Home Office abandons plans to house asylum seekers at RAF Scampton

Stuart Pearcey
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Home Office abandons plans to house asylum seekers at RAF Scampton
Plans to house asylum seekers at RAF Scampton have been axed as the Home Office has decided the site is not value for money. Opening the site from this autumn as planned would have cost a total of £122m by the end of its use in 2027, and £60m has already been spent on the site. This change in direction has been welcomed by the Leader of West Lindsey District Council, Cllr Trevor Young, who said: “We have always been clear that the best use for this historic, key strategic asset was to unlock the potential to drive economic growth and prosperity in our place, for Lincolnshire and beyond. “Today we can finally put to bed an incredibly difficult period for our community and focus time, energy and resource on this once in a generation opportunity to honour the heritage of this site through regeneration and the delivery of investment in jobs and skills. “The Council now look forward to finalising plans with SHL which have necessarily had to pause whilst the issues played out. We are incredibly grateful for the ongoing support and commitment from SHL, and the patience they have shown us, whilst working through the issues. We hope that our collaboration can now accelerate at pace.” Peter Hewitt, Chairman of Scampton Holdings Limited said: “We must now put this period behind us, roll up our sleeves and work together to unlock the true potential of Scampton for generations to come. “We look forward to concluding our contract with West Lindsey District Council and moving into a period where we can work both with investors and the local community to achieve something very special in the defence, air and space sector in this unique corner of Lincolnshire.” Sally Grindrod-Smith, Director of Planning, Regeneration and Communities for the Council said: “Work will now progress at pace to conclude the necessary contracting arranging and secure formal, long term access to the site. In the meantime, it will be important to work with the Home Office to ensure any works already completed on site can be decommissioned and removed sensitively so as to protect the heritage of the site’. Work to close the site will begin immediately with the sale happening in line with the process for disposing of Crown land.

Development consent awarded for solar project near Gainsborough

Stuart Pearcey
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Development consent awarded for solar project near Gainsborough
The Secretary of State has given development consent to solar power project stretching around the east and south of Gainsborough. It’s the Cottam Solar Project, a solar and energy storage project that would cross the county border between Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, which is being developed by Island Green Power. It’s the 85th such scheme of 142 applications submitted so far.

The Cottam Solar Project is named after its grid connection point at the existing National Grid substation at Cottam Power Station. The proposals involve a series of four site areas, known as Cottam 1, 2, 3a and 3b, which will host solar arrays, grid connection infrastructure and energy storage facilities.

The proposals also involve cable route corridors, accesses and environmental mitigation and enhancement measures. The development stretches from north of Blyton, through Corringham to an area bordered by Willingham, Fillingham, and Sturton, before turning west to cross the Trent near Marton en route to Cottam.

Island Green Power has delivered 26 solar projects worldwide totalling more than 1GW of capacity. This includes 14 solar projects in the UK and Republic of Ireland

Go ahead given to build first phase of Barton link road

Tess Egginton
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Go ahead given to build first phase of Barton link road
Plans to build the first phase of Barton-upon-Humber’s link road – connecting Barrow Road, the A1077 and Caistor Road – have been given the go ahead. North Lincolnshire Council’s planning committee has approved the latest multi-million pound investment to the area’s road network, which will help reduce congestion through the town. Residents will also benefit from nine miles of new cycling routes, as travel around Barton becomes safer and easier. Three miles of paths will also be updated. The transformation of the town’s travel infrastructure has been made possible after a successful North Lincolnshire Council bid for near £20m of funding. Cllr Rob Waltham, leader, North Lincolnshire Council, said: “We have spent a long time over several rounds of consultation listening to and meeting residents in Barton to see how they would like their town to develop. I’m delighted we are now in a position to drive forward with the plans. “These are once in a generation improvements that will make a huge difference to local people – residents told us they wanted to see the amount of HGV traffic passing through the town reduced, alongside more convenient access to shopping areas, homes and schools. This is what the new link road and brand-new cycling network will help to achieve.” The investment has already seen improvements made to Barton’s passenger interchange – with more upgrades still to come. To support the active travel boost of the new cycling network, covered cycle parking will be added, including a charging point for e-bikes. EV charging points will also be included in the extended station car park, with bus shelter improvements and real-time passenger information works also in the pipeline. A tender will launch in Autumn 2024 – with businesses invited to submit their application on YORtender. The works in Barton are the latest multi-million pound development on North Lincolnshire’s road network. Earlier this summer, work started on the new Burringham bypass, which will reduce congestion at Berkeley Circle and cut commuting times to and from Scunthorpe.
  Image credit: Stock.adobe.com/shintartanya

