— Later update: Reaction from Lincoln MP Karl McCartney*
Plans to reinstate horse racing in Lincoln have been put on hold. The Lincoln Racecourse Regeneration Company (LRRC) withdrew its proposal three days before the City of Lincoln Council Executive Committee was meant to examine the plans.
In an unexpected move, LRRC announced that it will put on hold its plans for a racecourse on the West Common around five hours after Emile Van Der Zee, the head of the Hands Off Our Common campaign, submitted a petition with over 2,000 signatures against the proposal.
“We received notification from LRRC late [Thursday] that they wish to withdrawal the proposal which was to be discussed as part of Monday’s Executive meeting,” said Chris Dunbar, Communications Manager from City of Lincoln Council. “The meeting is still scheduled to take place as planned.”
Controversial council officer report
LRRC’s decision to hold their plans is reportedly due to an inaccurate City of Lincoln Council officer’s report to the council’s executives in the dawn of Monday’s meeting. “The report to be presented to the Executive is a fair appraisal of the proposal, taking into account both the information presented by LRRC and the comments of the Commons Advisory Panel,” Dunbar said.
The Commons Advisory Panel deemed LRRC's plans incomplete, and recommended against the proposal.
“We are disappointed to note that the report does not reflect adequately the many and varied discussions that have taken place between ourselves and the council over the past couple of years, nor does it acknowledge the format or information requested be contained in our proposal as requested by them,” Karen Rastall, a director with LRRC, said in a statement.
Rastall also alleged preconceptions regarding LRRC’s proposal from the City of Lincoln Council. “It has only been the onslaught of media attention that has encouraged them to escalate this matter onto their agenda, we think that this is further evidence of the officers’ desire to kick a project as important as this into the long grass to avoid making a decision on its future,” she said.
“The Council have always been aware of the commercial sensitivity of this project and the nature of the speculative spends. The creation of a limited company came about as a direct consequence of previous discussions with themselves and their indication to us that they needed a corporate body to deal with in the first instance if considering any lease or first rights.
“To not have that matter as an option for consideration at the Executive meeting is totally unacceptable to the investors in this project.” The City of Lincoln Council declined any further comment prior to Monday’s meeting.
LRRC, run by Rastal and Lincoln MP Karl McCartney, is not ready to back on its plans. “The LRRC will continue to lobby for regeneration of the Grandstand and associated areas and to bring back professional flat racing to Lincoln, this may be in consultation with other bodies or partners, only time will tell.”
*Disappointed Lincoln MP, but with clear conscience
“Obviously I am disappointed by this outcome,” Karl McCartney said in a statement. “Both I and the other board members of Lincoln Racecourse Regeneration Company Limited have never sought to gain financially from this proposal.
Lincoln MP Karl McCartney: 'For me racing was about wanting to bring prosperity to our city.'
“The City Council and their officers have continually moved the goalposts, and the options they put forward do not reflect the discussions we have had regarding a Heads of Terms Lease,” the MP said.
“However, like other board members I was surprised at the content and options put forward and made public by the City Council for consideration as they were not what we had been led to believe was the correct way forward for the process and so were perturbed, to say the least, considering our conversations and the direction given to us previously,” McCartney added.
“For me racing was about wanting to bring prosperity to our city and I now wait to see what plans the City Council and its senior officers have in store for regenerating and bringing new jobs to the city plus what plans it has to upgrade the grandstand and the amenities and facilities on the West Common. My conscience is clear, I have always been open and stated that my aims were the promotion, growth and economic well-being of the area I represent.”
Anti-racecourse campaigners will not rest
Emile Van Der Zee handed an anti-racecourse petition with over 2,000 signatures to the City of Lincoln Council on Thursday.
Emile Van Der Zee, the coordinator of the Hands Off Our Common Campaign, said he is happy about the latest developments, but there are still challenges ahead. “The LRRC has said that they may be back. It is now our challenge to use the momentum and develop some good alternative plans for the Grandstand and the area around it.”
“This is not the end of our activities! Although we have won, we will need to work hard in a constructive manner with all existing interest groups and political parties to do something good for the Grandstand and for the West Common. The really interesting work begins now,” Van Der Zee added.
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There have been 351 new coronavirus cases and 12 COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Monday.
The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 243 new cases in Lincolnshire, 63 in North Lincolnshire and 45 in North East Lincolnshire.
It also registered seven deaths in Lincolnshire, three in North East Lincolnshire and two in North Lincolnshire.
These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.
NHS England also reported 11 local hospital deaths on Monday. Seven were at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust and four were at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust. This takes the total number of hospital deaths in the county to 468.
On Monday, national cases increased by 15,450 to 1,527,495, while deaths rose by 206 to 55,230.
Lincolnshire cases up to November 23.
But there’s some good news today too: leisure centres, gyms and shops will reopen from December 2, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced, as new tiered restrictions will be introduced when lockdown ends. See the breakdown here.
There will also be a new way to avoid people self-isolating at home for two weeks, even though they haven’t tested positive. It would entail getting tested every day for a week, with isolation required only after a positive test — using rapid lateral flow tests with results within 30 minutes.
Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire for Monday, November 23
23,838 cases (up 351)
14,665 in Lincolnshire (up 243)
4,361 in North Lincolnshire (up 63)
4,812 in North East Lincolnshire (up 45)
721 deaths (up 12)
469 from Lincolnshire (up seven)
129 from North Lincolnshire (up two)
123 from North East Lincolnshire (up three)
of which 468 hospital deaths (up 11)
246 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up four)
9 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
212 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up seven)
1,527,495 UK cases, 55,230 deaths
DATA SOURCE — FIGURES CORRECT AT THE TIME OF the latest update. postcode data includes deaths not in healthcare facilities or in hospitals outside authority boundaries.
