Prince of Wales Arrives In County at Nettleham

The Prince meets local school children
Photograph by Dominic Clark for 

The Lincolnite

HRH Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, together with HRH the Duchess of Cornwall arrived yesterday in the county by helicopter, landing in the Police Field, Nettleham.

The prince met participants on the Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment who have spent time in the Cathedral works department during a tour of Lincoln Cathedral at which the prince accepted the Cathedral’s invitation to become Patron of the Cathedral Fabric Fund.

Charles and Camilla with Dilys Simpson
Photograph by The Lincolnshire Echo

Cathedral officials also showed the heir to the throne some recent acquisitions, including a new set of Chapter copes made by the needlework guild. He was shown a full size image of the proposed statue of St Mary by sculptor Aidan Hart which is being considered for the re-ordered east end of the Cathedral.

The Prince turned his hand to stonemasonary watched by the Duchess, Charles wore plastic safety goggles as he used a chisel and mallet to chip away at a piece of stone in Lincoln Cathedral's stonemasonry workshop. He laughed when he was told the limestone was a softer version than that used by stonemasons working on the restoration and preservation of the cathedral and joked: 

No Plan to Deal with Zombie Attack in County

Lincolnshire County Council has revealed that no official emergency plans exist to deal with a zombie attack in the county.

Council bosses have made the admission in a response to a Freedom of Information Act request from Mr. John Fernandez. However, officers from the county council told him in their reply that they do have other emergency plans which they were 'confident' could be adapted if the undead attack.

Mr. Fernandez put in the request to a number of local authorities across the country and told one authority that the request was for a paper he was writing. Lincolnshire County Council’s reply said:

"Lincolnshire County Council has not made any plans for the possible threat of a zombie pandemic.

"We can confirm that the authority has plans for other emergency situations and if the event was to occur, we are confident that could be adapted and applied to ensure public safety."

'Planning Win' for Parish Council

Members of Nettleham Parish Council have been pleased to learn that planning permission was refused, last night, by West Lindsey District Council's planning committee, for a substantial development on Greetwell Lane.

Nettleham Parish Council objected to this proposed development; the council maintained its strong opposition to the application, which fails to address the reasons for rejections previously made (Section 3 (PP3), Section 6, Section 7 and Section 8). 'In principle the Parish Council supports the provision of Sustainable properties; however, the design, intensity and siting of this development is not in keeping with the other properties in this rural location.' The council also felt that the development did 'not respect its close proximity' to the Bishops' Palace, an scheduled ancient monument, site and ignored the open aspect to the east of the site. The parish council stated that such an extensive development of this site would not respect the Nettleham Village Design Statement. If this application were to be approved it would, in the opinion of the council, set a precedent for future intensive tandem developments in this location.

The Parish Council also noted that West Lindsey District Council's own report (PL24 10/11 dated 17th November 2010) by the Director of Strategy and Regeneration states that 'the authority has exceeded the required 5 year deliverable housing supply and that residential development in primary rural settlements should be resisted unless material considerations indicate otherwise' which removes the pressure on the Planning Authority to achieve set targets.

Cllr. John Evens made representations on behalf of the parish council at the Development Management Committee meeting whilst members of the public from Nettleham also Spoke against the scheme. Cllr. Evan praised the work done by Cllr. Malcolm Leaning, Liberal Democrat (Nettleham Ward) who spoke against the proposal, saying:

"Malcolm Leaning did an outstanding job as our ward member speaking against the proposal, clearly having done a lot of preparation on the various planning policy reasons and put such a strong case across that the vote was unanimous to reject the application. The site visit of a couple of weeks ago also had a big impact on the members appreciation of the setting."

The development in question was an amended version of a previously rejected proposal to site a number of homes on land abutting the ancient scheduled monument of the Bishops' Palace. Cllr. Evans continued:

"I was also personally very pleased to hear the Nettleham VDS referenced on many occasions by Simon Sharp and Members, it is being taken notice of and was clearly a worthwhile project which will benefit our community for years to come."

Nettleham Remembers

Cllr. Mrs. Janice Clayton lays
the Parish Council's wreath.

This afternoon, Nettleham paused to remember. To remember those who have sacrificed themselves in conflict for the freedoms we too often take for granted.

The Scouts, Guides, Brownies, Beavers paraded from the scout hut on Vicarage Lane to the war memorial on the Village Green. A number of the community had gathered by the war memorial. Proceedings and prayers were led by Rev. Jenny Rowley and Rev. Mark Lawrence, the Methodist Minister.

Representatives of a number of village organisations, including Nettleham Parish Council, Nettleham & District Probus, Royal British Legion and the RAF laid wreaths at the war memorial. The children placed 'In Remembrance' poppy crosses in the earth around the memorial.

United in Condolence for Red Arrows Pilot

Edward Leigh MP offered his condolences to the family and relatives of the RAF pilot killed in the Red Arrows during Prime Minister’s Questions today. Mr. Leigh, whose constituency includes RAF Scampton, asked

"In joining me in giving our condolences to the relatives of the Red Arrows pilot killed at RAF Scampton yesterday, will the Prime Minister acknowledge the overriding need for safety, and that our campaign to save RAF Scampton from closure is not just based on sentiment for the historic home of the Dambusters but on the overriding need for the kind of safe, uncluttered skies above north Lincolnshire which the Red Arrows need to practice safely."

The Prime Minister, David Cameron responded: 

"I’m sure the hearts of everyone in this House go out to the family of the pilot who was killed in this terrible accident. It comes on top of a second accident that happened in the Red Arrows and this has obviously been a very tragic time for something the whole country reveres and loves."

The Prime Minister said he knows the Red Arrows consider their Lincolnshire home 'extremely important' and added that 'we must get to the bottom of what happened'.

Edward Leigh has campaigned for the Ministry of Defence to state its intention of keeping RAF Scampton open, especially as home to the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, known as the Red Arrows. Mr. Leigh has met with MOD ministers and written several letters putting the case for the base’s continued usefulness as part of Britain’s defence community and a large contributor to the local economy.

Cllr. Roger Patterson, Conservative (Scampton Ward) said: 

"I am very sorry to hear about the death of Flt Lt Shaun Cummings, of the Red Arrows. 

"Coming so soon after the tragic loss of Flt Lt John Egging it has really it the community of Scampton Hard. 

"Sometimes the things you take for granted are appreciated more when tragedy strikes and right now the community at Scampton realise how blessed we are to have The Red Arrows as part of our community, and we stand resolutely behind the team and all our brave servicemen and woman at Raf Scampton. 

"We are steadfast in our belief that The Red Arrows must fly again as soon as possible and continue to bring joy to the millions of people around the world who hold them in such high esteem and that they continue for many more years and that they do this from Raf Scampton because we as a community are proud that they are based here. 

"My sincere condolences go out to his family, friends and his team mates at such a tragic time."