Quarries at Harmston and Coleby

In response to the enforcement action raised by LCC, Harmston Quarry has put in an application to raise the amount of stored material to a height of 4.5m above ground. This would be an alien feature in an otherwise flat landscape. As the quarry does not contain putrescible material, the level is unlikely to sink by much. It goes to NKDC on March at 4pm and LCC on April 10^th 10.30am. The County Council refused permission to alter the conditions and enforcement action is being taken.

Lindum Contruction gave a public meeting at Coleby to explain that they were considering use of the disused quarry at Coleby to half-fill with their own soil only. They currently recycle the vast majority of their building waste, but do have material scraped from the soil surface prior to building, which they do not want to put into our waste landfill sites. The majority of the meeting felt it may be the best use of the old quarry site, as long as it was returned to a field in the end. At a second smaller public meeting, many concerns were raised about the difficulty in enforcement of conditions and the Parish Council voted to recommend refusal by the County Council. The application is expected to go to committee at Lincolnshire County Council in September.

Learning science through Theatre

This is my next big project coming to fruition. The Institute of Biology and the West Kesteven Wildlife Watch has provided a grant for 150 children to learn science through theatre, which I have organised during National Science Week starting Tuesday March 20^th at the Terry o’ Toole Theatre. The specially commissioned script covers a journey through time and around the world to uncover the history of medicine and modern advances. For details contact marianne.overton@biosearch.org.uk

Biofuels

Our big event at Lincoln University went well and you may have seen me on TV! The Independent Group has taken a lead in this. We are encouraging the use of British crops (sugar beet and wheat) to make ethanol for vehicles, gradually replacing petrol, which would disconnect our heavy reliance on fossil fuels, thus helping both the environment and Lincolnshire Farmers.

Viewing Planning applications

Some members of the public have asked for more access to view planning applications. I am delighted to announce that from Monday 13th February, members of the public will be able to view plans at the access points in Navenby and in Branston, as well as through their Parish Council Clerk. The offices will hold the applications for all of the Cliff Villages for the consultation period before the application and 4-6 weeks after determination of the application.

Navenby Village Office in the High Street is open mornings Tuesday to Friday 9am-noon and
Branston Access Point in the library of Branston Community College, Station Road is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9.30am-7pm, on Tuesdays and Thursdays 9.30-4pm and on Saturdays 9.30-1pm .

Government reorganisation

The possibility of changing the three tier system in Lincolnshire took a step closer today as rumours emerged of cancellation of the next elections, prior to substantial re-organisation. Ministers are seeking our views on “what needs to change in order for local government to improve?” There is an interesting article on the BBC news website http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4694410.stm I would like to see a stronger connection between the local member and the decision-making process. One suggestion is to have a joint executive including all political groups, who must then work more closely with all other members. Let me know your views.

The Health Authority

The Trent Regional Authority is nearing the end of its consultation on making PCT’s Countywide commissioners and making the Ambulance Trust regional. Please comment on www.tsh.nhs.uk. Even if the change is inevitable, how local views are represented in the new system has not been decided. I sit on the West Lincs Primary Care Trust and would be keen to hear your views.

The Police Authority has agreed the maximum possible at 5% increase in their budget.

The Police Authority has agreed the maximum possible at 5% increase in their budget. Their budget is small, pensions have to come out of running costs, govt targets dictate priorities and resources of a small force can be heavily stretched in tackling regional crime. I have called for an acceptable minimum to be agreed and ring-fenced, but this has not been forthcoming from Chief Inspector, Tony Lake. Instead the best we can do is for LCC to fund Community Police Support Officers which will be allocated to particular geographic areas, seven for NK. These will be ring-fenced and work in teams with a police officer and special constable, if the latter is available. This is in addition to the Anti-social behaviour teams at NKDC. The Police are short of funds this year and next and this is very worrying for us, especially as they go regional after April. It is important to report all crime, as the distribution of police staffing is based on this.

The Annual Budgets for Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) and North Kesteven District Council (NKDC) were decided this month.

The Annual Budgets for Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) and North Kesteven District Council (NKDC) were decided this month. To some extent we have won the missing millions campaign and this year both councils got bigger increases at the expense of the more urban Councils. Some other councils are now facing substantial cuts, but both NKDC and LCC have put forward growth budgets. At LCC, I spoke against increases but reluctantly supported the Conservative proposals this time. LCC has done poorly in the past and spending on services is the fourth lowest in the country. We have fought the missing millions campaign on the basis that the money was needed. At 4.9% at LCC and 3.9% at NKDC will allow some improvement in services. At LCC I asked for the increase to go towards more for elderly care bearing in mind the reduction of hospital beds and for youth and at NKDC, Independents lobbied for upkeep of open spaces and keeping our streets and verges cleaner. Extra government money was allocated for the free bus scheme for over 60’s and will hopefully add to their quality of life and increase use of the buses. Many thanks for your responses to the consultations. Anti-crime was top of the list for many.