This year has been a busy one for The Lincolnite, covering more stories for the people of Lincoln than ever. We look back at the most read stories and topics of the year:
Woman dies after being hit by bus
Photo: Emily Norton
On November 22, the High Street near The Ritz was cordoned off after a 36-year-old woman was in a collision with a bus. She was taken to Lincoln County Hospital with head injuries, but died from her trauma later in the day. The incident is still under investigation.
Power cut leaves Lincoln in the dark
Brayford Pool, plunged into darkness. Photo: Chris Brandrick
Lincoln was plunged into darkness twice on December 6 as power was cut across the entire city, affecting not only buildings, but also traffic lights, street lights, phone lines and even mobile networks. The blackout affected villages around the city as well as the Lincoln Christmas Market.
The power cut was due to to problems with the super grid at the West Burton Power Station. Western Power Distribution investigated the situation in order to restore the power, but even after that, some areas took longer to get their electricity back.
Postman dies while delivering mail
During the summer heatwave, a Lincoln postman collapsed and died while delivering post in the Ermine area. The main cause for the man’s death, who worked for Royal Mail for 29 years, is still unclear.
Police recover body from river
The area where police carried out investigations. Photo: File/The Lincolnite
Lincolnshire Police recovered a 93-year-old man’s body from River Witham in Lincoln on November 27, near Boultham Avenue. Divers recovered the body from the water, but there are no suspicious circumstances around the man’s death.
Man found hanging in Lincoln field
On September 24, a man was discovered hanging in a Lincoln field off Wragby Road. The man was named locally as 40-year-old Mark Watling, but the incident was not treated as suspicious.
Lincolnshire storm watch
The storm that never was: from October 27, The Lincolnite prepared a live blog after amber and yellow warnings from the Met Office about a storm. A storm with winds of up to 70mph was expected across Lincolnshire, with the multi-agency Lincolnshire Resilience Forum (LRF) prepared for the impact that could be caused by the strongest winds to be forecast since 1987. Fortunately, the storm never affected the Lincoln area.
Man proposes with flashmob on Brayford Pool
One lucky lady and her partner became YouTube sensations in November when their flashmob engagement along Brayford Pool became the most talked about Lincoln proposal of the year.
Ian Burton proposed to Katrina Coupland with a flashmob that started near Chimichanga restaurant, with the help of dancers from Bishop Grosseteste University.
The group gathered crowds as they danced to popular tunes, the act ending with “Mary You” by Bruno Marz. Of course, she said yes. See the full video story here.
Armed police stand-off on Shannon Avenue
On June 26, police were called to the Moorland Avenue area of Lincoln after a police-installed alarm was triggered. On attending the scene at a block of flats on Shannon Avenue, they were met by a man in possession of what appeared to be a handgun. In conclusion, there were no shots fired and nobody was injured. The Lincolnite’s live coverage included police statements, tweets and images.
Man charged over malicious Facebook comments
In May, a man from Lincoln was arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred on Facebook after police were notified of comments following the Woolwich attack, in which a soldier was killed. Benjamin Flatters (22) was charged with an offence of malicious communications.
After receiving a number of reports from local members of the community, Lincolnshire Police also issued a verbal warning to another Lincoln man. In addition, police increased presence in Saxilby in connection to the Woolwich murder as they raided the old family house of one of the men found guilty of the murder of Lee Rigby.
H&M and Next to open in revamped Waterside centre
The revised interior frontage designs of the Waterside Shopping Centre in Lincoln by LK2 architects
Shoppers in Lincoln were met with the news in April that the owners of the Waterside Shopping Centre in Lincoln had submitted plans for a £9 million redevelopment project. In addition to the introduction of fashion retailers H&M and Next to the city centre, the plans also included the reconfiguring of the centre’s main two trading levels.
On June 8, our live coverage of the event featured photographs and video updates from both camps. You can review the full coverage here. A further protest is planned in January, as well as a counter demo.
Police raid Saxilby home connected to Woolwich murder
The house in Hotchkin Avenue in Saxilby, near Lincoln, raided by police on Thursday, May 23. Photo: Steve Hill
Police investigating a terror-linked murder of a soldier in Woolwich, London, raided a house in Saxilby, near Lincoln, on May 23.
The house in the Lincoln village was thought to have belonged to the father of one of the killers. Inspector Simon Outen of Lincolnshire Police thanked residents in Saxilby for their cooperation in a video that can be viewed here.
Double stabbing on Monson Street
The suspect in the double stabbing incident. Photo: Lincolnshire Police
At around 5:30pm, on December 11, police were called to an incident whereby two men aged 20 and 33 were attacked by a man with a large kitchen knife. The two men’s injuries were not thought to be life threatening.
Lincolnshire Police released a CCTV image of the suspect who was said to have escaped down Monson Street. This case is still ongoing and the suspect is yet to be found.
Spotted an error? Please notify us by selecting that text and pressing Ctrl+Enter.
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
A developer has revealed their £150 million redevelopment plan for Waterside North in Lincoln.
Rizwan Haq, of Engineered for Living, was given permission to redevelop Waterside House into 49 apartments in October.
However, in his latest plans to the City of Lincoln Council, he has also revealed he wants to redevelop the area, including a 148-160-bed hotel and more than 600 homes as well as doctors, nurseries and childcare facilities, a swimming pool and other leisure services.
