fly-tipping is not a victim-less crime and it is important for everyone to be vigilant in doing the right thing and engaging the right people to handle their waste to ensure it doesn’t happen.
“As this case shows, we take a very dim view to fly-tipping of any waste in our area and in partnership with the Lincolnshire Environmental Crime Partnership will continue to take a rigorous approach to people like Barras who take advantage of people and cause environmental harm.”
Barras was ordered to pay £2,314.93 in costs to the Council and fulfil a 12-month community order to undertake 15 days of rehabilitation activity and 150 hours unpaid work in the community.
Image credit: North Kesteven District Council
National Lottery funds new airborne forces trail across South Kesteven
South Kesteven District Council has been awarded almost £150,000 by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to develop a project highlighting the build-up in the area of airborne forces ahead of major Allied operations in the Second World War.
The funding has been made possible thanks to National Lottery players.
The £147,550 will enable SKDC to spread awareness of a unique story, entitled Soldiers From The Sky.
It will document how paratroopers of three nations – Britain, America and Poland – came together in South Kesteven during 1944 in preparation for the famous battles of Operation Overlord (D-Day) and Operation Market Garden (Arnhem).
Commemorating their local presence and impact will create a new visitor trail of national and international significance amidst a District that housed troops, witnessed their training and saw them leave aboard giant airborne armadas.
Using the 80th anniversaries of both military milestones, the project will collaborate with visitor attractions, accommodation providers, volunteer groups, schools, businesses and residents to create a physical and digital trail identifying and celebrating the back-stories before they pass from living memory.
Two of the most daring and iconic Airborne operations of the war were planned and launched from South Kesteven:
D-Day, 6 June 1944: Pathfinder paratroopers flying from South Kesteven spearheaded the American airborne assault, setting up beacons for the main US airborne force. US aircraft from local airfields then dropped more than 6,300 paratroopers of the US 82nd Airborne Division in Normandy.
Operation Market Garden (Arnhem): the largest airborne assault of WW2, memorialised in the film ‘A Bridge Too Far’. US aircraft flying from local airfields dropped more than 8,600 British, US and Polish paratroopers, and towed more than 3,000 US glider troops to their landing zones in the Netherlands.
Ferrying them into battle were the unsung heroes of America’s 9th Troop Carrier Command, launching waves of aircraft from giant airfields around Grantham.
The 18-month project will include a website, smartphone app, information signs, an exhibition at Grantham Museum and commemoration events.
Letters supporting the bid came from visitor sites with airborne links such as Easton Walled Gardens and Harlaxton Manor, community groups, America’s National Glider Pilots Association and the top echelons of the Britain Army’s 16 Air Assault – the Parachute Regiment.
Cllr Paul Stokes, the Deputy Leader of SKDC, said: “Soldiers From The Sky represents an unprecedented and exciting opportunity to discover, explore and share the back-stories to this amazing chapter of our military heritage.
“We are extremely grateful to National Lottery players and The National Lottery Heritage Fund for enabling us to dust off and celebrate that chapter. It will help us value, care for and sustain our very special heritage
“Lincolnshire is widely known as ‘Bomber County’, rightly highlighting its role in the Second World War, but we have a unique and complementary story to tell of how airborne soldiers of three nations came together in preparation for iconic battles.
“By making these stories accessible and relevant to new audiences we will enhance public, community, volunteer and stakeholder engagement and awareness, strengthen the visitor offer and unite communities through pride in a shared heritage, ensuring a lasting commemorative legacy.”
Image credit: Stock.adobe.com/Robert L Parker
Clinicians swap Lincoln County Hospital wards for classrooms in Sri Lanka
Three clinicians from Lincoln County Hospital have been invited to share their expertise and to train medical staff to become CPR trainers in hospitals across Sri Lanka.
Consultant Cardiologist David O’Brien, Consultant Cardiologist Dinal Taleyratne and Lead Resuscitation Practitioner Monique Loveday will all be travelling to Sri Lanka later this month.
Dr Taleyratne was born in Sri Lanka and has always wanted to return and give something back to the country of his birth. He has spent the last year planning the trip.
He said: “My parents and my extended family are all from Sri Lanka and I was born there. I have always wanted to return and offer my support in some way. Because of the registration requirements for clinicians in Sri Lanka we are unable to provide medical care, but we can provide life support training.
