Conservatives Maintain Control of West Lindsey District Council

The Conservatives have maintained their overall control of West Lindsey District Council, and have topped the poll of all twenty five wards.

In the first 'whole' council elections to take place in the district since 1999 the Conservatives emerged as the clear winners of the contest increasing their share of the vote by more than seven percentage points.

Almost 250 presiding officers and poll clerks worked throughout the day, as people cast their votes from 7:00am to 10:00pm.


Support staff also toured the district, which ranges from the Lincoln fringe villages of Saxilby, Nettleham and Fiskerton in the south to Gainsborough and Caistor further north.

Approximately 100 cross-party activists crowded around the rows of tables at the West Lindsey Leisure Centre’s sports hall, in Gainsborough to observe the count of the ballots.

The first box arrived just fifteen minutes after the polls closed, triggering a steady stream of ballot boxes.

The Counting process began at 11:00pm and following more than three hours of verifying the papers, the first result was announced at about 2.45am, with Conservative Ian Fleetwood holding his seat in the Bardney ward.

The former Conservative Group Leader said:

"I am feeling elated. The brilliant news for the taxpayer is we are now on a four-year election cycle and it will cut down on election expenses.

"I will still continue to serve them in the best way possible."

Above: Conservatives celebrate as Roger Patterson takes
Scampton ward from the Liberal Democrats.

The Liberal Democrats had a bad night losing three councillors, including: Scampton, Gainsborough North and Gainsborough East. In Scampton ward Roger Patterson won by just ten votes - a considerable achivement having lost by one vote last year. In Gainsborough North and Gainsborough East Labour had elected it's first two councillors since Irene Tyson was elected in Gainsborough North in the local elections of Thursday, 2nd May 2002.

Council Leader Burt Keimach was quietly confident his party's track record and policies to make at least £1.5 million available to community projects would lead them back into power.

Despite losing £2.5 million of Government funding over the next two years, he said there would be no redundancies in 2011-12 and the authority was aiming to be entrepreneurial by inviting businesses to bid for £3 million.

This would be in the form of a "Dragon's Den-style" initiative, in which the Gainsborough-based authority receives a stake in a company in return for providing money.

The biggest, and saddest, shock came for the Conservative group when one of the council's most widely respected members lost her seat. Mrs. Meg Davidson was ousted by Cllr. Chris Darcel (Independent), who had led a bitter, personal campaign against the mild-mannered, hard working, councillor in the Fiskerton ward contest; losing by just 19 votes.

The Liberal Democrats vote was down considerably (8.62% points) as was the Labour vote, due to the limited number of candidates fielded. Independents came third in the poll with 7.58% of the vote.

The result of the election means that the Conservatives are in a commnding position to lead the authority for the next four years whilst the Liberal Democrats, Labour and various Independents will struggle to have a significant impact.

The final result is Conservatives 21, Liberal Democrats 11, Labour 2 and Independents 3.

Shore: "I don't agree with Nick."

Cllr. Reg Shore, Liberal Democrat (Stow Ward), has surprised many with comments made to the Lincolnshire Echo, in an article published today, about the local election contest for West Lindsey District Council due on Thursday, 5th May 2011. Cllr. Shore is quoted as saying:

"I don't agree with Nick. I never have and that's based on the issue of student fees."

 'West Lindsey Focus' delivered
prior to the 2010 General Election

The shock disclosure that Cllr. Shore does not and has not ever supported Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat Leader is somewhat at odds with the facts. Cllr. Shore having appeared in election literature last year with Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for the Gainsborough Constituency, Cllr. Pat O'Conner, and the Deputy Prime Minister.

Cllr. Shore is also reported to have provided the following withering critique of his leader:

"Nick Clegg will not sort flooding or has vision for West Lindsey".

However, one of Cllr. Shore's district and county colleagues described him as 'Canute' - a man who sat in the waters as they rose during his time of leadership of West Lindsey District Council in 2007.

£100,000 Flood Prevention Project to Start at Fiskerton

Work to strengthen flood defences in a West Lindsey village is set to start next week.

 

Fiskerton has been plagued by flooding problems for more than twenty years but now their misery is set to come to an end.

 

West Lindsey District Council has teamed up with a number of partners to help deliver an innovative solution to the problem.

 

Plans have been drawn up to intercept much of the surface and land drainage from the uphill side of the village and redirect it, back under, rather than through the village.

