December 31, 2014 9.09 am
This story is over 81 months old
Reflections: Looking back, looking forward
Martin Hill, the Leader of Lincolnshire County Council, looks back on past successes and forward to future challenges in the new year for Lincoln and the county.
Lincolnshire County Council Leader Martin Hill
By Martin HillLeader of Lincolnshire County Council
New Year is a special time, offering the opportunity to look back on past successes and forward to future challenges. Here at Lincolnshire County Council, we’ve got our fair share of both, and I’d like to highlight a few through The Lincolnite.
One hugely important success is the opening of the £145m Energy from Waste plant in North Hykeham in March 2014.
This state-of-the art facility – the biggest investment in Lincolnshire since the cathedral – is on target to process 150,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste in its first year.
By burning the rubbish safely at extremely high temperatures, we’re removing the need to bury it in landfill sites.
Over its 25-year lifetime, the plant – officially opened a few weeks ago by Business Secretary Vince Cable – will save the taxpayer an estimated £28m in landfill charges.
It will also generate enough clean electricity for 26,500 homes every year, helping meet our energy needs while protecting the local environment.
Elsewhere in Lincoln, the council and its partners have started work on the £22m East-West Link, connecting High Street to Pelham Bridge and Canwick Road.
It will provide a new route across the city, avoiding the High Street level crossing, while Network Rail is building footbridges both there and at Brayford Wharf East.
Outside the city centre, work will start early in the New Year on upgrading Canwick Road, with an additional southbound lane being created.
There will also be improvements at the South Park Avenue and Washingborough Road junctions, and an old railway culvert will be converted into a subway.
Looking ahead, we’re determined to make further progress towards the creation of the Lincoln Eastern Bypass, easing congestion and boosting economic prosperity.
To support local jobs and businesses, the council plays a leading role in the Greater Lincolnshire Enterprise Partnership, which has secured £40m from the Government’s Growth Deal, with a further £27.5m earmarked for the future.
Our Onlincolnshire project with BT is also ensuring the rapid roll-out of superfast broadband across the county, with availability set to reach 89% of all properties by 2016.
Then there is the Lincolnshire Health and Care initiative, which aims to provide much more integrated health and social care services for our growing population, particularly as many of us live for longer.
Already, neighbourhood teams have been launched in some areas, including the south of Lincoln, to ensure you get the right care, when you need it, close to home.
Looking forward to 2015, I’m excited about the Lincoln Castle Revealed Project, with the refurbished site opening to visitors in April, ready for the Magna Carta 800th anniversary celebrations in June.
Of course, all this investment costs money, as do the many services we provide – day in, day out, all year round – for local residents.
Despite that, we have found savings of around £150m since 2011, and are now looking to reduce our annual budget by a further £90m.
It’s a major challenge for us in 2015 and beyond, but it can be done – particularly with input from residents.
Our initial budget proposals for the new financial year will be available at www.lincolnshire.gov.uk from 6 January.
If you have a moment in New Year, please let us know your views before 3 February, whether online, by emailing [email protected] or on our answerphone at 01522 553648.
If you prefer, you can write (no stamp required) to Lincolnshire County Council, Resources and Community Safety Directorate, Treasury and Financial Strategy, FREEPOST RSTY-UXJB-ARHK, Lincoln, LN1 1YL.
Thank you in anticipation of your input – and a Happy New Year to all The Lincolnite readers!
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Martin Hill OBE is the Conservative Leader of Lincolnshire County Council. A former farmer, Martin was elected to Lincolnshire County Council in 1993, representing Folkingham Rural. He became council leader in 2005 and was later awarded an OBE for services to Lincolnshire. Martin lives in a former pub at Kirby Underwood with wife Janice and their irrepressible Patterdale Terrier, Boris.
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 35-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of possession of drugs with intent to administer them at a Lincoln night club.
Police arrested the 35-year-old in the early hours of Friday morning after “swift and proactive” work in partnership with staff at a nightclub in the city, officers and CCTV teams.
The man was arrested on suspicion of drug possession with intent to administer them, in light of recent drink spiking incidents in the city.
It has sparked outrage, with a boycott of nightclubs and bars planned on Wednesday, October 27 to raise awareness of the issue.
