A Lincolnshire housing association is looking into new ways of fitting much-needed housing into areas with limited space.
Larkfleet Group has applied for permission to build a prototype pair of “elevated modular houses” on Austendyke Road, in Weston Hills, for five years.
The group says the new designs could potentially be built in areas which already have “part-time land use”, such as car parks, without needing to replace the facilities.
Larkfleet says the research will allow it to “design, construct and test new technology that does not currently exist around the world”.
An example of the modular designed home, without the frame.
Documents to South Holland District Council say: “The application intends to research how the innovative and contemporary design of dwellings can work to provide housing in areas of land supply shortage, and particularly in areas where land is only in use part of the time, in a number of potential settings/locations, whilst meeting the needs of modern generations who require functional efficient housing space.”
The applicant adds that the housing could also be made to be more resilient to flooding because of its raised floor levels and adaptations to materials, electrics and plumbing.
The buildings will fit in spaces above eight standard-sized parking spaces and will be “open plan” with a front balcony and bike storage area.
It will include electric car charging points incorporated into the frame.
Larkfleet’s elevating house, which raises a home to 1.5m above the ground, is already being built nearby.
The research will be carried out close to another of the group’s projects – the elevating house.
This experimental project, currently being built, sees a three-bedroom detached house that can be raised up to 1.5 metres above ground level using mechanical jacks.
The aim is raise the building well ahead of the arrival of flood waters, based on advanced warnings from the Environment Agency and Larkfleet says the 65-tone houses can be jacked up in “less than five minutes”.
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Weapon-enabled crime in our county is low in comparison to other parts of the country – but we are not complacent, and one knife is one too many.
Now, our communities can feel even more reassured about the safety of our streets following a successful week of action to reduce knife crime which saw more than 240 blades handed in to stations across the county.
As part of the Op Sceptre week of action, eight surrender bins were set up at stations in Boston, Skegness, Louth, Horncastle, Spalding, Grantham, Stamford, South Park, and resulted in 246 weapons being anonymously handed in, including swords, flick knives and other bladed banned under the Offensive Weapons Act. This type of opportunity enables weapons to be safely removed from the streets and out of the hands of potential offenders.
Officers across the Force also carried out 35 stop and searches, resulting in five knife-related arrests, and four weapons being recovered from someone carrying it on the street. They also made six further weapons-related arrests, recovering a further three knives.
Officers and PCSOs from our Neighbourhood Policing Teams also carried out five engagement events at secondary schools which engaged just over 500 young people and provided an opportunity to educate them around the law and the risks of carrying a weapon.
A sculptor living in Lincoln has two new wood carving creations that have given a new lease of life to old tree trunks in the city.
Christian Andreolli, 56, carved his latest creation using an oak tree that is a quarter of a century old, and hopes it can be used as a sculpture in Lincolnshire.
The design is called Farmlife and depicts a goat, pig and horses intertwined into one wooden sculpture that stands 3.2 metres high, after being carved out of a 4.1 tonne English oak tree trunk.
A look at the gigantic tree trunk Christian carved to create Farmlife. | Photo: Christian Andreolli
Christian said it took him 16 days to make the sculpture, using at least 20 chains to remove ingrown metal nails from the wood, dating back over 100 years.
He said of Farmlife: “This oak was slow grown with no fungus or other diseases, it had to go because it was too close to a house in Legsby.
“The buyer of the sculpture can now enjoy the view of the artwork for another hundred years, and I would be very happy to see it stay in the county as a landmark or eye-catcher.”
He hopes that this sculpture will end up staying in Lincolnshire when it is bought. | Photo: Christian Andreolli
He has previously made garden benches for pubs, carved monuments for Woodside Wildlife Park, and animal designs for private clients.
Christian’s hand sculpture was made for Lincoln business Signs Express, and it sits proudly outside its offices. | Photo: Christian Andreolli
This latest creation is also announced alongside another design of his, which is a three-metre high carving of a hand, for signage experts Signs Express in Lincoln.
The design sits proudly outside the firm’s offices on Wrightsway, and was carved using a three tonne ash tree trunk.
Christian pictured here with the finished product. | Photo: Christian Andreolli
To see more of Christian’s portfolio or to book him for commission of a sculpture, visit his website.
