December News

Council Tax
National government grants are being honoured as promised for this year. NKDC is proposing 1.76% tax increase which will require some “savings”. LCC is also proposing a very low increase and looking for savings in the region of £90m out of about half a billion which is not allocated to schools

Employment
You can now look for and apply for job on line at the LCC website. On average, about 18% of British households now depend on housing benefit. Two-thirds of the claims are made by people of working age.

Job Vacancy
P/T Administrator required by the Young Farmers Clubs based at Riseholme. Dec 4th.
01522 568989 abruntlett@lincoln.ac.uk
Closing date 4th December 09

Help set a Guinness Record: Plant a tree
Saturday 5th December 11am to noon. Join up with BBC TV Breathings Spaces to plant a million trees in an hour. Register your pledge: http://www.bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces/treeoclock/

Joint planning the future
A new Central Lincolnshire Joint Planning Committee has been created to deal with forward planning for West Lindsey, North Kesteven and Lincoln. Sadly, the new Conservative Chairman is now in trouble over a planning application of his own.

Housing
Checks are taking place on houses registered as single occupancy revealing that 5% should actually be paying full council tax. LCC is expecting £1m from corrections.
Council tenants can report repairs directly to the contractor; Jeakins Wier 01529 416399 or Aaron Services for heating 01205 591979.

New Wildlife Watch Spotting & Verges
Wildlife Watch has an excellent new website aimed at young people. A really good part is keeping a picture record of your finds and there are good competitions. Look under “Explore Wildlife”.www.wildlifewatch.org.uk Our local group for children is still going strong, details available. The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust is inviting people to survey a roadside verge to identify which verges are special and need protection. http://www.lifeontheverge.org.uk/

Garden someone else’s garden?
A new scheme has been launched to give keen gardeners a chance to get out on the green grass of someone else’s home. Under the new NKDC project, people seeking allotments are linked with council tenants who can no longer take care of their gardens.

Free Swim and keeping fit
Over 18,000 under 16’s and over 60’s have registered to swim free of charge. Over the summer, more than 18,000 swims were taken by over 60’s and almost 60,000 under 16’s. I am working with Branston Community College to try and bring summer swimming.

New Bus Sunday Service: Boston to Lincoln along the B1188: Interconnect 5 route
As requested by residents, I sought support for a Sunday bus service for the heath Villages. For a County Council has now funded a new Boston to Lincoln bus service on Sundays,for a trial period of 6 months from Nov 1st. Five return journeys go via Metheringham and connect to Spalding & Skegness at Boston. Welcome! Use it or lose it!

Village Halls
Building works at Welbourn are progressing well, ready to reopen next year. Plans and support for Navenby Community Centre have continued successfully, thanks to the Parish Council, to you all for your support and to Malcolm Smith for brilliantly project-managing to date. If you haven’t yet sent in a short note of support, please do on www.navenby.net

Your opinion wanted

The new strategy on quarries and waste disposal is out for consultation now. This will set the policy against which any future applications are decided. Contact Jo Wilkins, planning policy officer 01522 554849
www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/corestrategy

Help set NKDC Priorities
www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/priorities