Lincoln’s Usher Gallery continues to be a source of division for the county’s councillors as both sides refuse to move forward.
The City of Lincoln Council said on Monday that Lincolnshire County Council refused its offer to house birth, death and marriage services at City Hall in a bid retain the Usher as an art gallery.
The Usher Gallery, which is owned by City of Lincoln Council and leased to the county council, was built to house pieces of art and historical artefacts.
It was bequeathed to the city by the late jeweller James Usher in 1927.
However Lincolnshire County Council announced in September it intended to hand back control of collections at the Usher Gallery to City of Lincoln Council and reconsider how the building operated.
It included using the landmark as a venue for weddings and other events.
At the time the city council leader Councillor Ric Metcalfe said it was a “betrayal of the county’s rich heritage”.
The authority has since been trying to save the building from the plans.
City of Lincoln Council leader Cllr Ric Metcalfe (left) and Lincolnshire County Council leader Cllr Martin Hill.
Councillor Metcalfe said he was disappointed by the rejection of the latest offer, which he said was trying to “create a win-win” for both sides.
He said: “Lincolnshire County Council has a long-term lease to operate the Usher Gallery in its entirety as a gallery for the benefit of people living and visiting the city.
“This is a long-term contractual commitment on the part of the county council.
“If they do choose to close the Usher Gallery, this will be a tragedy for the city, it will put into jeopardy possible future investment from national bodies for both the Usher and The Collection and could damage the reputation of the county council for some time to come.
“We understand the county council wishes to use the Usher Gallery as a wedding venue and we remain willing to explore the potential for this, but at a scale that does not detract from the building continuing to function as primarily an arts venue across both floors of the building.”
Plans to change the use of the Usher gallery sparked petitions and protests. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Lincolnshire County Council leader Councillor Martin Hill however, said the city council needed to have “flexibility and imagination” to move forward.
He said the authority was grateful for the offer, but that it did not “support the long-term financial sustainability” of the gallery or the “future vision for the wider service”.
Councillor Hill denied the move was driven by saving money on office space, but “to find the right location, so that we can develop our buildings to deliver a thriving and sustainable art offering within our community.
He said constraints such as the listed building status, lack of security and environmental controls limited what could be done.
He pointed to the council’s work at Lincoln Castle as an example of success, adding the plans would “respect the spirit of the Usher bequest” by continuing to display art alongside its other uses.
“As I suggested to Ric, this exciting vision, coordinating artistic, historical and aviation heritage, will only succeed if we all accept flexibility and imagination to move forward and gain external support.”
Limited funds, he said, mean the council was “better to focus spending activity in achieving this on the Collection building” which he said was “more suitable to how gallery spaces are built for modern audiences” and already attracted “significantly greater” visitor numbers.
“We have a bold exciting vision for the future of heritage in Lincolnshire and very much hope that City of Lincoln’s Usher Collection and building will be part of that but we will all need to provide unconditional support.”
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Fuel panic buying in Lincoln returned on Monday after a frenzied weekend — with traffic gridlocks as staff were managing queues at the Shell station on Burton Road.
The queues emerged on Monday afternoon as people were waiting to access the Burton Road Shell garage to fill up their vehicles.
It comes as panic buying fuel continues to plague the county, despite companies consistently saying that there is no shortage, just a dramatic increase in demand.
The government is set to suspend competition law and allow oil firms to target fuel deliveries to petrol stations in order to deal with the demand.
Queues could be seen stretching to the Bishop Grosseteste roundabout. | Photo: The Lincolnite
The traffic spilled out onto the road, with congestion even reaching the roundabout near Bishop Grosseteste University.
There are stewards and lollipop ladies at the Shell garage trying to control traffic flow, which has also coincided with the afternoon school run, prompting a traffic disaster in the uphill Lincoln area.
An eyewitness said that traffic was moving slower than walking pace at around 3.30pm today, despite pleas from Lincolnshire Police over the weekend to not cause “unnecessary delays” by panic buying petrol.
Around 500 mourners gathered at the funeral of two-year-old Louisiana Brooke Dolan, who tragically lost her life in caravan fire at Ingoldmells.
Louisiana was on holiday at the Sealands Caravan Park in Ingoldmells, with her mum Natasha and her three siblings, when the fire broke out on the night of Monday, August 23. The toddler sadly died in the fire, but her mum and the other children were able to escape.
The funeral had a pink theme, with a huge Peppa Pig floral tribute and people wearing pink shirts.
Kind contributors donated more than £19,400 towards the family ahead of the funeral, which took place at St Mary Magdalene Church in Newark on Monday, September 27.
Police investigations are continuing into Louisiana’s death, while an inquest recently gave a provisional cause of death as ‘inhalation of products of combustion’.
