News from District Councillor Lucille Hagues
GO AHEAD FOR DEVOLUTION
A devolution deal for Greater Lincolnshire will go forward, following successful meetings between local authority leaders and the new government.
Lincolnshire County Council and North East and North Lincolnshire unitary councils will now complete the arrangements to form the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority with a mayoral election scheduled for May 2025.
As stated previously the creation of the Combined Local Authority does not in any way distract from or replace any of the services or functions of any of the Lincolnshire partner councils, including NKDC. More clarity will follow in due course.
SUCCESS FOR WELLBEING LINCS
NKDC are pleased to say that Wellbeing Lincs has been successful in a recent procurement process and will continue to deliver the wellbeing contract across the county.
Wellbeing is the countywide service , funded by Lincolnshire County Council and run by a partnership of district councils. This includes NKDC, and a number of their colleagues are connected to the service and in organising and carrying out the vital help it provides to people.
The service supports adults across Lincolnshire to achieve confident, fulfilled, and independent lives and offers a helping hand through life’s changes. These might include ill-health, disability, changes of financial or changing medical needs, bereavement, and isolation and more. It achieves this to a range of services that supports them for up to twelve weeks to help get the appropriate support in place.
The contract to deliver Well-being Lincs service has been extended for another five years, it doesn’t involve a like to like package of services. You can find out about Well-being Lincs and all that it offers her:- https://www.wellbeinglincs.org
RESTART HEART DAY AT SLEAFORD LEISURE CENTRE – LEARN CPR*
On restart a Heart Day, 16th October, Sleaford Leisure Centre will host a public CPR training session that is open for anyone to attend.
Sessions will run 4.00-5.00pm and 5.00-6.00pm in the Leisure Centre studio. More details on the poster.
CAR PARK NOW OPEN AGAIN
Westgate car park in Sleaford is available for parking once again.
Closed in the interests of public safety after an adjacent building was found to be structurally unsound now that the building has been demolished and the site cleaned-up it is now open re-opened.
All 27 bays are available for use, including one disabled space. Parking at Westgate carpark is just 70p for up to one hour and £1 for up to 2 hours and £1.40 for three hours.
It’s free on Sundays, evenings, and Bank Holidays. Metal barriers remain along a stone wall whilst awaiting repairs, but there is still plenty of space in each parking bay.
POSTAL VOTE RENEWAL REQUEST
At the beginning of October, the Electoral Services Team will contact over 7000 electors who need to make a new postal vote application.
Although their postal votes are not due to expire until January 2026, due to a change in the election act 2022 the process to process to renew postal votes has changed. Electors are now required to complete a new application rather than refreshing their signature as in previous years.
In total there are over 12,000 electors who need to apply again and due to this volume of people the process is being split over two years. The Electoral Services Team are beginning with those applications made before 2023.
NKDC would appreciate if any Member, who receives an Email or letter, could please complete a new application online asap at
https://www.gov.uk/apply-postal-vote
Please also encourage anyone else to apply. If anyone requires a paper form posting to them, they can call Customer Services on 01529 414155 or email elections@n-kesteven.gov.uk
COUNTER TERRORISM POLICING WINTER CAMPAIGN – PROTECT UK
With the winter season quickly approaching it is important to note that public areas will become busy with various activities, such as Christmas shopping, festive markets, pantomime, and concerts.
Protect UK’s extensive research shoes that some people are reluctant to report because they worry they will get it wrong or waste police time. Counter Terrorism policing wants to reassure them that they won’t be wasting any forces time, and it is important to trust their instincts, if they feel that something isn’t right.
The COUNTER TERRORISM POLICING WINTER CAMPAIGN encourages people to stay alert and offer advice on how to keep each other safe
HOMES COMPLETE IN NORTH HYKEHAM
The construction and refurbishment of 32 new council homes in North Hykeham is now complete.
Grinter Close now features 16 new high-quality homes two bedroomed flats, two bedroomed bungalows, two and three bedroomed homes and a four-bedroom house. Grinter House meanwhile has been completely regenerated by the Council.
It was delivered by Lindum Group on behalf of the Council. Work began in March 2023 with the demolition of 11 Chapel Lane and 1-12 Grinter Close, paving the way to regenerate an area of outdated and limited housing to deliver new and more suitable homes.
As the regeneration project neared completion this summer members of the Lindum Team gave two days free labour to a nearby nursery as part of it’s social value commitments. Works at Park School Day Nursery, in North Hykeham, included new fencing round the play area and repainting the dilapidated bench.
NKDC CLIMATE CHANGE WEBSITE
NKDC have relaunched their climate change webpages on lots of content on how to take climate action both for individual households and the wider community. Why not look and see if there is something you could apply for at the Council?
The pages include top tips and where to find advice on a range of topics including saving energy, helping nature, electric vehicles and charge points and renewable energy.
There is also a page on funding opportunities both for households and the community (including parish councils and community groups) Please visit their website.
SPECIAL DIGITAL HUBS EVENTS IN OCTOBER
As more and more information and services are accessed digitally, it can risk leaving some people excluded and isolated. That’s where the digital hubs come in. The hubs are a free and friendly way for residents to get a helping hand with technology, such as phones, tablets, and laptops.
From solving tech gripes to learning basic skills and building confidence, the hubs team have a lot to offer.
Later in the month 14th until 20th October there will be a series of special events to encourage people to take their first steps online or explore more ways to get more out of their digital life.
The following dates are:-
Tuesday October 15th 10.00am – 12.00pm The Whyche Community Centre Billinghay
Thursday October 17th 10.00am – 12.00pm Meadow, South Lincs Church Ruskington
Friday October 17th 10.30am- - 12.00pm Ruskington Methodist Church warm space
Friday October 19th 1.00pm – 3.00pm The Jolly Scotchman Sleaford
Regular hubs take place as follows:-
Sleaford
Riverside Centre, New Life Church, Riverside Shopping centre NG34 7PD
Every Tuesday from 10.30am until 12.00pm
Osbournby
Osbournby Village Hall, London Road, Osbournby NG34 0PD
Every Tuesday from 1.00pm -230pm
Metheringham
Metheringham Library and Community hub, High Street LN4 3EA
Every Wednesday 10.30am – 12.00pm
Heckingham
Heckington Methodist Church Hall, Church Street NG34 9RF
Ruskington
Ruskington Methodist Church, Chapel Lane NG34 9DX
Waddington
Waddington Community Hub, High Street LN5 9RF
Every Thursday 1.00pm-2.30pm
HELP SHAPE VISUAL IDENTITY OF YOUR COMMUNITY BY ENGAGING IN “DESIGN CODE”
Residents across Lincolnshire are being asked what is special about where they live and work as part of a consultation exercise into the development of a new design code.
The design code will set standards for new buildings and be an important tool for everyone delivering new developments across Central Lincolnshire.
The design code will sit alongside policies in the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan, setting out clear rules for design quality and once adopted will be used in deciding on planning applications that go before the authorities in Central Lincolnshire which are City of Lincoln Council, NKDC, WLDC.
The first stage of engagement and consultations runs from Tuesday September 10th until Tuesday October 22nd, 2024.
It is hoped that the responses to this more detailed survey will help inform what the code should cover and the core design principles for new development to consider
The link to survey 1 - https://arcq.is/Tm5ne0
The link to survey 2- https://arcq.isDzDPe
For more information visit NKDC’s website
Best Wishes
Lucille