The Usher Gallery in Lincoln | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
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.”
Spotted an error? Please notify us by selecting that text and pressing Ctrl+Enter.
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.
Lincoln Cathedral will open its Christmas events to the public despite the COVID-19 pandemic, including a new outdoor carol service.
The service will take place at the newly opened Dean’s Green at 3.45pm on Sunday, December 20, as the cathedral choir perform a range of festive family favourites.
A popular Christmas tradition is also returning this year, with the Service of Lessons and Carols happening over four consecutive days to allow more people to see it.
This will take place from Monday, December 21 to Thursday, December 24 at 4pm to make up for the reduced numbers that can gather at the cathedral, due to COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions.
Midnight Mass will be another event to take place as usual, at 11.30pm on Christmas Eve, while the Christmas Day Eucharist will be held at 10.30am.
The Dean of Lincoln Cathedral, The Very Revd Christine Wilson, has also confirmed that public worship will restart from December 2, in line with the country coming out of national lockdown.
She said: “There can be no doubt that Advent and Christmas will be very different this year and we are committed to offering music and worship to lift the heart and soul.
“In these challenging times we hope to bring comfort and joy in to people’s lives through acts of care and compassion and the demonstration of God’s love.”
The full daily pattern of worship will not change from what it was prior to the start of lockdown, with Evensong on a Tuesday and Friday.
There have been 279 new coronavirus cases and 36 COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Wednesday.
The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 204 new cases in Lincolnshire, 40 in North East Lincolnshire and 35 in North Lincolnshire.
On Wednesday, 25 deaths were registered in Lincolnshire, seven in North East Lincolnshire and four in North Lincolnshire. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.
NHS England reported 13 new local hospital deaths on Wednesday, including eight at United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust, three at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust and two at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals.
United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust has now surpassed 300 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
On Wednesday, national cases increased by 16,170 to 1,659,256 while deaths rose by 648 to 59,699.
In local news, Lincolnshire health bosses welcomed the first UK-approved COVID-19 vaccine, which will be rolled out from next week to priority groups such as NHS workers. Here’s who will get the vaccine first.
The leader of South Holland District Council has apologised to his residents for “failing” to convince government to take the area out of the toughest coronavirus restrictions. Lord Gary Porter has been one of a number of council leaders in Lincolnshire arguing that it was unfair for the whole of the county to begin in tier three restrictions due to the differences in infection rates across districts.
Matt Hancock has announced a new chapter for COVID-19 with the launch of the Pfizer vaccine from next week. The health secretary said in the House of Commons today that the vaccine is “particularly challenging to deploy” due to its storage temperature of -70℃.
Later in the evening Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned there would still be some months before everyone could get a jab. He acknowledged that would mean “continued hardship” and it will “continue to be tough” for some sectors until the vaccine is deployed.
“Our plan does rely on all of us continuing to make sacrifices to protect those we love so please continue to follow the rules where you live, remember, hands, face, space, and if you live in a tier three area where community testing will be made available, please take part in that.
“Together, these steps are, for now, the surest way to protect yourselves, and those you love, and by reducing the transmission of the virus, help de-escalate your area to a lower level of restrictions.”
Here’s the infection rate in your area up to December 2:
Data: GOV UK / Table: The Lincolnite
Lincolnshire’s cases up to December 2 (recent five days incomplete).
Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire for Wednesday, December 2
27,121 cases (up 279)
17,053 in Lincolnshire (up 204)
4,831 in North Lincolnshire (up 35)
5,237 in North East Lincolnshire (up 40)
931 deaths (up 36)
610 from Lincolnshire (up 25)
165 from North Lincolnshire (up four)
156 from North East Lincolnshire (up seven)
of which 568 hospital deaths (up 13)
306 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up eight)
14 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (up two)
1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
247 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up three)
1,659,256 UK cases, 59,699 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.
There will be a Christmas market in Lincoln this year, as the Lincoln Makers’ Market gets the go-ahead to trade in December.
Organisers had originally feared that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the market would fall victim to the same fate as the popular Lincoln Christmas Market and be cancelled.
The Makers Market has now been approved by City of Lincoln Council and will be held at Castle Square on the top of Steep Hill between Thursday, December 3 and Sunday, December 6.
According to Visit Lincoln, the event will be open from 10am to 6pm each day and is totally free to browse.
Lincolnshire’s move into tier 3 lockdown, the highest possible tier, made the event seem impossible, but organisers have been given license to hold the market this year, so long as guidelines are followed.
It is usually held monthly from March to December, but has been unable to run smoothly this year as a result of coronavirus and lockdown.
The festive market will sell homemade gifts, crafts and other local independent items from a variety of traders, including pottery, ceramics, wool couture and glass art.
It won’t be entirely ‘normal’ however, with fewer stalls being arranged to maintain social distancing and prevent spreading the virus.
Each stall holder will provide hand sanitiser for customers, everyone is being asked to wear face covering when attending, and customers aren’t advised to handle any products unless they are buying them.
Whatsapp