A floral tribute to Louisiana Brooke Dolan, who tragically lost her life in a caravan fire in Ingoldmells. | Photo: John Aron
Louisiana Brooke Dolan’s coffin being carried at a very emotional funeral. | Photo: John Aron
| Photo: John Aron
A Peppa Pig floral tribute in memory of Louisiana Brooke-Dolan. | Photo: John Aron
A father from Lincolnshire who lived with brain cancer for six years and defied all doctor expectations to survive, now plans to perform another miracle as he prepares to run the London Marathon.
Ian Davison, 48, from Market Deeping, was diagnosed with cancer in 2006, and after 15 years of treatment and consistently defying the odds of survival, he is now looking to conquer yet another incredible feat.
He will be running the London Marathon on October 3 to raise money for the event’s official charity of the year, Macmillan Cancer Support. You can donate to his fundraiser here.
Ian’s cancer diagnosis came just after his daughter Amelia was born, and it was followed by six years of surgery, treatment and hospital appointments as the cancer was removed.
Just as it looked as though he was on the right path, it returned in his lung, lymph nodes and small intestines before spreading to his brain.
“At that point I was basically told to get my house in order, that I wouldn’t be here by Christmas” he said. “That was a real low point, but I got my head into gear.
“I just thought there are people who are in a worse position than me. I’m still here, I’m going to fight. It was challenging. I was an emotional rollercoaster but I managed to stay positive.”
Ian continued to run five or six miles each week even through cancer treatment and constant surgeries, proving his steel and determination to tackle one of life’s biggest challenges.
He was asked if he would like to test a new immunotherapy drug as part of the treatment, which he accepted, and it turned out to be the “remarkable” decision that saved his life.
He continues: “At that point my prognosis was just to hope for the best, so I thought what have I got to lose. I had my last dose in August 2011. I noticed bumps that had appeared on my body, in my chest, leg and back disappeared.
“The doctors said my response to the drug was remarkable.”
To put into perspective just how incredible Ian’s survival was, patients with melanoma in the brain like him have a median survival rate of just four months, and 10-20% of people survive a year. Ian is totally cured.
Ian will have his final follow-up appointment this October, some 15 years after his first cancer diagnosis, and to mark the occasion he has decided that the London Marathon is the ideal milestone to signal the end of a gruelling ordeal.
He paid thanks to the charity he will be running in aid of, saying: “Macmillan provided me with some great help and advice, during the toughest period of my illness. The Macmillan nurse was amazing. She went through all the fundamentals, but one of the biggest things she did was tell us about critical illness insurance.
“It meant we could pay off our mortgage which made a huge difference. That money at the time was amazing, because when you’re ill the last thing you need is money troubles.
“They also helped us with explaining cancer to our daughter Amelia. Being told you have cancer really is like being hit by a cannonball. That’s why I want to run the marathon for Macmillan, to help other people.”
Healthcare organisations have called on the government to give key workers priority for fuel, as coronavirus cases in Lincolnshire rose by 30% on last Monday’s figures.
Unison has asked the government to “designated fuel stations for the sole use of key workers” as a combination of panic buying and a shortage of lorry drivers sees some forecourts running low, or even empty, according to Sky News.
The union’s general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Essential staff must be able to get to their jobs so they can continue to provide the services so many rely upon.
“Ambulance crews, nurses, care workers, teaching assistants, police staff and other key workers mustn’t be left stranded or forced to queue for hours simply to get to a pump.”
The measure has been backed by the British Medical Association, who say there is a risk NHS staff won’t be able to do their jobs or guarantee care to patients – and other emergency services such as the Police Federation of England and Wales
The latest COVID stats for Lincolnshire:
772 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Greater Lincolnshire on Monday with 483 in Lincolnshire, 80 in North East Lincolnshire and 209 in North Lincolnshire.
Last Monday there were 599 cases – a rise of 29%
One further death of a Lincolnshire resident was also recorded
Hospital data updated to include three further deaths in United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust
Nationally, cases rose by 37,960 while deaths increased by 40
In other headlines, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to meet families of those who lost loved ones to coronavirus.
He is expected to be asked to launch an “immediate” enquiry into the pandemic Since the pandemic began, more than 136,000 people have died with COVID-19.
An international scheme which allocates vaccines around the world is to change its methodologies after the UK received more than half a million doses.
According to Reuters, other poorer countries have been given far fewer, with Botswana was only assigned 20,000 shots.
Now, an overhaul to the allocation methodology will ensure it takes into account the proportion of a country’s population that has been vaccinated.
Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Monday, September 27
113,101 cases (up 772)
74,138 in Lincolnshire (up 483)
18,215 in North Lincolnshire (up 209)
20,748 in North East Lincolnshire (up 80)
2,338 deaths (up one)
1,712 from Lincolnshire (up one)
317 from North Lincolnshire (no change)
309 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)
of which 1,407 hospital deaths (up three)
864 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up three)
44 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
498 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (no change)
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.
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