Residents asked to weigh in on name for new Sutton-on-Sea Colonnade site

Tess Egginton
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Residents asked to weigh in on name for new Sutton-on-Sea Colonnade site

A survey has been launched to give Sutton-on-Sea residents the opportunity to share their thoughts on a name for the new Colonnade and Pleasure Gardens site that is currently under construction.

Following meetings and suggestions with resident groups, a shortlist of five names was drawn up for East Lindsey District Council to consider, and these options are now being put out for people to vote for their favourite via a short online form. The shortlist of names to choose from are for The Sutton-on-Sea:
  • Colonnade
  • Seaview Colonnade
  • Pavilion
  • Sea Front
  • Tide’s Edge Terrace.
The survey is open to Sutton-on-Sea residents until Monday 30 September, and can be completed at www.e-lindsey.gov.uk/NameSurvey – with posters with QR codes to the form also being put up around the site over the coming weeks. The Colonnade development is a £7.5million project forming part of the government supported Mablethorpe Towns Fund, working with the Connected Coast Board to bring new opportunities and transform communities in the area. Initial works started in September 2023, and is expected to be operational before the 2025 summer season. The first phase of work will provide residents and visitors with a new state-of-the-art pavilion, including a café and restaurant, a Changing Places toilet and exhibition space. New beach huts will also be included as part of this phase of the works, as well as enhancements to the Pleasure Gardens to create additional seating areas, and space for pop-up events and markets. There will also be planting and community gardens, whilst retaining popular existing features including the paddling pool area. Councillor Martin Foster, the Council’s champion for the project, said: “It has been fantastic to see such great progress with the Colonnade site in recent months, and hope that having a name for the development that the community have invested in will help make it feel that bit closer to becoming a reality. “I know many residents are excited for work to be complete and these new state-of-the-art facilities to be open to enjoy, bringing new tourism and income for the town, creating new jobs and opportunities, and providing residents and visitors with a place to view our stunning Eastern coastline from. I hope lots of people will take the chance to have their say on the name of this important new landmark for Sutton-on-Sea and the whole of East Lindsey.”
  Image: Sutton-on-Sea – credit: Stock.adobe.com/mparratt

