Read the April 2026 update here ...
Cllr. Marianne Overton - April 2026 Newsletter
From Sarah Lingard about new Police Cadets
We are approaching the start of our Recruitment window for Volunteer Police Cadets for 2026 – 2027. The recruitment period runs between April 1st and May 13th. Why not apply? Cadets | Lincolnshire Police
Navenby GP Dispensary to close
The Integrated Care Board (ICB) at Sleaford has decided to close Navenby GP Dispensary on April 17th. When one partner left, the practice had to be closed for a few days and opened under the Welby Group of GP Practices. They do not plan to have a pharmacist on site. I have raised my concern with the GP practice and the ICB authorities and asked to speak at their next meeting. If everyone tries to park by the Navenby Pharmacy, we will struggle. Some may walk down to the pharmacy and back, if able. Some may turn to ordering medicines online and having them delivered, either to a pharmacy or to your home. That means trusting the suppliers and the delivery. The Government share a long list of Online pharmacies.
Recycling food waste
Crop yields are dropping as soil is degrading worldwide. We need to return the organic material to the soil when we can. Hence the move to recycle the materials in your food waste to make electricity and compost. Please help by putting your food waste in the caddy, collected every week. We are expecting the black waste to be lighter. There are eight new vehicles and crews specialising in collecting food waste. It would be great if you could help keep them busy!
Solar on Roofs, not Farmland!
The oil wars over the Strait of Hormuz remind us that energy and food security are important. War makes the world less safe. Handing over good farmland to foreign - owned solar panels, made in China, makes us LESS secure in both energy and food, and breaks the bank in long term contracts paid by you and me with among the highest electricity charges in the world. This is NOT British energy. It is owned and operated to our cost by foreign companies, including Chinese, with external controls of their own. It is industrial development in the open countryside on an unprecedented scale.
Planning objections have been raised by residents, Parish Councils, the Cliff Villages Solar Action Group, Springwell Action Group, our District and County Councils, MP and Mayor. Thank you.
Thank you very much indeed to everyone who attended and contributed to the recent Public Inquiry on Fosse Green on March 10th with an Open Hearing on the 11th, at the football ground. The Inspectors allowed us reasonable participation, able to tackle the applicant's case throughout. In the packed open session, the Inspectors and applicants listened to residents for 2hrs, with everyone having just five or ten minutes each. It was very powerful indeed with a stream of well-researched and well-argued presentations. Recording/Transcript
I contributed through all four days, including the Site Inspection, along with Nick Lyons, Chair of Thorpe on the Hill Parish Council, and residents in the Cliff Village Solar Action Group. For the second application, the indicative detailed maps show significant amount of land taken, from Navenby, 8.4 miles to Swinderby, Eagle Barnsdale and Thorpe on the Hill. This is the second of three solar sprawls, within 10km of Navenby. This one over 2,643 acres, the size of a London Borough, plus 10km of cable. It changes the nature of our lovely countryside to one of industrial solar spread over many miles. The panels are 3.5m, around 12 feet high, of glass and steel, making our walking routes unattractive. The substation is near Aubourn, with 1,300 shipping containers of Lithium batteries, either in one place, or in fenced compounds throughout the land. Safety is a big concern.
If solar is the right solution in this country, it should be required close to where it is needed; on commercial roofs, down railways, motorways, car parks. New build should be fully energy efficient and easily accessible grants for others. Solar panels are inefficient, around 15%, and filling the energy gap at night, especially in winter remains an issue if we are to rely on vast amounts of mined Lithium. The companies are global, so draining money out of the UK and very difficult to control, as we found with the water industry.
The Navenby Substation is pivotal and due to come to District Council planning committee for decision after April 27th. District Councillors will be making the decision. www.cvsag.org or on facebook
Attendance at Planning Meetings
Huge thanks for your tremendous support for our campaign for Solar on roofs, not farmland. Thanks to all who attended the planning meeting in Sleaford in December when the planning committee agreed with us and raised objections to the Fosse Green application. Thanks for your exemplary behaviour. I apologise if anyone was disturbed by the wording in my newsletter encouraging people to attend the planning meeting and stating; "Can you please attend? A show of force will help" Can you please write in? Every voice counts, even just a paragraph." I understand that it could have been interpreted as confrontational or suggestive of disruption, which of course, was never my intention. To be clear, my aim was and is simply to encourage strong public participation in the planning process. As I think you know by now, I value constructive, respectful engagement in local decision‑making, and that is what I will be promoting today and every day.
New Road
Ceremonial spades went into the ground to launch the start of the 5mile dual carriageway linking the A46 at Pennells to the Lincoln Eastern Bypass, completing a ring-road around Lincoln. This is a video of the route. I made some useful contacts and a Liaison officer is appointed.
Visit from Highways
Our local highways officer came round our area with me to review the bigger improvements needed. The footpath between Leadenham and Welbourn is getting an immediate cut back and needs a longer-term solution. We agreed resurfacing of Clay Lane 2.5miles from Bassingham to Norton Disney later this year. It was a joy to drive along roads that have improved dramatically and more to go. Please keep reporting potholes or other highway faults on www.fixmystreet.com It works and enables me to chase.
Local Government Reorganisation
All our District and County Councils are due to dissolve and new councils be formed with election in May next year. We had been told that all the new authorities had to be 500K people and that is what our options were based on. But the latest five county areas announced by the minister have an average of around 300K people. If smaller areas are allowed, it makes possible the proposal to expand Lincoln City to include the whole of the rural area down to the A17. Putting our rural areas as a "hinterland to serve the City" would be very damaging. It is important that we are seen as vital in our own right.
North and South Kesteven together put a proposal supported by all the Independents, keeping our council local, with focal points in Sleaford and Grantham.
For us, elections to the new Council will be next May 2027, though we do not yet know the area! We have made representations and now await the decision of one man, the Secretary of State, Steve Reed MP.
All this without a single vote being cast! We need a referendum on such a huge change.
NK Community Champion Awards
NKDC award ceremony was held for 2025 with winners listed here and you can nominate for 2026 here.
Art at the Hub
Sleaford
Supporting small businesses
Businesses and officers celebrated National Tourism week at the Carre Arms in Sleaford and shared promotional material. Our rural District gets 2.9m visitors a year, adding significantly to our local economy. Heritage and nature are top attractions. Nature tourism and walking are the most popular tourist activities, with 24m people annually.
We launched a new visitor book for NKDC and a new aviation heritage trail. Our local Viking Way is celebrating 50 years this year and meets the new King Charles III Coastal path, at the Humber.
Supporting Art
I greatly enjoyed meeting the artists at the Hub in Sleaford last week at the start of the new Exhibitions. Well worth a look! They also have a series of workshops including ballroom dancing, a creative Saturday Club for 13-16year olds and a busy shop and café.
Local Events
A packed hall loved Beebi Dels' Dolly Parton Tribute Show at the weekend! Huge thanks to Beebi Del and especially to the organisers and bar at our super smart Leadenham Village Hall 2000 Look out for the next events in Leadenham - they are brilliant! https://lvh2000.org.uk
Thanks
Thanks to all the wonderful volunteers who put together such amazing local village events in our beautiful countryside!
Want to keep in touch?
If you know anyone else who would find this newsletter useful, please suggest they drop me an email here. Please keep in touch with social media. facebook or @overtonmarianne Best wishes,
Marianne
Marianne Overton MBE
Working together for people and planet
Local services need local decisions