An ex-Royal Marine from Lincolnshire who has been a bodyguard for Russell Crowe, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie is hoping to break the stigma around self-defence and protect society from unprovoked attacks.
Dene Josham, 50, from Louth, set up Streetwise Defence around 15 years ago after years of being trained to deal with combat and aggressive situations, both as a doorman and a bodyguard for some of the Hollywood elite.
He has always taken a keen interest in boxing and martial arts, having fought at Lincoln Drill Hall in his earlier years, before pursuing a career as a Royal Marine.
Dene has been running Streetwise for around 15 years. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
His time in the marines was cut short after he was hit by a car, which prompted a rethink for Dene, who then went on to do body guarding courses, before being trusted to protect local authorities, and eventually movie stars.
Dene’s most notable clients were Russell Crowe, who he chaperoned during the run for 2006 film A Good Year, and then Hollywood power couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
Dene has looked after some very famous people as a bodyguard, including Brad Pitt. | Photo: Streetwise Defence
“When Angelina was pregnant with the twins I was called over to work for the family,” Dene told The Lincolnite. “There was an $8 million reward for the first pictures of the twins to be captured, and it was my job to stop that from happening, which was a lot of responsibility.”
Dene on the red carpet with Russell Crowe. | Photo: Streetwise Defence
After a few years away in Libya and Iraq during his body guarding days, Dene had a rethink about Streetwise Defence and how he could better hone in on his craft, and that started with breaking a pretty important stigma surrounding self-defence.
He has huge plans for Streetwise, and hopes it can help people feel safer in everyday life. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
He said: “Various incidents over the last couple of years in local and national media prompted me to develop the brand differently, but it’s important to show people the reality of what we are dealing with.
“99% of social violence can be de-escalated, so long as the psychology of someone is understood, so we focus more on addressing and noticing the red flags. A physical response is often the last resort.”
Dene showed us a few techniques, including palm striking and something called shredding, which can distract attackers for long enough to plan an escape. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
The Lincolnite met up with Dene to try out some of his techniques and learn a bit about what his classes can show you about the potential risks of an attack and how you can be better prepared against them.
Dene’s self-defence classes don’t focus heavily on martial arts techniques, but are instead centred around the emotion behind incidents like unprovoked attacks, or how the target can respond in the face of danger.
Dene ran through some really handy tips for reporter Ellis Karran. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
As well as detailing criminal law and ensuring people who come to his classes understand their rights, Dene also looks at using everyday household items that could come in handy at an urgent time of crisis.
Part of the session looks at prevention methods from items that can be carried in a bag, such as spray, alarms, lights and pens. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Dene told us during this session: “If we can understand human nature and behaviour, we can understand the reasons behind why things happen.
“It is also about being aware of your surroundings. Red flags to look out for include gestures, body language and how close someone gets to you, as the threat level naturally rises the closer someone gets to you.
“It’s sad that I have to be here doing these sessions, ideally people wouldn’t need my knowledge, but the fact of the matter is these things happen and they can happen to us all, so we need to be prepared for that eventuality.”
Dene explained to us that 90% of attacks come from people we know. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
The sessions are for both men and women, but Dene recommends booking sessions for the same gender due to the sensitive nature of the topics that can be covered.
They last around three and a half hours with comfort breaks, and look into the mindset of an attacker, adrenaline switches, improvised weapons, how to stay safe and role playing scenarios, all to increase your self-defence skills.
A series of very handy tips and tricks to help prevent attacks, whether they are provoked or not. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
When asked about the ultimate goal and mission of Streetwise Defence, Dene said: “Ideally we want to go into more schools and educate children on how they can keep safe in these situations.
“It’s all about dispelling the notion that people have, a preconceived idea on self-defence. Despite what others may teach, it’s more about human psychology than physicality. Everyone is driven by emotion, so it is important to understand that and take it into consideration when facing a scenario.
“Ultimately it can happen to anyone, so we want to teach you to investigate risks, and focus on awareness and avoidance, because these are survival skills that mean you don’t need to walk around feeling intimidated all the time.”
Streetwise Defence is available for all people, young and old, to better educate society on the dangers that criminal attacks can possess. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Streetwise Defence has teamed up with Rob Fulton and Andy Parr at Lincoln Grappling Coalition on Wavell Drive, offering their facilities as a space for lessons. They can also travel to companies, universities and schools for group classes.
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