Marc Jones, Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner, said the arrest was ‘superb’ and should send a ‘huge signal’ to any would be criminals.
A superb arrest! We cannot accept people being unsafe when they go out with friends for a drink. This arrest should send a huge signal to those would be criminals who look to prey on our community in this despicable way. https://t.co/dBaebzqbq4
South Kesteven District Council officers will try to block plans to build more than 200 new homes in Stamford.
The authority’s planning committee will be asked to consider an application from Vistry Partnerships, Cross Keys Developments, Wm Morrisons and New River Retail to build 213 homes on land north of Uffington Road on Thursday.
However, officers have said the proposal is “of poor quality design and layout, falling well short of an acceptable standard” and that it “fails to suitably reflect the gateway location to the town”.
“The proposed density is excessive for the context, resulting in deficiencies in public open space and landscaping provision and in dominant and incongruous buildings at the site entrance which is a key entrance point to the town,” said a report before members.
“Furthermore, the proposal, considered together with the submitted masterplan and design code fails to demonstrate that the wider site allocation would be developed holistically and with provision of suitable connections to the surrounding area and town centre.”
They added the loss of employment land was not “adequately justified”.
How the site would be laid out.
The new homes would include a mixture of one and two-bedroom apartments and two to four-bedroom houses. The plans would also see 136 of the properties (64%) allocated as affordable.
Objections from Stamford’s town council and civic society along with several residents raised concerns over the impact on local infrastructure, noise and light, drainage and highways.
In documents to the council, the applicants said the proposals would contribute “a range of high-quality new homes on a redundant brownfield site, to meet the demand for housing supply in the region”.
They added it would connect pedestrian links, create access to public transport, and incorporate existing green infrastructure.
“It will provide a range of new homes, in a coherent layout and of a style that will create a unique sense of place,” they said.
Around 150 homes in a North Lincolnshire village have been protected from tidal surges and sea level rises after work finished on a £14m flood defence scheme.
The major investment in South Ferriby also protects 3,000 hectares of agricultural land and vital infrastructure, including the A1077 and the Scunthorpe to Grimsby railway line, which carries 20% of the UK’s freight.
It is estimated the work will prevent £248m of potential economic damage over lifespan of the defences.
The project stated in April 2019 and has seen around 3km of new and raised defences built between Ferriby Sluice and South Ferriby village, including embankments, flood walls, de-mountable barriers and flood gates.
The 13-metre flood gates slide across the A1077, closing in 15 minutes, and are the first of their kind in the country to operate across an A-road.
The scheme was completed this summer is being officially by Environment Agency chief executive Sir James Bevan today.
The new defences are now higher than the water level seen in the devastating tidal surge of December 2013. That means local communities are now protected from a similar event.
The height also takes account of climate change predictions up to the 2050s.
| Photo: DC Imaging
Kate Halka, operations manager for the Environment Agency, said: “This marks an important milestone for the community. 150 properties, vast areas of agricultural land, and key infrastructure on which local people and the economy depend are now better protected from tidal flooding and sea level rise.
“We understand the devastation and heartache flooding brings, and have worked tirelessly with our partners to bring this scheme to South Ferriby.
“Of course, it’s impossible to completely eliminate the risk of flooding – people should always make sure they plan for the worst and sign up to receive warnings – but we can manage that risk, as we have here.
“The results will benefit people, properties, livelihoods, the environment and the economy for years to come.”
Further work is now under way to install ‘property flood resilience’ measures to around 20 homes in Winteringham.
Low-lying communities along the Humber are at risk of tidal flooding and sea level rise, with South Ferriby experiencing significant flooding in 1953 and 1987. But it was in 2013 that the most recent event hit, when the most severe tidal surge in 60 years struck the east coast of Britain.
The resulting flooding affected 129 properties in South Ferriby and 13 in Winteringham, alongside 1,000 hectares of agricultural land that took at least six years to recover. A main route – the A1077 – was closed for four days and the CEMEX cement plant was put out of action for a year. The damage is thought to have cost the economy £50bn.
Councillor Sara Haddon, chairman of the South Ferriby Parish Council Flood Protection Committee, said: “Residents of South Ferriby Sluice are delighted that the new defences are now complete. Memories of the 2013 floods are still raw and the new defences mean that they can sleep easy as we approach the coming winter.”
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