Passengers in the East Midlands have waited for delayed trains for more than 219 hours in the last year due to cable theft incidents, new statistics show.
Figures from Network Rail indicate that although there were only 31 incidents of cable theft in the region last year, the delay to passengers increased.
This is despite a number of measures put in place to stop the theft of copper cabling, reducing delay on the trains.
This also led to a compensation cost of £1,017,894 in 2013/13 alone.
Route Managing Director for Network Rail Justin Page said: “Just four cable theft incidents accounted for 116 hours of our delay in the past financial year.
“Last year delay to passengers and freight trains on the East Midlands route totalled more than 200 hours. That is not acceptable.
“This is because they were at the south end of our route which is much busier than the north and delay racks up more quickly.
“I am confident that the work we are completing to protect these key locations will result in a reduction in delay to passengers in East Midlands.”
He added: “We also continue to work with British Transport Police to identify thieves and bring them to justice.
“Our own engineers are working with suppliers and other industries to make metal – particularly our cables – harder to steal and easier to identify.
“Teams around the route are introducing new ways of working to reduce delay and fix thefts more quickly; and, of course, I want to thank members of the public who are reporting suspicious activity, allowing us to react quickly and minimise delay.”
As of December 2012, new legislation means that it’s illegal to sell scrap metal for cash. A Scrap Metal Dealer’s Act that will be enforceable in autumn 2013, which will also aim to regulate scrap metal dealers.
Parts of the Act include dealers needing to be licensed by local authorities, who have the power to refuse applications or revoke licenses; police can close unlicensed scrap yards; sellers must show ID, and a national register set up to account for all sales of scrap metal.
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We want to see 750,000 trees planted around the county over the next few years.
The ambitious target is linked to the national 25-year Environment Plan, which aims to create or restore 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat.
Despite its reputation for being a green and rural county, Lincolnshire actually has one of the lowest tree coverage rates in the country at just four per cent, compared to an England average of 10 per cent.
Lincolnshire County Council has started to respond to this by supporting tree planting projects around the county. In the 2021/22 tree planting season we planted over 30,000 trees across Lincolnshire as part of community planting days and highways projects.
Dan Clayton, sustainability manager at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “Historically, huge swathes of Lincolnshire have been used as arable agricultural land, and so the county hasn’t tended to have extensive woodland areas.
“Although much land still is used for farming, there is scope to increase Lincolnshire’s tree cover, and we’re keen to work with land owners, town and parish councils and community groups to support tree planting and help us reach the target of a tree for every resident.”
To keep track of our progress, we’ve installed a tree counter on our website. We also have a map so you can see where in Lincolnshire trees have all been planted so far.
If you plant a tree in your garden or on your land that you control, you can register it on the tree counter and it have it count towards the county’s tree planting target.
Any trees planted within Lincolnshire over the last 12 months can be registered and added to the total.
If you have a site that would be suitable to plant 300 or more trees and are interested in looking at tree planting options, then please register your interest on our website at www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/xfp/form/744 or contact us on [email protected].
Lincolnshire County Council on Monday voted to drop two proposals for changes to the permit scheme along the Bailgate, which would have increased residents parking, but decreased the amount available to shoppers.
Chairman Ian Fleetwood called the area “jewel in the crown” of the city and that it was a “sensitive” decision as he put forward “Option C” – doing nothing – at the last minute.
Nicola Lockwood, owner of Bells Tea Shop and chairwoman of the Bailgate Area Guild, said: “We can’t believe it, we are in shock!
“I just feel for all the businesses and all our customers who supported us and have been behind us all the way through this.”
She said if the changes had occurred it would have seen businesses – already affected by other changes, the internet and COVID – close.
She warned fast-food chains were “already circling looking for anyone who wants to throw in the towel” – however, it is not known which chain this is.
Michelle Guest, who owns a childrens’ shoe shop, said she was “totally relieved, delighted.
“They’ve seen what we’re up against, they’ve seen exactly how it will impact the area and how it will impact the businesses.”
She said casual shoppers and visitors would have been most affected along with those who were less mobile. She claims having spaces on the street deterred people from going to out-of-town facilities.
Josie Rossington, who has run Folly for 18 years, said she was “absolutely elated”.
“We had so much support… far ranging, all from the bottom of Steep Hill to Newport.” They included a 7,000 signature petition.
“The amount of times we were told ‘they’re not locals’… it doesn’t matter where they come from, it would have affected everybody.”
“There are literally businesses that will not go under now because of this. It sounds very dramatic but it’s been a dramatic time which has affected everyone in lots of different ways.”
However, Carholme Councillor Rob Parker, whose ward covers part of the area affected, said residents would be “disappointed” by the decision.
“They put forward a lot of good, sound arguments about the need for residents’ parking in that part of the world, but unfortunately the planning committee didn’t agree.
“It’s surprising because the needs of the residents need to be considered just as much as the needs of businesses.”.
He said there would need to be “some form of review” in the future and that he, along with residents, would be examining whether another case could be brought with more evidence “to show how much residents are affected by not being able to park close to their own homes.”
He said many were already having to park further away from their homes due to other permit schemes being changed to omit them.
Ermine and Cathedral Ward Member Karen Lee said the scheme should have been “about fairness”.
“There are a couple of residents who are elderly and need space for their carers to park daily.
“There’s a woman who’s an acute practitioner, there’s somebody who’s a paramedic – there are all sorts of different people who wanted residents’ parking for very good reasons, and I didn’t think that committee gave that any thought whatsoever. They simply focused on the businesses.”
She said there was “plenty of parking” available with free parking available.
In response to the argument that people who bought their houses knew what they were paying for, she said: “in this day and age do we really think like that, that nothing should ever change and no one should ever reconsider a position and think well, actually, is that right? Because I don’t think that is right.”
The planning meeting in progress. | Image: Daniel Jaines
Speaking after the meeting, Councillor Ian Fleetwood said the decision was fair and listened to both sides of the community.
“Both the residents and businesses have put forward strong points of view… I believe it’s not a good time to move things forward,” he said.
“At the moment, there is a scheme in place. I don’t know if people are enjoying it or not, but it is a scheme that has been working for a period of time.
“If indeed there is an absolute need to change it. Well, that’s a good time to go, but at this moment in time, I don’t believe it’s the case.”
He said if circumstances changed there would be a case for a further review, however, did not see that happening in the short term.
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