Duo of projects proposed changing how people move around Grimsby Town Centre

Tess Egginton
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Duo of projects proposed changing how people move around Grimsby Town Centre
A duo of projects are being proposed that would change the way we move around Grimsby Town Centre. Two reports are going through North East Lincolnshire Council’s decision-making process this month, both seeking approval to progress with schemes that will redesign car parking and public transport use in Grimsby Town Centre. The reports covering two car parks and a new Transport Hub will first be discussed at a meeting of the Transport, Infrastructure and Strategic Housing Scrutiny Panel on September 10th, before going on to Cabinet. Abbey Walk and Burgess Street Car Parks: This report goes into detail about options for both. It seeks approval for the demolition and redevelopment of the current multi-storey at Abbey Walk as a surface car park whilst improving Burgess Street Car Park at the same time. The Abbey Walk facility was built in 1969 by Holst & Company of Scunthorpe at a cost of approximately £200,000. Whilst a key asset for the town centre, the car park was closed in May this year, after structural defects were found. This was water ingress into key structural supports, making the car park potentially unsafe to use. Since then, four options have been identified in the report and costed for the future of the car park, from maintaining it as is, to demolition and replacement either with a surface car park, a two-storey structure or like for like multi-storey. The costed options are currently estimated as between £1.5m and £7m, with finalised costings only available once the next stage of more detailed project work is carried out. The current recommended option is to demolish the car park and replace with a 120-space surface car park with the improvements to Burgess Street being done at the same time. This would allow more use of Burgess Street. Funding for this scheme would initially be sought from the Council’s capital programme, with other funding sources being explored to reduce the impact on the council resources. If approved, the next stage would be to work up detailed design and costings before submitting any traffic regulation orders or planning permissions that may be required. Transport Hub: This report outlines the next steps towards the creation of a Transport Hub on a 1.6acre site off Osborne Street in the town centre. The report, which states how the scheme will ‘complement and enhance other regeneration activities across the wider Grimsby Town Centre’, asks for approval for various actions to take forward the hub concept. The proposed hub, says the report, would be sited behind current vacant units on Osborne Street which the council owns and are due to be demolished. It would also include the use of the car park at Garden Street. If this report is approved, it would allow work to go ahead to work up and deliver phase one of a ‘multi-functional’ hub for buses, cycles and other users – connecting people with the railway station. It would bring all the existing town centre bus stops together. “The residents of North East Lincolnshire deserve a fit for purpose transportation hub that allows quick easy access to public transport services in a central location near to rail, retail and town centre amenities,” says the report. It outlines how finances to fund phase one of this hub would be supported by £1.7m from the Bus Service Improvement Plan. It is anticipated that a further £1.9m would be provided through the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority (GLCCA), subject to approval. If the paper is approved, the next stage would be to consult with people and businesses and carry out preliminary surveys before finalising the design, and submitting a planning application for the site. The council’s Cabinet meets on 18 September to discuss proposals for the schemes, following the discussions at the Scrutiny Panel.  
Image credit: North East Lincolnshire Council

Rugby club renovation gets additional cash boost

Tess Egginton
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Rugby club renovation gets additional cash boost
Stamford Rugby Club is to receive an extra £55,000 to help with its renovation work, paid for by developers of a nearby housing build. The money is a result of a planning agreement known as a s106 allocation. In June 2021, South Kesteven District Council’s Cabinet approved the distribution of funds to improve the sports facilities at Empingham Road Playing Fields. The money came as a result of a planning agreement relating to permission granted for a sustainable extension to the Stamford West development, which included residential and affordable housing, a business park and a local centre, associated highways improvements, pedestrian and cycle links, landscaping, and open space. The agreement stated that the money must be used to “provide, enhance, or upgrade the existing sports facilities at the Empingham Road Playing Field.” Cabinet Member for Planning, Cllr Phil Dilks, said: “The original Cabinet made provision for £55,000 to be allocated to the provision of new play equipment for the adjacent Lonsdale Road Play Area. “As there is currently no requirement for new equipment, this allocation is being transferred to the Rugby Club project.” The Rugby Club is now to receive a total £297,890 as part of the planning process, from a total £322,470 which has also benefited Stamford Indoor Bowls Club, Stamford Outdoor Bowls and Stamford Lions Club. The original allocation to the Rugby Club was based on the demolition and rebuild of their Club House. The Club is still fully focused on improving facilities. But since the original funding allocation, there has been substantial inflation within the construction sector, which affected the Club’s ability to fund a completely new building. Instead, plans have now been put in place for a complete refurbishment of existing building and playing facilities.
  Image credit: Stock.adobe.com/Stockfotos-MG