“In the UK we have access to robust standardised resuscitation training that is not easily accessible in Sri Lanka. We are supporting doctors by instructing on a local European Resuscitation Council Advanced Life Support course in addition to training staff on a bespoke ‘train-the-trainer’ course which we have helped develop, sharing our knowledge on specific areas of specialised cardiac care.”
The trip has been funded by the trio outside of NHS budgets.
Monique said: “All three of us have a real passion around training, education and sharing knowledge and expertise. We are all trained to teach UK and European Resuscitation Council courses and we are excited to be involved in helping to organise a new educational platform in a country that does not currently have the same formal structure in place that we do.
“We take so much for granted with the NHS. We have the benefit of its history and all of the hard work and experience that has got us where we are today.”
The plan is that hospital staff from across Sri Lanka will travel to non-clinical centres for the training and will then take their new knowledge and experience to teach other colleagues back at their local hospitals.
Professor O’Brien is professor of medical education at the School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, and is also Vice-Dean at the Lincoln Medical School. He has worked as an interventional cardiologist in United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust for 16 years where he was former Clinical Director for Cardiology, opening the Lincolnshire Heart Centre at the Trust in 2013. He has been teaching Advanced Life Support (ALS) for 25 years and has been an ALS course medical director for 15 years.
He said: “As an ALS Committee Member of the Resus Council UK, I appreciate the profound benefits that both timely basic and advanced life support training provide to patients. I have been educating people within clinical environments for the majority of my professional life and teaching advanced life support courses not only in this country but more recently in China and India.
“I truly believe that education is a powerful tool and a wonderful gift and one which we often take for granted. I am really excited to have the opportunity to offer the benefit of our combined years of experience to another country that currently just does not have the same infrastructure and financial resource to support with teaching and training of these vital skills, as we are fortunate enough to have in the UK.
“I feel privileged to work on this project as part of such a fantastic team, and also with such dedicated colleagues in Sri Lanka. I think it reaffirms to me that wherever you are in the world, clinicians all have the same common goal; that of improving outcomes for their patients.”
Dr Taleyratne added: “I am most looking forward to working with the team in Sri Lanka, looking at how we can contribute a little bit of our knowledge to help them on their journey. I also think we might be able to learn from them. They are creating an exciting programme where resuscitation skills are taught in schools. For a developing country to be doing this when we are not, shows there is a lot we can learn from each other.”
Image shows Consultant Cardiologist Dinal Taleyratne, Lead Resuscitation Practitioner Monique Loveday and Consultant Cardiologist David O’Brien at the Lincolnshire Heart Centre. Picture credit: United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Something for everyone at The No Limits Festival 2024
Families can meet their favourite authors and unleash their creativity when the free No Limits Festival storms into Normanby Hall Country Park near Scunthorpe on 21 and 22 September.
Brigg-based, award winning, independent bookshop, The Rabbit Hole, has curated an action-packed programme brimming with authors, inspiring illustrators and wonderful live performances, bringing the magic of books and creative arts to life.
Harriet Muncaster, creator of Isadora Moon, now a popular animated TV series, will be joining the fun this year!
Readers will love to see many award-winning, school favourites like Peter Bunzl, Sophie Anderson, Emma Carroll, Jenny McClachlan and Helen Peters as well as Blue Peter Award winning Mike Barfield with his ‘Rollercoaster’ of exciting non-fiction, alongside Sophy Henn’s ‘Lifesize’ non-fiction and graphic novel draw-alongs. Watch out for International award winning, Petr Horacek with his latest book, Blue Monster, too!
For the grown-ups, author talks from the Rickard Sisters, Lucy Adlington, popular Hull Noir authors Nick Quantrill and Nick Triplow and the chance to meet many locally based authors for informative talks. With brilliant live music and top street food vendors, there is so much for the whole family to enjoy.
For this very-special weekend, entry is completely free, giving families the perfect chance to discover everything the award-winning park has to offer.
Keep up to date with announcements via The No Limits Festival social media pages. Details are also being shared to the event page on Normanby Hall’s website.
Spalding United FC agree 25-year deal for Sir Halley Stewart Field
There are plans for new investment at Spalding’s Sir Halley Stewart playing field, following the completion of a long-term lease for the community asset by Spalding United FC.
