Lincolnshire Voice

Just when you thought it couldnt get any worse you go and find out that we are now footing the bill for a makeover to a gypsy site near Gainsborough, costing £1.25million!

Deputy leader of Lincolnshire County Council Peter Robinson (CONservative) said: "The bid was made to the Home and Communities Agency in order to improve the general condition and make good the lack of facilities provided on the Summergangs Lane traveller site.

"The grant will be used to fund the refurbishment of 19 existing pitches, bring another back into use and create an additional space.

"The proposed works include the provision of 21 new amenity blocks with kitchen and bathroom facilities, extending the size of several pitches and upgrading the electricity supply to and around the site."

More info here.

Readers may be aware that Peter Robinson (CONservative), portfolio holder for social cohesion (shouldn't that be divide and conquer? Ed)at Lincolnshire County Council was the same chap who last year, said it would be a good idea to bring in Romany gypsies from countries including Romania and Bulgaria to Britain (why not everyone else is here, Ed) to fill jobs left by returning poles (not the ones in the shanty town by the witham, Ed)

More info here and here

At a time when many of our care homes are being closed locally due to a funding crisis, you would have thought that money would be prioritised to the people that really need it - silly us, thats what used to be known as COMMON SENSE - and we know that died long ago - but will return again!

£150,000 is being used as part of a National Reconnection Service which aims to help stop the spread of shanty towns that are appearing in Lincolnshire. Readers of these pages will be aware of the reports on the migrant camp outside Lincoln here and the one we reported on in Boston here.

Lincolnshire's agricultural chaplain the Reverend Canon Alan Robson welcomed the idea, but said £150,000 was nowhere near enough to tackle the wider issue of homelessness.

The scheme is being trialled in Boston and Peterborough, but could be rolled out to the whole country if successful.

When your tax bill goes up, remember who to blame! Don't say you weren't warned (even though it was waycist to say so). Nothing to worry about as the three stooge parties are "getting tough" on immigration.

North Kesteven District Council look set to close Sleafords Tourist Information Centre in Money's yard in a cost cutting exercise. The "executive board" say that by closing this centre and replacing it with local access points and an improved website, it will save £40,000 per year.

As with Lincoln City and now Sleaford it looks like there soon wont be any Tourist Information Centres left in Lincolnshire.

Tourist Information Centres are invaluable to people visiting the area for the first time and if they want to find out about cinema, shows, pubs and local attractions it is one of the first ports of call. By taking this away, new visitors unfamiliar with the area then have to seek out a local access point with information, which will not be as effective as a Tourist Information Centre, so the local attractions will lose trade. If they lose trade, the local council loses tax revenue etc.

According to the Sleaford Standard, the tourism industry supports over 1,400 jobs locally, while attractions draw over 1.92 million visitors a year generating over £74.5 million in revenue.

The above figures make the saving of £40,000 and the inconvenience of losing this valuable service seem insignificant.

It was reported yesterday that HMP Morton Hall, near Swinderby in the District of North Kesteven, Lincolnshire may be turned into an immigration detention centre. The present use is a prison holding up to 400 inmates, but the Prison Service have confirmed they are looking at a "number of options" which are under consideration.

You can read more about the article here.

Reading the comments, which are now over 100, someone has suggested that they use this as an overnight stop and then reinstate the former RAF Swinderby site nearby to fly them back from whence they came, the following day!

Perhaps if they were refused entry in the first place this discussion (along with considerable amounts of taxpayers money) would not be required, Ed

As always, blame the politicians and elite who have used/are using immigrants to divide and conquer this nation.

We shall follow this with interest to see what transpires.

Yet more evidence of the Police State we now live in can be found on the link here, showing how councils have the power to enter your property without a warrant.

As we've stated previously, councils have had permission to "watch" people without the persons knowledge for some time now. It's ok though, they are looking out for us all as we have to be safe.

Isn't this what the Gestapo used to do?

From the excellent UK Tabloid news (linked from our main homepage under other links)

Council officials have installed secret CCTV cameras inside private homes to spy on the street outside, it was revealed yesterday.

Residents have agreed to the move in a bid to prosecute yobs causing anti-social behaviour.

But critics say the extension of surveillance is only needed because police have failed to tackle the problem – while others warn of the growing surveillance state in “Big Brother Britain”.

Read more

A town is now decked with hanging baskets after traders refused to give in to health and safety red tape.

The Lydney's trader group in Gloucestershire ordered more than 30 hanging baskets and put them up themselves to avoid paying a £585 load testing fee.

The town council scrapped plans for hanging baskets at a meeting because of health and safety costs.

This prompted Forest of Dean district council officer Roger Garbett to abseil down the Beechenhurst Lodge climbing wall dressed as a human hanging basket to highlight that there was no legislation which demanded baskets be load tested.

He said "It is brilliant they are fighting back against the namby-pamby society we are sleepwalking into where everyone is scared of being sued."

Well maybe not a bear but someone does. In scenes reminiscent of the tent city that sprung up by the river witham in Lincoln earlier this year, you can see what has been going on in Boston by clicking on Cllr Dave Owens blog here

Maybe we will all be living in tents soon?

In the last couple of weeks we have seen yet more tax added indirectly:

Nationally, from 1st September we have had the 2p litre on fuel (2.3p/litre incl. vat);

North Kesteven have added Pest control charges (£10), whereas before they were free. See here for more details;

& United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) plan to make changes to their car parking charges, with effect from Tuesday 8 September 2009.
Charges for patient and visitor parking at Lincoln County Hospital, Pilgrim
Hospital, Boston and Grantham and District Hospital will become:
£1.20 for the first hour
£3 for 1-4 hours
£3.50 for 4 hours and above

- Any person regularly attending or visiting a Lincolnshire hospital can
purchase 10 days flexible parking for a reduced fee of £15 (gee thanks. Ed).
See here and here

According to the Fourth North Kesteven Annual Monitoring Report (mmmm. Ed) the population is set to rise substantially:

The population of the District is 104,800 (ONS1, 2008) equating to just over one person per hectare. The population grew by 11.5% between 2001 and 2007, making the District one of the top six fastest-growing districts in England and Wales (RSN, 2008). This rate of growth is a result of high house-building rates and consequent in-migration to the District as opposed to natural population change. The fast rate of growth and time lag in providing services, such as health and education, can place significant pressure on existing service provision.

The growth in population is expected to continue (ONS3, 2008) with an extra 14,000 homes expected from 2001 to 2026 (EMRA, 2006).

The 2006 population projections from ONS also indicate that current growth trends are set to continue. With a projected population increase of 17.3% between 2006 and 2016, North Kesteven is expected to be the fastest growing local authority in Lincolnshire and the 13th fastest in England (ONS3, 2008). Over the next 25 years, the number of people living in North Kesteven is projected to rise by 40% to 144,400 (ONS3, 2008).

Next time you get stuck in traffic remember this. Regarding the population/birth rates you might also like to watch the demographic video we have on the right.