Sale of Lincolnshire agricultural machinery business saves 68 jobs

Tess Egginton
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Sale of Lincolnshire agricultural machinery business saves 68 jobs
Sixty-eight jobs in Lincolnshire have been saved following the pre-pack sale of the Burdens Group. Headquartered in Boston, the company supplied a wide range of farm and groundcare machinery from leading manufacturers including New Holland, Horizon, Amarzone and JPM Trailers. From tractors and combine harvesters to trailers and mowers, its customers included farmers, groundcare professionals and potato growers across the UK. The Burdens Group offered both new and used agricultural machinery for sale from its depots in Sutterton, North Kyme, Louth and Brigg. It also had a division providing agricultural machinery for hire. The company began to experience financial difficulties due to the pressures facing the farming sector following poor weather during 2023 and 2024, resulting in poor crop yields, and this was exacerbated by changes to EU subsidies. These issues resulted in farmers reducing their investment in new machinery which had a significant impact on the company’s turnover. Joint administrators Gareth Rusling and Robert Dymond of Begbies Traynor were subsequently appointed as joint administrators on 19th August and a sale of the business and assets was immediately completed to Russell’s (Kirbymoorside) Limited in Malton and Stevenage-based Ernest Doe & Sons Limited, representing the northern and southern sales respectively. The sales secured 68 jobs therefore reducing total creditor claims. A significant amount of tangible assets which were not sold to either purchaser will be disposed of by Eddisons Commercial Limited and are likely to be sold via auction. “Having traded successfully for more than 40 years, the Burdens Group was a victim of problems hitting the farming sector with bad weather and changes to EU subsidies resulting in its key customer base reducing their spend,” explains joint administrator Gareth Rusling of Begbies Traynor. “We worked hard to quickly conclude a sale to two experienced agricultural businesses, and it’s fantastic that the sales have saved the jobs of 68 people.”   Image credit: Stock.adobe.com/NAMPIX

A magical trail with new lights for 2024 – after-dark festive fun for everyone

Tess Egginton
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A magical trail with new lights for 2024 – after-dark festive fun for everyone
Tickets to Christmas at the National Trust’s beautiful Belton House in Lincolnshire are now on sale for its spectacular seasonal trail. Open to visitors from Friday, November 22 to Wednesday, January 1, the immersive experience includes thousands of twinkling lights, colourful trees and larger-than-life illuminations. Matthew Findlay, Head of UK Trails for Sony Music/Raymond Gubbay Ltd, said: “We were thrilled with the fantastic response from visitors who enjoyed the trail last Christmas and our planning and preparation for 2024 is already well underway. Look out for some sparkling new innovations and installations this year.” Created by award-winning, internationally acclaimed light trail producers and firmly positioned within the UK’s seasonal calendar, Christmas at Belton has everything you need for an unforgettable time with friends and family, including a magical glimpse of Father Christmas along the way. Discover a meadow of light stretching out into the distance, larger-than-life neon string flowers, candles floating high into the sky and battens of light that change colour in time to music. Grab a seasonal snack from one of the hand-picked street food vendors who bring an indulgent twist to tempting treats on offer. Complete your walk under the stars with a festive *spiced winter warmer, *hot chocolate or *toasted marshmallow and share it with someone special. Your very merriest Christmas starts here. Limited capacity with timed entry. Plan now to secure the date and time of your choice.  *separate charges apply   Christmas at Belton is brought to you by Sony Music Limited in partnership with the National Trust. The trail is created by Culture Creative. What: Christmas at Belton – The after-dark illuminated trail through festive gardens When: From 22 November to 1 January. Open from 4.30pm, last entry 8pm and closes at 10pm. Why Visit: Discover a Christmas illuminated trail for all the family set within the beautiful landscape of Belton House. Admission: Limited capacity with timed entry, early booking advised. Off-peak: Adult £15, Child £10, Family £47 (2 adults & 2 children). Standard: Adult £22.50, Child £16, Family £74. Peak: Adult £24, Child £18, Family £81. Free entry for carers and children aged 2 & under. Parking £8 per car. Free for National Trust members when booked in advance. Website: Christmas at Belton tickets | Tours and Events | Ticketek UK Address: Belton House, Grantham, Lincolnshire, NG32 2LW     Image: Christmas at Belton House, by Culture Creative My Christmas Trails 2023. Photo by Sony Music