Leisure centres, gyms and shops will reopen from December 2, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced, as new tiered restrictions will be introduced when lockdown ends.
In an address before the House of Commons, Mr Johnson confirmed a return to the three-tier system, however, parts of it will tightened.
It is expected that more areas will fall into the higher tiers when they come into effect.
However, details of which tier regions in England will land on won’t be confirmed until Thursday.
Lincolnshire was in the lowest tier (one/medium), and managed to escape moving into tier two (high) just days before the latest national lockdown.
From December 2 people would be able to leave their homes for any reason and meet others in outdoor public spaces, subject to the rule of six.
Pubs in tier three areas will stay shut unless offering takeaway services.
In tier two only those serving meals will be able to open with last orders at 10pm and curfew at 11pm, as businesses will get another hour of trading.
Collective worship and weddings will be allowed to take place.
A ban on outdoor grass-roots sports has also been lifted. Gyms, leisure centres and non-essential shops will reopen in all areas.
A maximum of 4,000 fans are set to be allowed at outdoor events in the lowest-risk areas.
A mass testing pilot carried out in Liverpool will also be expanded nationally for six weeks in tier three areas.
Plans for the festive period should be confirmed later this week, with up to three households allowed to meet.
Mr Johnson praised the nation for “steadfastly observing nationwide restrictions.”
“For the first time since this wretched virus took hold, we can see a route out of the pandemic,” he said.
He praised the “sacrifices of millions of people across the UK”
However, he warned: “The hard truth is we’re not there yet. First we must get through winter without the virus spreading out of control and squandering our hard-won gains at exactly the time when the burden on the NHS is always greatest.”
Mr Johnson said: “I can’t say that Christmas will be normal this year, but in a period of adversity, time spent with loved ones is even more precious for people of all faiths and we all want some kind of Christmas – we need it.
“But what we don’t want is to throw caution to the winds and allow the virus to flare up again, forcing us all back into lockdown in January.
“This virus is not going to grant a Christmas truce. It doesn’t know Christmas and families will need to make a careful judgement about the risks.”
Mr Johnson concluded by praising the latest vaccine developments from Oxford University and AstraZeneca.
“This will be still a hard winter, Christmas cannot be normal and there’s a long road to spring, but we have turned a corner and the escape route is in sight,” said Mr Johnson.
“We must hold out against the virus until testing and vaccines come to our rescue and reduce the need for restrictions and everyone can help speed up the arrival of that moment by continuing to follow the rules.”
Emergency responders charity LIVES have created a cookbook to celebrate the range of Lincolnshire-based produce and raise money for their charity.
The Lincolnshire Kitchen book gives local producers a platform for their goods to be featured.
The charity worked with a group of Lincolnshire companies, alongside its headline sponsor Ringrose Law, to create the book.
LIVES is a voluntary Lincolnshire-based charity that attends 999 medial emergencies around the county, and it needs over £1.4 million a year to keep the service running.
Popular local producers such as Doddington Hall & Gardens, Belvoir Fruit Farms and Pin Gin are included in the 50 page book.
Local produce will be used for recipes in the book. | Photo: LIVES
The book is £9.99 and postage is £2.50, with 100% of the proceeds going directly to LIVES.
Lincolnshire Kitchen is available to buy in Lincolnshire Co-Operative stores this winter, as well as on the LIVES website now.
Tiffany Allen, corporate fundraising manager at LIVES, said: “We have been really excited about working on this project, and to have so many wonderful local companies involved has made this even more enjoyable.
“We know this cookbook will really showcase Lincolnshire talent and excellence, whilst raising money for a lifesaving Lincolnshire charity.”
With the change of business came a new safety and hygiene inspection from North Kesteven District Council, which resulted in a one out of five star rating for the White Hart.
In the most recent inspection on October 16, The White Hart scored a rating of ‘generally satisfactory’ for cleanliness and condition of facilities and building.
It did, however, require improvement for its hygienic food handling and major improvements on its management of food safety.
It is an unusual score for the business, which had five stars in its last three inspections.
One of the owners told The Lincolnite that the inspection had taken place before all works had been completed, so he thinks it is an unfair reflection.
“We only rebranded recently and the kitchen was closed for maintenance when the inspectors arrived, so we were ranked accordingly.
“We are in discussions with the council and the EHO (Environmental Health Officer) about this and have been granted a repeat inspection free of charge.”
They also claimed that The White Hart were told the inspection results wouldn’t be published, as it wasn’t fair to score the pub based on that.
The Lincolnite approached North Kesteven District Council for a reply, but are yet to receive a comment.
The mother of a 14-year-old boy who overdosed on MDMA at a house party in Holbeach has called for people to beware of the dangers of drugs in an emotional tribute to her son.
Alex Buchan, 14, was found dead at a house party in Holbeach in April 2019, with part of an ecstasy pill next to his body and fatal levels of MDMA in his blood.
Two men, the host of the party and the person who dealt the drugs, have been jailed after a hearing in Lincoln Crown Court.
Alastair Turner, 19, and Sam King, 21, were sentenced to 45 months and three years respectively after the incident.
In a heartfelt tribute, Alex’s mum Lisa criticised the jailed pair for ‘targeting’ her son.
She said: “Nobody will understand what this has done to the family — it has destroyed us. The sentence isn’t enough. It won’t ever be enough.
“This will be hanging over me for the rest of my life. My son, who had a heart of gold, is never coming back.
“People don’t understand the devastation drugs cause families. What kind of person targets a 14-year-old boy who doesn’t know the risks. How many children have to die?
“If anything good can come from this, I hope it’s that parents and children see how dangerous drugs can be and that dealers see the potential consequences of what they are doing.”
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