Nettleham Welcomes Duke of Kent to Open Bishop's Palace Site

Nettleham welcomed His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent today where he officially opened the Bishop's Palace Site and planted an English oak to commemorate the occasion.

® Stuart Twitchett, WLDC

The Duke arrived in the village by helicopter, at around half past ten, at the Police Headquarters, Deepdale Lane and was welcomed by Her Majesty's Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire, Mr. Tony Worth and his wife, Jenny. They departed by car for Nettleham Parish Council at the Old School, Mill Hill.

Arriving at the Old School the Lord Lieutenant presented the Chairman of West Lindsey District Council, Cllr. Mrs. Irmgard Parrott and Mr. Len Parrott, the Chairman's Consort, the Police & Crime Commissioner Alan Hardwick, the Chief Constable Neil Rhodes and the Chairman of the Parish Council, Cllr. Terry Williams and Mrs. Kathleen Williams, the Chairman's consort.

® Stuart Twitchett, WLDC

The Duke was escorted into the Large Hall of the Old School by Cllr. Williams and was introduced to Cllr. John Evans who has been the Lead on the Bishop's Palace Heritage Project.  Cllr. Evans gave an explanation of the project and introduced a number of key individuals to the Duke. Including:

• Mrs. Pat Gregory - Founder Member of Nettleham Heritage Association
• Mr. Chris Williams - Chairman, Nettleham Woodland Trust
• Mr. David Gibbons - Headteacher, Nettleham Junior School
• Mr. Nigel Kingston - Editor of Nettleham News; and
• Miss Chrissie Clayton - Orchard Specialist

A number of individuals from support organisations who have provided assistance to the project were also presented, they included:

• Ms Liz Bates - Director of Heritage Lincolnshire
• Mr. David Start - Director (Retired) of Heritage Lincolnshire
• Ms Mary Hurst - WREN
• Mr. Barry Billingham - Cory Trust

Also in attendance were:

• West Lindsey District and Parish Councillor Giles McNeill
• Parish Councillor Mrs. Janice Clayton, Vice Chairman of Nettleham Parish Council
• Parish Councillor John Hill
• Parish Councillor Joe Siddall
• Parish Councillor Mrs. Susan Harland
• Parish Councillor Allan Bonney

© 2014 Creation Media

A little after eleven o'clock His Royal Highness was escorted to the Bishop's Palace Site by Councillors Evans and Williams and given further information about the project, walking through the parish cemetery, into the newly named Swathe and through into the site where the Duke was invited to plant a commemorative English Oak by Mr. Rod Newborough, a forestry expert. There were cheers, applause and frenetic waving of flags by local school children.

At a quarter past eleven the Duke formally cut a ribbon on the ceremonial gateway into the main field of the Bishop's Palace Site and officially opened the site. Cllr. Williams proposed a vote of thanks.

© 2014 Nettleham News 

The tour continued into the Bishop's Palace Site into the schedule Ancient Monument with an explanation of the visible archaeological features.

Around half past eleven the Royal Party departed the village from in front of the White Hart public house and Methodist chapel for their next engagement.

Police Commissioner's Report Clears Chief Constable

Commissioner Alan Hardwick, Independent (Lincolnshire Force Area), has been forced to accept the conclusions of a report he himself commissioned into allegations made against Temporary Chief Constable, Neil Rhodes.

In another misstep for Commissioner Hardwick a report, by the widely respected Chief Constable of Manchester Police, Sir Peter Fahy, has declared that allegations against Chief Constable Rhodes as "unsubstantiated".

Chief Constable Rhodes was suspended over his involvement in a dispute where he was accused of helping a former employee at West Yorkshire Police pursue a claim of racial discrimination which he knew to be contrived.

The report concluded there was no evidence to suggest that Neil Rhodes acted improperly in his role as a Chief Police Officers Staff Association "friend" to the employee. In the report Sir Peter said he had 'complete confidence' Chief Constable Rhodes acted 'from the best of motives' to try and 'achieve a reasonable compromise' He added:

"The investigation team conclude that Mr Rhodes did not exceed the intended boundaries or scope of a CPOSA friend as he properly understood them."

The report accepted there might have been a conflict of interest in some areas but also suggested more clarity is needed nationally, on the role of CPOSA friends.

