Saturday, February 05, 2011

JANUARY NEWS 2011

“WHAT DOES MY COUNCILLOR DO FOR ME?”

News from your local, Independent Councillor,

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and successful New Year

Your opinion wanted

Nocton Dairy

Respond to the new application for 3770 cows by January 11th. Google “North Kesteven planning on line”, accept the conditions and type in Nocton Heath or 10/1397/FUL. According to the consultant, the number of cows is reduced in this first application, pending sufficient land to spread the waste.

Budget

Both NKDC and LCC have proposed budgets on the web. Now is the time to comment and get changes made before final budgets are agreed in February.

A hot issue for us is the state of the roads following winter damage. Last year the Conservatives cut this budget drastically and planned to cut it again this year, despite big objections from me and the other Independents. We have made some progress in this new budget, but it needs supporting through to the final budget. Respond on line before Jan 26th, lincolnshire.gov.uk/budget and copy me in so I can support you better. See my separate press release for more issues.

Big Success: Bonner House and Harrison House reprieved

Last year all eight Council-run homes providing intermediate and respite care were planned to close. I visited our local homes and was amazed at the high quality of care and excellent work being done in getting people well again and able to return home. “We need more of this, not less,” I said. Independents ran a campaign, even making a video to bring the voices of the residents directly into the corridors of power. This kind of care is more expensive for a few weeks, but it gets people out of hospital, better and in their own home, so it is extremely cost-effective. That is why we introduced it in the first place. The Council has now agreed and given our local homes a reprieve. The number of these short-term beds is now set to increase, saving on long-term care. Now we can work to make them still more efficient.

Congratulations

Sarah Moody (aged 16) from Branston joined our expedition this Christmas to live and work in the wild in Central Africa., to help conservation. Sarah plans to be a vet and also got the chance to work in the Wildlife Sanctuary and shadow the vets there. Apart from my own son, Sarah is the youngest team member on these expeditions. Also in the team was Lauren Smith, a student from the University of Lincoln. Also we took letters from children in Navenby and Martin and set up exchanges with a school in Malawi and a charity to assist, called Malo.

We worked closely with the Malawian scientists and park staff helping with the anti-poaching patrols, recording game populations and identifying rare species to show that the Park is worth protecting. This international recognition brings further resources. Our long-term commitment is rewarded with increasing game populations. This year we actually saw and captured rare species for the first time. Pictures: www.biosearch.org.uk

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