The debate on Lincoln’s carbon emissions has sparked renewed interest with climate change threatening the way we live.
With the City of Lincoln Council producing 2,062 tonnes of GHG emissions in 2010/11 and the city of Lincoln emitting in excess of half a million tonnes, the Full Council meeting on September 27 presented the ideal platform to unveil measures taken and campaigns in place to tackle the city’s CO2 levels.
Councillor Fay Smith, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services and Public Protection, discussed her four-page report in a bid to highlight the importance of climate change and to encourage residents of Lincoln to cut their carbon emissions.
Councillor Fay Smith
“When we took back control we thought we needed to re-focus,” Labour Councillor Smith said.
“We decided that we wanted to re-emphasise Lincoln’s carbon footprint. We’ve always been working towards that since the Kyoto [Protocol] in 1997.”
Smith discussed the steps that have reduced Lincoln’s carbon footprint.
So far these include the installation of LED lighting at Broadgate and Lucy Tower St car parks, solar thermal hot water, low-carbon design principles, and the reduction of natural resources such as electricity and gas as well as water, transport and waste.
Further energy reduction projects have already been put in place.
These consist of the extension of the green waste collection service to the rest of the city, supporting the growth of electric cars by working in conjunction with Midlands Plugged in Places, working together with Anglican Water to save water consumption and repair faults, and investigating the possibility of solar and wind powered lighting at Tentercroft car park.
The real-life problems of fuel poverty, coastal flooding, and the consumption of scarce resources such as fossil fuels means the biggest challenge the council face is solving the issue of Lincoln’s carbon footprint in a way that delivers improved changes for our environment.
“I know there are other greenhouse gases, but the one people focus on is carbon,” Smith said.
“We want to explore what’s happening and then see how we can all work together for the benefit of everybody. The end result is that we need to reduce Lincoln’s carbon emissions; everybody needs to reduce carbon emissions.”
Lincoln Green
Smith also introduced a new campaign, Lincoln Green. Launching in October, any new initiatives undertaken by the council to cut CO2 levels will fall under this programme.
The first one to take place will feature the council’s car parks which, will include leaflets encouraging residents to cut their consumption as well as a competition.
Funding is achieved through various schemes enabling the city to borrow money in interest free loans. These are then repaid back over three to five years through the energy savings before Lincoln starts to make a profit, which in turn presents the opportunity for further monetary and environmental benefits.
Reducing Lincoln’s carbon emissions is not a quick fix solution, but the City of Lincoln Council is pushing the importance of climate change with the introduction of different schemes in place.
Council leader Ric Metcalfe said, “I don’t think we can go on consuming at the same rate as we have been doing.
“I think that we have all got to be that little bit more frugal and thoughtful about our consumption because I think we owe it to our children and grandchildren to make sure that we haven’t depleted the resources.”
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Two men have been jailed and two received community orders for a violent attack on Lincoln High Street in 2019.
On the morning of July 20, 2019, a 38-year-old man was attacked by two teenagers as he was walking near High Bridge in Lincoln.
The victim was kicked and stamped on after being dragged to the floor, and received face and body wounds from a bladed article.
Within minutes of the first assault, the victim was approached by Adrian Johnson, 34, and Mark Guest, 38, who began a second attack.
Guest hit him with a bottle of Lambrini before punching him multiple times in the face, while Johnson pulled him to the ground and stamped on him.
Mark Guest, 38, of Monks Road, Lincoln, will face five years and eight months in prison. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police
The attacks left the victim with a fractured eye socket and a bloodied face.
Guest and Johnson fled the scene on foot but were caught and arrested within minutes by taser-equipped police officers.
All four suspects appeared before Lincoln Crown Court on Thursday, January 14 and were subsequently charged for their crimes.
The two teenagers from the first attack are now over the age of 18 and can be named as Corey Stenner, 19, and Nathan Williamson, 18.
The pair were identified through CCTV two hours after they attacked the victim and have now been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent, with both pleading guilty.
Stenner, of Franklin Avenue, Skegness, received a one-year community order and 30 days rehabilitation, while Williamson, of Princess Street, Lincoln, was given a two-year youth rehabilitation order.
Adrian Johnson, 34, of no fixed address, and Mark Guest, 38, of Monks Road, Lincoln were charged with the same crime as the teenagers, but were given more severe sentences.
Adrian Johnson, 34, of no fixed address, will serve the same sentence as Guest. | Photo: Lincolnshire Police
Both Johnson and Guest were sentenced to five years and eight months in prison, as well as being handed a restraining order to protect the victim.
Guest told the court that he was acting in self-defence and sought a trial, but changed his plea to guilty part-way through the hearing.
Detective Constable Richard Gray, investigating the case, said: “The events were witnessed by members of the public returning home from the bars and clubs of Lincoln.
“Nobody expected to see such frenzied and violent attacks like this against one individual and I have no doubt that it must have been a very scary and shocking thing to see, let alone to be subjected to.
“Thanks to the response of officers that morning, all those responsible were quickly arrested and investigated by Lincoln CID.
“We take any violence like this exceptionally seriously and especially when weapons are involved.
“I would like to thank the victim for his cooperation with the investigation and hope this brings some closure to a difficult and traumatic experience.
“Please continue to report violence in our county so that we can pursue those responsible.”
There have been 541 new coronavirus cases and 31 COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire over the weekend.
The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 414 new cases in Lincolnshire across Saturday and Sunday, 72 in North Lincolnshire and 55 in North East Lincolnshire.
By the end of Sunday, 26 deaths were registered 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 reported 15 new local hospital deaths at United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust, six at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust and one at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals, making a total of 22.
The weekend saw national cases increase to 3,395,959, while deaths rose to 89,261.
People in England aged 70 and over, as well as the clinically extremely vulnerable, will begin receiving offers of a coronavirus vaccine this week. New vaccination centres opened at the Lincolnshire Showground and in Boston.
The Prime Minister said the move was a “significant milestone” in the nation’s vaccination programme.
Everyone arriving in the UK from abroad must now self-isolate as the government order to shut all travel corridors comes into effect.
The tighter restrictions, intended to protect against the spread of coronavirus variants, were announced last week by Boris Johnson.
Over the weekend, ambulance staff have said they are “at breaking point” as new data has shown a new COVID-19 patient is admitted to hospital “every 30 seconds”.
NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens told the BBC’s Andrew Marr the NHS was in a perilous situation with 15,000 more inpatients than there had been on Christmas Day.
All UK adults should be offered the first dose of a COVID vaccine by September — with the hope some restrictions can be lifted by March, Dominic Raab has told Sky News.
Speaking on Sophy Ridge on Sunday, the foreign secretary said: “Our target is that by September to have offered all the adult population a first dose, if we can do it faster than that’s great, but that’s the roadmap.”
Lincolnshire’s COVID cases up to Jan 17.
Lincolnshire’s COVID deaths up to Jan 18.
Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Sunday, January 17
Greater Lincolnshire includes Lincolnshire and the unitary authorities of North and North East (Northern) Lincolnshire.
44,002 cases (up 541)
30,459 in Lincolnshire (up 414)
6,897 in North Lincolnshire (up 72)
6,646 in North East Lincolnshire (up 55)
1,677 deaths (up 31)
1,187 from Lincolnshire (up 26)
268 from North Lincolnshire (up two)
222 from North East Lincolnshire (up three)
of which 996 hospital deaths (up 22)
603 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up 15)
30 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (up one)
1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
362 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up six)
3,395,959 cases, 89,261 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.