A new community diagnostic centre set to be built in Scunthorpe town centre has been given planning permission. Work will start on site of the new health centre – one of many opening nationally as ‘one-stop shops’ for tests, checks and scans – on Monday, 18 September. The new facility will create capacity for an additional 146,000 appointments a year for residents to get X-rays, MRI, ultrasound, and CT scans and is expected to be open next summer. It will be built on land next to the Parishes multi-storey car park in Scunthorpe town centre – giving patients access to free two hours parking immediately next to the site. Patients will be referred to the centre by their GP or consultant, and it will operate in parallel to existing diagnostic departments at Scunthorpe General Hospital for inpatients and those requiring urgent care. Contractors will be on site from Monday, 18 September with an area of the ground-level outdoor car parking being used. The multi-storey will remain open as normal, though access to and from it will be from Cole Street only with the Lindum Street entrance closed. Disabled parking bays will be available inside the multi-storey, with additional bays being added through the duration of the works.

West Lindsey District Council has served a Temporary Stop Notice to prevent the Home Office from continuing with development work at RAF Scampton. The Temporary Stop Notice pursuant to section171E of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended), was issued at 7am this morning (8 September 2023). The council considers that there has been a breach of planning control relating specifically to the Listed Buildings and archaeology on the site. The alleged breaches include the installation of permanent palisade fencing, intrusive surveying works, groundworks, and connections to utilities, having the potential to cause irreversible damage to important heritage assets. The Temporary Stop Notice requires the Home Office and all associated contractors to cease all works in respect of the Listed Buildings, all intrusive surveying works, ground works and the installation of fencing on the site. The notice was displayed on site from 7am this morning (8 September 2023) and takes immediate effect for 28 days unless withdrawn earlier. It is an offence under section 171G of the Town and Country Planning Act to contravene a Temporary Stop Notice. Sally Grindrod-Smith, Director of Planning, Regeneration and Communities at West Lindsey District Council, said: “The council is the relevant Local Planning Authority for the site. We are aware that there are works ongoing on site. “However, despite repeated requests and service of a Planning Contravention Notice, we have not been provided with any details of: schedules of works; method statements; site plans/work phasing plans; details of materials; detailed summary/summaries and schedule/s of all surveys being undertaken on the site; or a marked-up site plan to show the locations of surveys having already been undertaken and those proposed. “Additionally, the council has not been approached to determine whether Listed Building Consent is required for works currently being undertaken on the site. The council is concerned about the future of the significant and important heritage on site at RAF Scampton and the Home Office has not provided the necessary information or reassurances. “Unfortunately, we have been left with no alternative but to issue a Temporary Stop Notice. This means that development work should halt on site with immediate effect until we are furnished with details of the proposed works and can determine whether additional planning consents are required. The council has also served a further Planning Contravention Notice seeking the relevant information.” The notice will cease to have effect on 5 October 2023. The council is urging the Home Office and its contractors to comply with the Temporary Stop Notice as required by law and engage with the Local Planning Authority so that an appropriate assessment of the planned development may be undertaken.

A programme of refurbishment work has been completed at Grantham fire station, along with the addition of a new training facility in the grounds.

A new Skills & Education Hub at Lincoln City FC’s LNER Stadium is starting to take shape, with the steel frame of the extension to the existing Stacey West stand now complete. It follows extensive groundworks, which have included a new mains water supply, increased power supply, and a state-of-the-art pitch irrigation recycling system. Once complete in August 2024, the new building will provide the Lincoln City Foundation with the facilities and office space to expand its social impact work in the local community. New matchday stadium toilet facilities will also be integrated with the existing Stacey West stand. As part of the work, a new 70,000 litre tank has been installed at the stadium. This will be filled with rain water from the pitch and the roof, via the new irrigation system. The water will then be reused on the pitch. Recycling rainfall in this way will save the club thousands of pounds on its water bill as it relies less on mains supplies. Richard Shaw, Lindum Group Director, said: “It is fantastic to see the progress being made at the Stacey West project, with the new frame giving us a good idea of what the finished building is going to look like. “It is important to us that we can not only provide a dynamic space for the Lincoln City Foundation, but also help the club lower its environmental impact and running costs. We are very much looking forward to the completion of the extension and becoming part of the history of the Stacey West stand and the stadium as a whole.” Damian Froggatt, Director of Operations at Lincoln City Football Club, said: “After four years of planning and having secured over £2m in funding, we are delighted to see construction work well underway. The new build will provide over 1500 square metres of dedicated new space from which Lincoln City Foundation can expand its vital social impact work, further establishing Lincoln City Football Club as a true community club.” Work can now begin on the brick work and concrete floor slab. Bricklayers started on site at the end of August, giving the people an idea of what it will look like when it is finished.

The wife and two young children of a man who died after a heart attack have reached a £975,000 settlement with a Wakefield hospital trust that incorrectly discharged him. The 36-year-old man had visited Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield with chest complaints a month before his death, when an ECG showed significant abnormalities and he should have been referred to the care of a cardiologist. Instead, he was given reassurance and discharged. The man later suffered a heart attack at his home and died. Wilkin Chapman, the largest law firm in Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire, represented the man’s widow and their two young children. With the support of the firm’s medical negligence team, it was identified and subsequently accepted by the defendant, that the man should have been admitted to hospital and given blood-thinning medication. He would then have undergone an angiogram, followed by angioplasty. This treatment would have avoided his death and he would have had only a modestly reduced life expectancy. At a round table meeting with Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, which operates Pinderfields Hospital, the team successfully reached a compromise settlement for £975,000. This was subsequently approved by the County Court in Leeds, bringing an end to the claim. Jonathan Baker, a partner within Wilkin Chapman’s medical negligence team,  said the settlement would go some way towards helping the family move forward with their lives after the avoidable and devastating tragedy. He said: “This was an absolutely devastating case for the family, particularly when it became clear how easy this would have been to avoid. Whilst we were able to help the family to achieve a suitable outcome, it is hoped that lessons can be learned to prevent such tragic circumstances occurring again.”