Waterside House is currently an office block. | Photo: Google Street View
Mr Haq said the city faced “a serious challenge ahead of an unprecedented magnitude”.
“The city centre needs to adapt rapidly and evolve to prevent a rapid decline into a ghost town of empty and abandoned retail outlets,” he said.
“There is a huge opportunity to repurpose the city centre to a provide a more dynamic, diverse and inclusive offering, allowing Lincoln to build on its traditional cultural heritage.
“Waterside North can act as the catalyst to pave the way for this transformation.”
The masterplan layout. | Image: Shaw and Jagger Architects
The latest plans are for two single-storey extensions to Waterside House to provide management accommodation and a sales suite and a new purpose-built bike store.
However, in the new year, Mr Haq wants permission to build a seven-floor apartment block with 126 one-bedroom and 28 two-bedroom flats.
He also wants to extend Waterside House up by an additional two floors.
The largest part of Mr Haq’s plans will be developing the riverside area, including the St Rumbold Street car park, into a ‘Little Holland Marina Living’ area.
A satellite image of the area. | Photo: Google
The land is currently owned by City of Lincoln Council and Mr Haq hopes his masterplan will inspire the authority to let him build on the site, or buy it outright.
He called on them to get involved at an early stage.
“We have investors who are fascinated by Lincoln`s 1,000-year-old cathedral coming from Dubai where the oldest buildings are 20 years old who are eager to invest heavily into the city providing that they can see a suitably interesting and ambitious masterplan,” he said.
Mr Haq’s spending plan includes £6 million on the Waterside House redevelopment, £8million to extend it, £15million on the apartment block and then £120 million on the marina.
Lincolnshire health bosses welcomed the first UK-approved COVID-19 vaccine, which will be rolled out from next week to priority groups such as NHS workers.
The Pfizer vaccine must be constantly kept cold at -70℃, so it’s likely rollout will begin in hospitals first as they have the equipment to regulate the low temperature.
It will be followed by local vaccination services in GP surgeries, as well as large vaccination centres across the UK.
Two doses will be offered around a month apart from each other.
Phase 1 vaccine priority groups:
Residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
All those 80 years of age and over as well as frontline health and social care workers
All those 75 years of age and over
All those 70 years of age and over as well as clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
All those 65 years of age and over
All individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
All those 60 years of age and over
All those 55 years of age and over
All those 50 years of age and over
Professor Derek Ward, Director of Public Health for Lincolnshire, said: “This vaccine is a fantastic weapon in our arsenal,” but “it’s very early days.”
He explained “winter’s going to be difficult” but the NHS has “really good systems and processes in place” to combat the virus.
“Come spring time, we will be in a much better position… let’s keep pushing against this horrible disease.”
Similarly, health secretary, Matt Hancock said “By the spring we’re going to be through this.”
In a briefing this morning, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said its “first priorities” were the prevention of deaths and maintenance of health and social care systems.
Data shows the Pfizer vaccine is 95% effective and, the committee said the safety was “similar to others” with “very mild side effects”.
They said a “rigorous” review had been carried out.
“Everyone can be absolutely confident no corners whatsoever have been cut,” said Dr June Raine, chief executive of the UK’s vaccine and medicine regulator.
Jess Logsdail said: “Those who refuse the vaccine, antivaxxers, clearly don’t care about anyone else other then themselves, they don’t even care about their own family.”
Andy Baggot commented: “Does it seem strange to anyone else that it took a relatively short time to develop this vaccine, yet over years of development and research there’s still no vaccine/cure for cancer, common cold, AIDS, MS etc…..or is it just my cynical self?”
Prime Minister, Boris Johnson is set to speak this evening about the vaccine and roll out to the UK. Treatments from other manufacturers are also in the pipeline.
Debenhams was busy but Primark was quiet in Lincoln on Wednesday morning, as the national coronavirus lockdown was lifted and non-essential stores could reopen.
The country moved out of a national lockdown and into a tiered system on Wednesday, December 2, with the whole of Lincolnshire going into tier 3.
Despite being in the highest possible tier, the rules allow for retail, gyms and hairdressers to reopen, meaning the High Street could finally trade again.
Pubs and restaurants can only offer takeaway and collection services though.
Debenhams at St Marks saw plenty of interest out and about, with queues snaking around the building on Wednesday morning.
Shoppers couldn’t wait for Debenhams to reopen. | Photo: The Lincolnite
All 124 stores will close and more than 12,000 staff are likely to lose their jobs as administrators try to find a new buyer.
Surprisingly, there were no queues to be seen at Primark, a shop that saw some queue outside from 5am after the first lockdown was lifted.
Primark looks as desolate as it did during lockdown. | Photo: The Lincolnite
This could be because Primark opened at 7am, so people avoided the rush.
There was an obvious presence in the High Street, but there wasn’t the shopping frenzy we saw after the first lockdown.
Some were perhaps getting the Christmas shopping done as early as possible. | Photo: The Lincolnite
The further uphill you went in town, the quieter it got.
There were still some browsing this morning. | Photo: The Lincolnite
Not many rushing out to shop. | Photo: The Lincolnite
Uphill Lincoln was considerably less populated in the morning, with the top end of the High Street and the Strait seeing next to no queues of eager shoppers.
Limited numbers seen near The Strait. | Photo: The Lincolnite
Whatsapp
