The purchase of the Coveris building by West Lindsey District Council cost £6.47 million.
A district council leader is promising further investment as his authority announces its ‘most significant’ £6.1 million spend so far — this time on a local property.
West Lindsey District Council confirmed it has purchased Unit 5 on Sanders Road in Gainsborough, currently let to Coveris Flexibles.
The council has set aside £30 million for property investments, which it is hoped will help tackle a shortfall in government grants of £4 million since 2012 — with tougher cuts on the horizon.
This means it still has £17 million potentially in the coffers, and council leader Jeff Summers has confirmed more purchases are on the horizon — the authority has already confirmed a second Gainsborough property is under consideration.
The council makes return on the properties through the rent to the businesses leasing them – with £439,000 through rent brought in through the Sheffield properties and £159,430 through the hotel.
The return from the latest investment has not been revealed at the time of publication.
Councillor Summers said: “We cannot sit back and take the cuts to our budget without doing everything we can to bring in extra money to help maintain and improve the services that matter most, to local people. That is the basis for our property investment strategy.
He said the authority had been open and transparent about its actions and had consulted with residents.
“We have also made it very clear that our investments, whether they are inside or outside the district, will ultimately support services and be put back into the economic regeneration and growth of our district,” he added.
“We’re trying to generate the best possible return for our residents’ and will therefore consider investing in opportunities wherever they arise.”
He added that the council was accessing ‘sound’ financial and legal knowledge, and took care to follow ‘tough guidelines’.
Richard Brooke of Cushman & Wakefield, who worked with the council on purchasing the property, called the purchase the “most significant in terms of lot size and portfolio weighting.”
Ian Knowles Executive Director at WLDC said councils have to do things differently in order to deliver services for local people.
He said: “We are not alone in our approach to investment opportunities.
Mr Knowles added: “If suitable investment properties became available in West Lindsey it is likely the council would be interested in adding to its portfolio, but the sites have to meet the same criteria as all other investment properties.”
He outlined a ‘stringent set’ of guiding principles including a 14-point scoring criteria.
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A local family business is preparing to open another Greek takeaway after leasing a new premises in Birchwood.
The Papadopoulos family moved to Lincoln around 10 years ago before purchasing The Plough pub in Nettleham in 2015, from where they serve food including Greek cuisine.
They also own the Greek2Me takeaway next door and the family will open a second in a unit formerly occupied by an Indian takeaway at the Birchwood Shopping Centre by the end of April. It will serve Lincoln, Skellingthorpe and other surrounding villages.
Greek2Me has taken over a premises formerly occupied by an Indian takeaway at the Birchwood Shopping Centre.
The Greek2Me business was born after the family from Rhodes moved to Lincoln.
Christos and Joanne Papadopoulos had worked as servers at Carluccio’s in Lincoln and wanted to bring their own authentic Greek food to the city.
Spryos Papadopoulos, who manages the Nettleham takeaway, started working in the food industry around two years ago and has been helping his parents alongside his brother George.
They also previously owned a premises at Burton Waters, although this is still in the family and owned by another relative and now called Greek House.
Inside Greek2Me’s new premises in Birchwood.
Spryos told The Lincolnite: “We’ve had a lot of people asking us if can deliver around the North Hykeham and Birchwood area and the new takeaway will hopefully open us up to the rest of Lincoln.
“In the future we are also hoping to open other takeaways elsewhere in the county or even away from Lincolnshire.
“It feels amazing that we will be opening a new takeaway and we’ve had really good feedback from people on Facebook.
“We will be bringing good quality food to make people happy and give them a new experience.”
The new takeaway will initially create 2-3 new jobs, with a scope for more in the future.
Euromillions winner Matt Topham caused a fatal crash when he took his eyes off the road to retrieve his two-year old’s teddy bear while he was driving, a jury was told on Monday at Lincoln Crown Court.
Topham, 31, who won £45 million in 2012, was approaching a left hand bend on a country road near Louth, Lincs, on Christmas Day 2019, when he turned round to look for the teddy in the footwell of his BMW X6 and veered into the opposite carriageway.
The jury at Lincoln Crown Court was told that the child was upset and crying because of his teddy, but rather than stopping his vehicle to find the bear Topham continued to drive.
As he went into the bend his car struck an oncoming Ford Fiesta head-on, the court heard.
Mary Jane Regler, 75, who was a front seat passenger in the Fiesta, was killed as a result. Her husband Rodney, who was driving, was seriously injured.
