422 COVID-19 cases, 12 deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Tuesday

A Shadow Executive made up up Labour and Independent councillors has been formed as the opposition on Conservative-led Lincolnshire County Council.

Councillor Robert Park, Labour Group Leader, will serve as Leader of the Opposition until the next Annual Meeting of the Council in May 2022. The role will then transfer to Councillor Phil Dilks, Independent Group Leader, for the following year.

This follows the agreement at the county council meeting on September 18 that the Labour Group and Independent Group should together be recognised as the opposition.

September’s council meeting also endorsed a protocol to alternate the post of Leader of the Opposition on an annual basis.

The eight elected members of the county council named as the official Shadow Executive are as follows:

Labour

• Councillor Robert Parker – Resources, Communications, Commissioning, and Procurement
• Councillor Julie Killey – Children’s Services including Safeguarding
• Councillor Karen Lee – Adult Social Care, including Local Authority Public Health
• Councillor Kev Clarke – Fire and Rescue, including Community Safety and Cultural Services

Councillor Robert Parker said:“This is a practical solution to make sure that there is a recognised Opposition to hold Conservative councillors and particularly the Executive to account for their actions.

“We will be doing so on behalf of the people of Lincolnshire. After all, the Council has a revenue budget of £505 million a year and a capital budget of £208 million: scrutiny of that level of expenditure is essential.

“We will also be putting forward our own policies as will the Independents. Where we agree with their policy proposals no doubt we will support them.”

Independents

• Councillor Phil Dilks – Waste, Trading Standards, People Management, Legal and Corporate Property
• Councillor Ashley Baxter – Economic Development, Environment and Planning
• Councillor Marianne Overton – Highways, Transport and IT
• Councillor Richard Cleaver – NHS Liaison and Community Engagement

Councillor Phil Dilks said: “Effective Opposition and well-informed constructive scrutiny in local government contributes to more robust and accountable decision-making. So it’s important that an agreement has been achieved which allows a functioning Shadow Executive to be established.

“We look forward to working creatively to offer positive and innovative proposals for the benefit of the people of Lincolnshire – whilst ensuring that the identity and integrity of both our groups is maintained.”

The family of Keith Smith has paid tribute to the 70-year-old biker after he died in a crash with a car towing a trailer near Market Rasen.

The incident happened on October 6, 2021, on the B1202 at Lissington.

Keith’s family released the following tribute:

Keith left home on his trusted motorbike, to make the most of the good weather and have a cup of tea at Willingham Woods. Unfortunately, he never made it home and this is the worst tragedy ever for our family to lose him in such unbelievable circumstances; we are all so devastated.

Keith was a much loved husband, father, brother, brother-in-law, granddad, uncle and friend. He was well respected and loved in many different communities, including Karate (for over 40 years), trials bike riding, the Lincoln branch of the Triumph owners club and the Institute of Advanced Motorcycle training (IAM).

He was first and foremost a family man, he was an engineer, intelligent, intellectual, he was a deep thinker and would be calculated and calm in everything he did.

He had a passion for motorbikes almost his entire life, from the age of 12-years-old. He covered hundreds of thousands of miles over the years on his motorbike, mostly with his wife of almost 50 years, as a pillion. He’d also covered tens of thousands of miles on his bicycle. He enjoyed keeping his mind and body fit and healthy.

We’ll remember him with such love and affection. He was always there for family and friends, no matter what the situation was.

Keith was our rock, the man who was always dependable, reliable and on time. He was always busy with a project and always on the go. He was successful in whatever he turned his hand to, be it family life, work or hobbies.

Keith was our hero, such a quiet, loving, unassuming man and we’ll miss him forever.

If you would like to share a photograph or a story about Keith, please add them to this memorial page for everyone to enjoy.
Keith Smith’s Online Memorial – Remembered.com

The bin drama continues in North Kesteven, with many disgruntled residents criticising the new strict recycling rules that saw thousands of green (recycling) bins given the ‘tag of shame’ as they were rejected for collection.

North Kesteven District Council has recently introduced a fourth bin, a purple-lidded one, for dry and clean paper and cardboard, which prompted confusion for what actually can go in the green recycling bins.

As part of the new bin rollout, recycling bins are being checked for incorrect items, and those that contain things which can’t be recycled or are meant for another bin will get reminder tags detailing where the resident has gone wrong. The bin remains uncollected until the incorrect items are removed.

It comes after over 9,000 ‘tags of shame’ were placed on green bins in North Kesteven last week, meaning almost 20% of the recycling bins in the district were rejected in the second collection since the purple bin scheme started.

In contrast to this, the first week of the new purple bin collections, which ran from September 27, saw just 1.5% of bins rejected.

The fallout has reached boiling point with residents, as some say that they will just put most rubbish in the black bin to save the bother of having their collection rejected.

Some have even been jokingly offering a bin checking service in the area at a small cost to ensure that the authorities don’t reject their green bins, while others are offering to clear out bins that have been tagged.

Darren James commented on The Lincolnite‘s story saying: “Watch bin wars start now, where people will empty their bins into other people’s.”

There are suggestions that go as far as to say that council tax in the area should be reduced, as the residents are now “doing the council’s job”.

Joey Brown left a comment which read: “[This] does not encourage recycling. Our council tax goes up, but our bin collections are fewer”, while Sam Seaman suggested that he “might just use my black bin for everything” from now on.

North Kesteven District Council replied to one tweet which accused the council of “actively encouraging residents” to put waste into black bins rather than recycling.

NKDC responded: “We’re asking people to try and put as much recycling as they can in their green bins. We do understand though that, being realistic in the short term, some may need to put some items in their black bin.”

A spokesman for the council recently reiterated that what can and can’t be recycled has not actually changed, just simply which bin it now goes in.

A North Kesteven District Council illustration of what should go in each bin. | Image: NKDC

Council leader, Councillor Richard Wright, said: “Contamination is an issue which is increasingly impacting on how much can be recycled and undermining all the efforts our households are making on their recycling at home.

“The only way to stop this is by everyone taking responsibility for our waste, by making sure only the right thing goes into the right bin.

“The wrong things regularly found in green-lidded bins – from soft plastics such as film lids and carrier bags to other items such as kitchen roll and used tissues, takeaway containers and even dirty nappies – can’t be recycled and contaminate other good recycling in bins and even the lorry load itself.

“This results in not only increased sorting costs but less items recycled as residents expect them to be.”

You can check which rubbish goes where on North Kesteven’s website, where a handy FAQ section details what is suitable.