Angry East Lindsey leaders have accused their county council counterparts of a conspiracy against them as they passed plans to give Fantasy Island free rein to make changes.
The district council’s executive committee on Wednesday approved an amended Local Development Order which will mean the owners of the park will not have to apply for planning permission to make certain changes.
It is hoped the changes will drive further investment by owners the Mellors Group and improve the area’s tourist offering.
However, a number of Lincolnshire County Council departments objected to the order under historic environment, strategic planning, public health, and highwaysgrounds.
Councillor Graham Marsh, however, said the move could “only be a good thing to allow Fantasy Island to be more fleet of foot and give them the confidence to invest and to move forward with modern things.”
He said a similar LDO at Butlins had resulted in substantial investment.
“I’m just very disappointed in some of the objections and where they’ve come from, it almost feels conspiratorial,” he said.
Councillor Steve Kirk said: “Frustration turns to anger when you start reading objection after objection from the same authority.
“It’s as though someone has walked down the corridors at county hall, knocking on doors and saying ‘please can you write an objection it doesn’t matter what grounds just get an objection in’.”
“I’m really, really disappointed that other authorities can’t work with us to drive forward the coast.
“Very, very disappointing, very annoying. I 100% support this because it’s the right thing to do because we are serious about driving forward the coastal economy.”
The virtual meeting of ELDC Executive on Wednesday.
The Environment Agency, Ingoldmells Parish Council, ELDC’s environmental health department and a number of local residents had also objected.
Ingoldmells Ward and County Councillor Colin Davie had also objected due to a lack of consultation, though said it pained him as a “long-time supporter” of extending the summer season.
Following the meeting, he said: “If that’s the allegation then they are wrong in fact, and they should withdraw those comments because that’s simply not the case.
“If there’s any conspiracy and collusion it’s been to avoid consultation with partners in the proper way and through the proper processes. They should look closer to home.
“We have a strategic partnership to manage the coast. The LDO was brought forward by ELDC without any consultation and the first we heard about the proposal was when they published the papers a week before the planning committee”
He said references to economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic and a “rush” to bring the LDO in response were not the right way forward.
Councillor Colin Davie, executive councillor for economy and place at Lincolnshire County Council objected to the plans in his role as Ingoldmells ward councillor. Picture: Calvin Robinson for Lincolnshire Reporter
The order will split the site into three zones and gives each area its own limits as to what can be developed or changed without permission.
It will allow the season to be extended until January 6, reopening again on February 29.
Amendments will forbid hotels, casinos, amusement arcades and other facilities from being built within 30m of residential dwellings.
Fantasy Island will still have to apply for alcohol, live entertainment, gambling, food hygiene and site licences.
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City of Lincoln Council has approved a 1.9% tax hike despite a series of cuts for 2021-22 due to the financial uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 1.9% rise will take city council’s share of council tax for a Band D property in Lincoln to £285.39 – an increase of £5.31.
The executive committee agreed on increasing allotment charges, council house and garage rents.
Council bosses predict a budget gap of £1.75 million and said it must close the hole for financial stability.
Allotment charges will also see most tenants pay between £58.70-£78.30 per year from 2022, an increase of between 38p and 51 pence per week.
Council housing rent will increase by an average of 1.5%, while council garage rents will increase by 3%.
Attendees at City of Lincoln Council’s executive on Monday.
The authority said it faces a number of ongoing challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic and requires a substantial reduction in all of its budgets.
Cllr Ric Metcalfe, Leader of City of Lincoln Council said: “It’sareasonablymodestincreaseformostpeople,andwewill support lowincomegroups stillwiththeconcessions.”
The council has saved more than £9 million annually over the past decade, however will have to increase savings by £850,000 next year, rising to £1.75 million by 2023/24.
Due to the pandemic’s impact on government funded reliefs, empty properties and business closures, the authority estimates it will only retain £5.1 million of the £42 million of business rates generated in the city.
The draft budget will go to consultation and return before the council later this year for a final decision.
There have been 372 new coronavirus cases and nine COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Monday.
The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 325 new cases in Lincolnshire, 30 in North Lincolnshire and 17 in North East Lincolnshire.
Some nine deaths were registered in Lincolnshire and none in North and North East Lincolnshire. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.
NHS England reported nine new local hospital deaths at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust and one at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust on Monday. Hospital deaths have now surpassed 1,000 since the pandemic started in Greater Lincolnshire.
National cases increased by 37,535 to 3,433,494, while deaths rose by 599 to 89,860.
Leader of South Holland District Council, Cllr Lord Gary Porter, put the spike down to outbreaks in two care facilities, one being a children’s care home.
A group of urban explorers who travelled from three different counties to look around derelict buildings were caught and fined in Grantham for breaching lockdown rules. Two groups of revellers in the woods near Woodhall Spa have also been fined.
In national news, Public Health England have confirmed 4,062,501 people have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Those in England aged 70 and over, as well as the clinically extremely vulnerable, will begin receiving offers of a coronavirus vaccine this week.
Ten hospital trusts across England consistently reported having no spare adult critical care beds in the most recent figures available.
It comes as hospital waiting times, coronavirus admissions and patients requiring intensive care are rising.
All UK travel corridors, which allow arrivals from some countries to avoid having to quarantine, have now closed until at least February 15.
Travellers arriving in the UK, whether by boat, train or plane, also have to show proof of a negative coronavirus test to be allowed entry.
Supermarkets face increased inspections from local councils to ensure they are COVID-secure amid a push from the government to clamp down further on coronavirus transmission.
Local governments have been asked by ministers to target the largest supermarkets for inspection to ensure companies are enforcing mask wearing, social distancing and limits on shopper numbers.
Here’s Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rate up to January 17 according to the government dashboard:
Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates from Jan 11 to Jan 17. | Data: Gov UK / Table: James Mayer for The Lincolnite
Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Monday, January 18
Greater Lincolnshire includes Lincolnshire and the unitary authorities of North and North East (Northern) Lincolnshire.
44,374 cases (up 372)
30,784 in Lincolnshire (up 325)
6,927 in North Lincolnshire (up 30)
6,663 in North East Lincolnshire (up 17)
1,686 deaths (up nine)
1,196 from Lincolnshire (up nine)
268 from North Lincolnshire (no change)
222 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)
of which 1,006 hospital deaths (up 10)
612 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up nine)
30 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
363 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up one)
3,433,494 UK cases, 89,860 deaths
DATA SOURCE — FIGURES CORRECT AT THE TIME OF the latest update. postcode data includes deaths not in healthcare facilities or in hospitals outside authority boundaries.
Eight people were fined for two separate COVID-19 rule breaches over the weekend, after being found partying and camping near Woodhall Spa.
Officers were called to two different incidents at Ostler’s Plantation, a woodland area near Woodhall Spa on Saturday, January 16 and on Sunday, January 17.
Five people were issued with £200 fines after a report of partying at around 11.08pm on Saturday.
The next morning, police were again called to the area at 8.21am after people were seen camping at the location.
Three people were fined as a result of this, again valued at £200 due to being first time offenders.
If these fines are paid within 14 days of the offence, the cost will be cut in half to £100.
On the same weekend, but this time in a different location, six urban explorers were fined after travelling from three different counties to try and gain access to an abandoned hospital in Grantham.
The behaviour of COVID-19 rule breakers has been described as “dangerous” by Lincolnshire Police’s assistant chief constable Kerrin Wilson, who referred to them as “Covidiots”.
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