The new 25-year lease will allow the club to realise their ambitions to increase the field’s offer for local residents and community groups, as well as furthering their own progress as they continue to rise through the football pyramid.
Over recent months the club has worked with the Trustee of Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field on the deal, which will open up new funding and investment opportunities and create more opportunities for wider use of the popular facility.
From the Trustee’s perspective, the lease will further the key priorities for the field, seeing more local residents able to access, use and enjoy the asset, whilst supporting more local clubs and their members to continue to find a home and grow and helping Spalding United FC continue their fantastic progress and remain a key part of the town’s identity.
As part of the agreement Spalding United have reaffirmed their commitment to encouraging use of the grounds and to helping grow grassroots football and other sport and recreation opportunities at the Sir Halley Stewart and in the local area.
Councillor Nick Worth, leader of South Holland District Council, and Councillor Henry Bingham, portfolio holder for assets and strategic planning, said: “We are delighted that Spalding United FC and the Trustee have agreed this deal, which can help start a fantastic new chapter for the Sir Halley Stewart, the local community and the club.
“We have known for some time that there was a growing desire and need for investment in the facilities that the Trustee would really struggle to find without the costs having to fall upon local taxpayers.
“This lease not only secures that investment, but also creates wide-reaching benefits for the local community, economy and businesses, whilst ensuring the field remains home to a wide number of sporting organisations and other initiatives.”
Andrew Killingsworth, Chairman of Spalding United, said: “From day one we have shown an interest in taking more ownership of the Sir Halley Stewart, not only to help our growth as a club but the growth of the local community as a whole, it’s a significant project and one we look forward to engaging as many people as possible with, so the club can grow in tandem with the town.
“This is another piece in the jigsaw that we needed to maximise the opportunity that has been presented to us all.”
Image credit: Stock.adobe.com/anekoho
North Lincolnshire prepares for first ever Walking Festival
As part of its Year of Walking celebrations, North Lincolnshire Council is launching its first ever walking festival in Autumn 2024.
Running from Saturday 28 September to Sunday 13 October, the festival will promote and offer a host of free activities for all ages across North Lincolnshire.
There is already an incredible amount of walking activities and established walking groups within local communities that are all invited to come together and be part of the festival and host their own events.
Whether it’s a history walk around an historic village, a bug hunt in Ashbyville or a simple social walk around Central Park, the council wants to showcase the amazing scenery and routes across North Lincolnshire as well as the great things happening in its communities.
Cllr Richard Hannigan, cabinet member for adults and health, said: “Walking really does tick all the boxes – it is easy, free, good for your mental and physical health, you can do it alone or with friends and you can start right outside your front door.
“We have some wonderful open spaces in North Lincolnshire, including six Green Flag parks and the fantastic area around of Normanby Hall, Waters’ Edge and Thornton Abbey.
“I encourage everyone to get involved in the Festival of Walking, from going on a treasure hunt with your children to tackling the Viking Way.”
Image credit: North Lincolnshire Council
£38m community diagnostic centre builds reach milestone
An exciting milestone has been reached in the development of two new community diagnostic centres (CDCs) in Lincolnshire.
The external structures of the buildings in Lincoln and Skegness are now in place and the £38 million build programme to create the NHS-run facilities is now approximately half-way through.
In recent weeks, 71 modular units have been craned into place – 42 in Lincoln and 29 at Skegness – to create the shells of the buildings.
Work is now steaming ahead inside to create the state-of-the-art and welcoming facilities that will be home to a variety of diagnostic services, including X-ray, MRI, CT and non-obstetric ultrasound.
These services will be run by experienced hospital staff from United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, using the same clinical systems already in place in the county.
Professor Karen Dunderdale, Group Chief Executive of Lincolnshire Community and Hospitals NHS Group, said: “The progress that has been made since planning permission was granted earlier this year is fantastic and we are currently on track to deliver these new facilities for Lincolnshire’s patients before the end of this year.
“We know that when anyone needs a diagnostic test, they want to access this quickly to support the rest of their ongoing care. Our CDC programme, through our first CDC on Gonerby Road in Grantham and temporary facilities in Lincoln and Mablethorpe, is already making a significant difference in improving access, and we’re confident that these new facilities will continue to reduce waits and make testing more convenient.”
Each CDC is being designed to consider the health needs of the local community.