In response to the report, Mr Hardwick said: 

"I had to take on a serious complaint that was made to me and the way I went around that, I believe, was the right way. I couldn't ignore it. 

"I remain troubled by the nature of the allegation and that it has not been possible for the investigating officer to determine exactly what happened in a private conversation between two highly regarded and credible professionals."

Commissioner Hardwick said the suspension had never been a personal issue and a judicial review had cost him £37,500, alone - questions are still to be answered about the cost to taxpayers about this sorry affair. Back in March Mr. Justice Stuart-Smith ruled that the Commissioner's decision was 'irrational' and 'perverse', determining that the Chief Constable's suspension was therefore unlawful. The judicial intervention was sparked when the Independent Police Complaints Commission were approach by Commissioner Hardwick to investigate and they determined that there was insufficient evidence for them to conduct an investigation.

 Following publication of Sir Peter's report, in a statement, Mr Rhodes said:

"I have sought over the last six months to maintain a dignified silence, safe in the knowledge that I knew there was never any substance in the spurious allegation. 

"The past few months have been unusually challenging. Following the judicial review decision, the commissioner and I resolved that we must draw a line beneath this matter, for the good of Lincolnshire, and demonstrate we could work together productively and positively."

Commissioner Hardwick had been Lincolnshire's Police and Crime Commissioner for just three months when he took the decision to suspend Neil Rhodes. The matter has attracted critics at Westminster, with the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, Keith Vaz MP, describing the way the chief constable's suspension was handled as a 'sorry state of affairs'. There have also been calls for Commisioner Hardwick to resign, amongst these local West Lindsey District Councillor, Cllr. Giles McNeill, Conservative (Nettleham Ward), who said:

"Commissioner Hardwick has once again been found wanting. First we had the refusal of the Independent Police Complaints Commission to investigate the matter then the Judge's ruling and now the investigation that he set up himself has found that the allegations were unsubstantiated.

 "It is hardly a surprise then that people are calling for the TV anchorman-come-Police Commissioner to resign. He has demonstrated again, clearly that he is not up to the job.

It is understood that Chief Constable Rhodes intends to apply for the post of permanent chief constable when it is advertised.

Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Hardwick should Resign Urges District Councillor

Cllr. Giles McNeill, Conservative (Nettleham Ward), has called on Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Harwick to resign following the humiliating ruling by a High Court Judge at a hearing in Manchester.

Mr. Justice Stuart-Smith said the the Commissioner's decision was 'irrational' and 'perverse', determining that the Chief Constable's suspension was therefore unlawful.

Cllr. McNeill said:

"It is clear that Alan Hardwick is not up to the job of being Police and Crime Commissioner. He has bungled this suspension of the Chief Constable, Neil Rhodes.

"It was clear that something was amiss when, having referred the matter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, they decided that the matter was not sufficient for their investigation.

"The time has come for Commissioner Hardwick to do the honourable thing and resign."

Commissioner Hardwick, Independent (Lincolnshire Force Area), has appointed the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester to undertake an independent investigation.

New Year's Message

I would like to wish all the people of Greetwell, Grange-de-Lings, Nettleham and Riseholme – the people that I represent on West Lindsey District Council – my best wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year.

I am grateful to so many people who supported me last summer, helping me secure election as one of your two district councillors. I intend to work hard for all residents of the Nettleham Ward in 2013 and beyond.

Local government, across the country, is under increasing pressure. Councils are already tackling budget cuts of 28% and face a tough outlook.

The economic legacy left by Labour’s lassie-faire and lacking approach to debt – whether national or personal – is driving an unprecedented process of change as local authorities have to radically reform their services to meet the challenges the ‘Age of Austerity’.

Councillors are on the frontline. We are having to make the difficult choices about what services stay and what services have to go. We are choosing what can be transformed and what has to be decommissioned.

Elected by local people to protect their interests and represent them we must lead a process of innovation, adaption and change; doing so against a back-drop of declining trust in politics and politicians.

During my election campaign in the summer I made four pledges to local residents. 