Costa Coffee donates £1,000 to Grimsby Wolves

Tess Egginton
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Costa Coffee donates £1,000 to Grimsby Wolves
Costa Coffee has donated £1,000 to Grimsby Wolves, as part of its Community Grants programme. Grimsby Wolves are the only female ice hockey team in the Lincolnshire area, with players travelling from across the country to play at the community-funded ice rink in Grimsby. They have an inclusive team, with players ranging from age 13 to 50. With the £1,000 Community Grant from Costa Coffee, the Grimsby Wolves have used it to fund two beginner sessions – which resulted in several new players joining the team. Nikki Burnett, Treasurer at the Grimsby Wolves, says: “The donation from Costa Coffee has been gratefully received by our team, and will help us to promote ice hockey – encouraging girls and women to join us. “As we rebuild our team and recruit new players, our aim is to promote health, fitness and wellbeing, by providing an opportunity for ladies to become part of an inclusive team in a fast-paced, exciting sport. “The funds have already helped our team grow, and we plan to organise further sessions to fine-tune our players’ skating skills, ensuring we give everyone the confidence to success.” Jo Jennings, Community Co-Ordinator at Costa Coffee, says: “We are thrilled to be able to contribute to the incredible work being done by the Grimsby Wolves. At Costa Coffee, we recognise the dedication and passion that sports clubs bring to their local areas, and we are proud to be extending a helping hand to sporting groups across the nation through our Community Grants programme.”

Free face-to-face clinics for families affected by dementia in Lincoln during World Alzheimer’s Month

Tess Egginton
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Free face-to-face clinics for families affected by dementia in Lincoln during World Alzheimer’s Month
Nationwide and Dementia UK are bringing free face-to-face specialist dementia care to Lincoln during World Alzheimer’s Month in September. The clinics will be hosted by Dementia UK’s Admiral Nurses to support anyone impacted by dementia in Nationwide’s branch in Lincoln, offering life-changing support to families and individuals living with dementia in the area. Support includes practical and emotional advice on all aspects of dementia – from worries about memory problems and understanding a diagnosis and how the condition can progress to help with financial and legal issues. Appointments can be booked via Dementia UK’s website here. As part of the partnership, Nationwide will host 200 pop-up clinics in branches around the UK, and fund 30 dementia specialist Admiral Nurse posts through Dementia UK. The clinics form part of Nationwide’s new social impact programme, Fairer Futures, which addresses three of the UK’s biggest social issues through charity partnerships – dementia (Dementia UK), youth homelessness (Centrepoint) and family poverty (Action for Children). Sarah Priestley, Admiral Nurse at Dementia UK, said: “We’re looking forward to bringing specialist face-to-face support for people affected by dementia to Lincoln. By partnering with Nationwide, we are able to provide a safe space in towns across the county to ensure our Admiral Nurses are able to reach as many people affected by the condition as possible. “Dementia is a huge and growing health crisis – someone in the UK develops dementia every three minutes and the condition is the leading cause of death in England and Wales. It’s more important than ever that we reach families and individuals affected by dementia and offer one-on-one support from our dementia specialist Admiral Nurses.” Debbie Crosbie, Chief Executive Officer of Nationwide, said: “Nationwide wants to help people live their best life possible, for as long as possible. By working with Dementia UK to fund more Admiral Nurses and turning our branches into dementia clinics, we’re helping to tackle the country’s leading cause of death. As a mutual, we work for the good of society as well as our members. We believe this and Nationwide Fairer Futures will change hundreds of thousands of lives for the better.” The pop-up clinics will visit Nationwide, High Street, Lincoln on 3rd, 4th and 5th September.
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