In Skegness, plans for the Old Wainfleet Road site include a dedicated chemotherapy room to reduce the amount of travel necessary for cancer patients and a dental X-ray. These services, along with MRI and CT scanning, have not previously been available in the town.
Lincoln CDC, which is on Lincoln Science and Innovation Park, will have dedicated training facilities to support the training of future radiographers, with ULHT becoming one of the first NHS Trusts in the country to link directly with a school of radiography at the University of Lincoln.
Partners from a range of organisations, including the NHS, local councils, local businesses and the construction teams involved in the builds, recently held a celebration at each site to see the progress being made.
Image: Lincoln Community Diagnostic Centre pictured at the beginning of August 2024 – credit: United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
South Kesteven Council takes a walk on the wild side
New rewilding areas are being identified across the South Kesteven Council area to help pockets of land to go back to nature.
Trials at Tattershall Drive, Market Deeping, Rutland Heights in Stamford, and at Queen Elizabeth Park in Grantham have shown the way to restore, protect and increase local biodiversity.
South Kesteven District Council is to approach parish councils and its own ward members to identify pockets of land in public open spaces that could benefit from an extension of the existing project.
Cllr Rhys Baker, said: “Rewilding is a process that allows nature to take back control and, as tall grasses and other plant species grow, this in turn encourages wildlife, insects, birds and mammals. Over time we anticipate that more species move in to create a balanced natural environment, as well as some welcome colour.
“The idea is that these areas would receive minimum essential maintenance and be allowed to grow as nature intended. Not everywhere is appropriate for this, as we need to take into account the recreation use of green space and safety aspects too.
“We hope to be able to offer advice, seeds and trees for areas nominated for the project, as in Tattershall Road, Market Deeping, where a bund was created and planted with wildflowers and grasses, with trees set nearby.
“We hope that people will be able to learn more about their natural environment through these areas where we can re-connect people with nature at minimal cost.”
SKDC’s commitment to increase wildlife habitat and improve biodiversity is a key strand of the Council’s Corporate Plan, which seeks a Sustainable South Kesteven and following the declaration of a Climate Emergency, states: “We will protect and enhance the natural environment and wildlife habitats, working to actively restore and rehabilitate damaged eco-systems.”
New locations will now be identified with guidance from SKDC ward members, parish councils, and the Council’s Sustainability and Climate Change team and its grounds maintenance staff.
Deadline approaches for communities to apply for Council grants
Community groups are being urged to apply for project funding before the next South Kesteven District Council funding deadline of 20th August.
More than £7,000 was awarded to four projects across the district in the last allocation round of South Kesteven District Council’s Community Fund.
Boothby Neighbours were awarded £800 to set up a Good Neighbours Scheme, operated by volunteers, to help less able residents have access to assistance to help them complete tasks. The Boothby Pagnell group also hopes to prevent isolation through transport to village events and new social gatherings such as a breakfast club.
The D-Day Darlings wartime tribute choir will be singing at the Caythorpe Gala in September thanks to a council award of £1,740. Gala organisers have booked the choir to celebrate the Arnhem 80th Anniversary event at the village’s annual 216 Parachute (Signals) Squadron reunion, commemorating Caythorpe’s rich history with the Parachute Regiment.
Grantham’s Christchurch Methodist church is to have a fully functional sound system in its Shepherd Hall thanks to an award of £3,699 towards the total cost. The sound system, with speakers, amplifiers, sound induction loop driver and mike system will enhance the versatility of the hall, making it suitable for a wide range of activities benefitting the local community.
Bourne’s SCIFEST will be staging two community events at Bourne Corn Exchange in September and October thanks to a council award of £1,135 towards the total cost. The aim of the science-based events is to engage with families with school-aged children, to increase the profile of science and give an understanding of how science touches all lives.
Cllr Rhea Rayside, SKDC Cabinet member for People and Communities said: “Once again a wide range of extremely worthwhile causes are benefitting from our SK Community Fund awards, all set to make a beneficial difference to people’s lives”.
Community groups can apply for up to 80% of eligible costs to a maximum of £5,000, with the remaining 20% as a required applicant contribution.
The small grants scheme can fund 100% of project and event costs up to £2,000, with no match funding required. This scheme is only open to groups that hold £10,000 or less of financial resource.