At the time of the by-election I said that ‘Low Council Tax was my priority. It remains so. Your money must be spent well by the council, but I am sure you want to keep as much as possible for your own needs. Through my work on West Lindsey’s Governance and Audit Committee I scrutinise how effective the council’s organisation is and will continue to make the case for keeping the Council Tax frozen.

I also promised to bring the Linelands site back into use as an extra care home for the elderly with daycentre facilities. I am pleased to say that it is anticipated that a formal tendering process will begin soon to bring the site back into use as adult social care provision. I have been active on this issue, holding preliminary conversations with potential providers within the sector and encouraging them to prepare bids.

I made it clear that Nettleham was not the right place for operational police services to be moved from West Parade, Lincoln. I opposed the plans for a ‘Custody Suite’ at Police Headquarters on Deepdale Lane. I am very pleased to report that through concerted effort with fellow councillors at all levels and with the excellent campaign organised by SOLVE this view has prevailed and the new Police and Crime Commissioner, Alan Hardwick, who I met the day following his election, and who was able to reassure me, has scrapped this proposal.

Finally I pledged to protect our villages from unsuitable development. I am pleased that I now serve on the Planning Committee, giving me my say in development plans across the district – a firm voice for our communities.

The past year has been one of change. As a Governor at Nettleham Infants School, we changed to Academy status in September. I have been working to reduce inconsiderate parking which local residents find vexing. I am particularly concerned, and hope to tackle in the coming year, parking around the school when the school safety zone is not in effect and the reports of rudeness by parents to local residents.
In 2013 I hope to bring back on to the agenda the issue of flooding. Nettleham seems to have missed out since the floods of 2007 in getting real help to mitigate the risk of flooding. At the end of 2012 we came very close to a repeat of those floods, with the path along the Beckside between Church Street and Vicarage Lane flooded.

In May we will once again be invited to go to the polling stations to vote in elections to Lincolnshire County Council. I am certain that participation will be higher than the paltry 15.3% achieved in the Police and Crime Commissioner Elections. However, decisions are made by those who show up, so I would encourage everyone to go and vote and if circumstances require I would urge you to consider if obtaining a postal vote is the right thing for you. I am confident that the Conservatives will remain in control of Lincolnshire County Council, where they are delivering for all the people of Lincolnshire in these tough times.

In 2013 I hope we can renew our commitment to heal our communities from the woes of the global economic recession, put aside partisan tendencies, and work with our political opponents on the many things we agree upon.

For each and all I offer my sincere wish for health, prosperity and happiness.

Giles McNeill
Working hard for the Nettleham Ward of West Lindsey District Council

Independent Wins Election to become Lincolnshire's First Police and Crime Commissioner

Alan Hardwick, Independent (Lincolnshire), a former television presenter and public relations officer for the Police Authority, was sworn in to office yesterday following his victory in the election to the new post of Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner.

With turnout plummeting to new depths across the country, Lincolnshire managed a turnout of 15.28%, slightly above the national average. West Lindsey had the highest turnout from the seven districts of the county with 17.72%.

The Count took place at seven locations across Lincolnshire. West Lindsey's count was undertaken at the West Lindsey Leisure Centre in Gainsborough and began at nine o'clock.  By half past nine it was clear the turnout was going to be low. By ten o'clock the first part of the count process, verification, was complete and increasingly bored count staff had to wait patiently until one o'clock for other centres to complete their verifications before the counting of ballots count begin.

At one o'clock the counting of the first preference votes began and shortly before three o'clock it was clear that no candidate had recieved more than fifty per cent of the vote and could be elected:

• David Bowles (Independent) 27,345 (32.66%)
• Richard Davies (Conservative) 19,872 (23.73%)
• Paul Gleeson (Labour) 10,247 (12.24%)
• Alan Hardwick (Independent) 26,272 (31.37%)

Richard Davies and Paul Gleeson were eliminated and David Bowles and Alan Hardwick went through to the final round.

The counting of the eliminated candidate's second preferences votes took less than an hour, 9,429 were not vaild second preference votes and shortly before six o'clock the result was announced.

Mr.Hardwick recieved 12,949 (62.59%) additional votes whilst Mr. Bowles recieved 7,741 (37.41%). The result was:

• David Bowles (Independent) 35,086 (47.22%%)
• Alan Hardwick (Independent) 39,221 (52.78%) Elected