The couple were returning home after visiting their son for a family Christmas Day dinner.
Topham and his wife were in separate vehicles, and heading for home after visiting his wife’s parents at their home at Rushmoor Country Park, near Louth, when the collision occurred, the jury heard.
Michael Cranmer-Brown, prosecuting, told the jury: “It is accepted that the collision was entirely the fault of this defendant.
“On his own admission in interview, for a few seconds leading up to the collision he did not have his eyes on the road and he was not actually looking where he was going.
“As a consequence of not looking where he was going, as he was approaching this right hand bend his BMW crossed into the opposite carriageway and collided with the Fiesta causing the death of Mrs Regler.
“The driving of Mr Regler was not in any way responsible for the collision.
“The defendant’s account is that his attention was diverted by his looking behind him into the rear passenger footwell so as to retrieve his two-year-old son’s teddy bear.
“He took a conscious decision to look behind him. He took his eyes off the road.”
The prosecutor said that the child was crying due to his teddy being missing.
“The defendant tried to find the teddy bear by putting his arm behind him and stretched back into the passenger footwell.
“He turned his attention from the road to look behind himself into the footwell to try to find the teddy, plainly not looking at the road and where he was going.
“Once he found it he passed it to his son. He said he couldn’t be sure how long he was looking behind him.
“The defendant said that when he turned his attention back to the road to his horror, he found he was driving into the path of a vehicle coming in the opposite direction. It was Mr Regler’s Ford Fiesta.”
Mr Cranmer-Brown said Topham tried to swerve out of the way but it was too late to avoid a collision.
“Mr Regler coming in the opposite direction had no chance to react. He was driving at a steady speed between 30 and 40 mph. He was suddenly confronted by headlights on his side of the road right in front of him.
“He recalls saying out loud ‘For Christ’s sake he’s on my side of the road.’
“Mr Regler could do nothing to avoid a collision.
“The impact occurred wholly on the eastbound carriageway which was the correct carriageway for Mr Regler.”
Mr Regler, 77, survived but suffered serious injuries including fractures to his right heel and ankle, a fractured sternum, fractured ribs and three cracked vertabrae.
Mr Cranmer-Brown said that after the collision both drivers were tested and the results showed alcohol played no part in the collision.
Rodney Regler, in a statement read to the jury, said: “Even though it was a 60 limit I was only doing 35 to 40 mph. There was no traffic and we were idly chatting about what we were going to do when we got home.
“It happened so quickly. I wasn’t aware of any headlights until they appeared right in front of me.
“I turned sharply to the left towards the verge.
“It all happened so quickly. There were no other vehicles around.
“It’s simple. The other car was on my side of the road and I had no chance to react to avoid a collision.”
The jury was read details of police interviews in which Topham admitted he was at fault saying “I turned round to get the teddy and that was my mistake.”
Matthew Topham, 31, of Swinderby, Lincolnshire, denies causing the death of Mary Regler by dangerous driving on Christmas Day 2019.
The jury has been told that he admits the lesser charge of causing her death by careless driving.
Topham also denies causing serious injury to Rodney Regler by dangerous driving.
The charges follow the head on collision on Louth Road, North Cockerington, near Louth. The trial continues.
Boyes is hopeful of remaining in Lincoln as it continues the search for a new location after the closure of its store in the city.
The family-owned discount store located in the City Square Centre started to wind down in January this year and became more and more empty as the weeks went by before it closed for good in February.
However, W Boyes and Company is still hopeful it can remain in the city and is looking for a new store location.
When the firm was contacted by The Lincolnite for further information it said it had no comment to make at this time.
There are plans to demolish the City Square Centre, which now appears to be completely shut. | Photo: The Lincolnite
Lincolnshire Co-op already previously closed its own store in the centre, as well as the pharmacy, and moved them to a nearby location in the Cornhill Quarter area of the city.
The Post Office also closed at the centre on February 23 before relocating and opening in Unit 7 at the Stonebow Centre later the same week.
A spokesperson for Lincolnshire Co-op previously said: “The City Square Centre has been earmarked for development for several years as part of the Co-op’s long term approach to provide a further range of amenities for the local community.
“We plan to apply for planning permission to replace the centre with a new building in keeping with the rest of the Cornhill Quarter.
“We have been working with tenants to support them in finding alternative premises during this time. We look forward to sharing further development news in the near future.
“We have also been exploring options for the post office for some time and are working with Post Office Ltd to identify a new location for this service.”
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