 

Mr. Tony Adams, Flood Prevention Officer at West Lindsey District Council, thanked everyone involved in making the scheme possible. He said:

"The involvement and contribution of the Church Commissioners, the tenant farmer, The Witham Third Internal Drainage Board and the Parish Council have been invaluable and without their support and passage through the school, then this scheme could not have come about."

Work is expected to start on the scheme on Tuesday at Fiskerton Church of England Primary School.

 

This part of the work is expected to be complete by September, in time for the children to return after the summer holidays.

 

Other and more extensive work will be carried out in the field north of the village hall and lesser works in the fields to the east and west and is expected to be complete by the end of September.

 

The work has been made possible thanks to funding from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs.

 

Cllr. Mrs. Meg Davidson, Conservative (Fiskerton Ward) said:

"This is exciting news - although there have been a few hurdles to overcome it is great to know it is going ahead.

 

"It really good how many people have worked together to make this happen, it has been a real team effort.

 

"Residents of Fiskerton were affected quite badly in the 2007 floods because of the pressures of the existing drainage systems and this news will give them a real boost.

 

"West Lindsey has done a huge amount of work in working with residents, making sure they knew what was happening and why.

 

"I would like to thank staff at West Lindsey for getting the DEFRA grant; it is a real credit to them."

Cllr. Mrs. Jackie Brockway, Chairman of Community and Waste Services Committee at the council, said:

"West Lindsey and its partners have worked very hard to secure this money for the Fiskerton flooding scheme.

 

"I am absolutely delighted that work is going to start and hopefully it will relieve the problems for residents."

Disruption to the village as a whole will be kept to a minimum as work to all but the village hall and the school works will be via the entrance to the airfield at Reepham Road.

 

Work will be limited to the hours of 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday and Saturday mornings.

 

Part of the village hall grounds will be closed to ensure safe work and access.

 

Partners involved in the scheme include:

• The Church Commissioners
• The Tenant Farmer, Mr Philip Good
• The Witham Third Internal Drainage Board
• Anglian Water
• LincolnshireCounty Council - Highways
• LincolnshireCounty Council - Fiskerton C.E. Primary School
• West Lindsey District Council

Search For Oil Continues In Fiskerton

The Lincolnshire Echo is reporting that drilling tests searching for oil under a disused RAF airfield in Lincolnshire have been allowed to continue.


Cirque Energy (UK) Limited has until Wednesday, 31st March 2011, to complete its investigations near Fiskerton after Lincolnshire County Council granted the company more time.
The energy business had been required to stop work at Fiskerton Airfield on March 31, 2010.

However, the search at the Reepham and Fiskerton No. 1 wells can proceed following a decision by the county council's planning and regulation committee.

Cirque Energy will be required to make a separate application if it finds oil and wants to expand operations.

Committee Chairman, Cllr. Ian Fleetwood, Conservative (Cherry Willingham & Fiskerton Division) is reported to have said:

"I have been to Fiskerton Parish Council meetings and they have not registered any issues with me."

Cllr. Fleetwood, who was re-elected as a West Lindsey District Councillor for the Bardney Ward, last week and added nodding donkeys had not been a campaign trail issue.

Temporary planning permission allowing one exploratory bore hole to be drilled was first granted in July 1997. This was extended further in March 1998 and in 2002 permission to allow oil production was given to Cirque Energy.
The nodding donkeys were later left unused for five years and work has just recently been carried out to prepare for future testing.
Ministry of Defence land manager, Defence Estates, and West Lindsey District Council made no objections to the application during the consultation period.

Cllr. Mrs. Meg Davidson, Conservative (Fiskerton Ward) is reported to have said rising oil prices could make the business near the village 'economically viable' for its owners.

West Lindsey Nets £181,000 To End Flood Misery

Two bids for flood alleviation funding totalling £181,000 compiled by West Lindsey District Council have been backed by the government.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has announced that £96,000 has been awarded towards a project at Fiskerton and a further £85,000 for work at Sykes Lane in Saxilby.

A further £53,000 has been awarded to a Lincolnshire County Council project to provide highways improvements and a water course diversion scheme in Waddingham which will also ease flooding.

A delighted Leader of West Lindsey District Council, Cllr. Adam Duguid, Conservative (Market Rasen Ward) said recognition from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was a just reward for councillors and officers who have worked tirelessly to bring flooding relief to local people.

"The terrible events of June 2007 focussed everyone's attention on the need to do as much as possible to prevent property flooding on that scale ever happening again. By implementing these grant funded schemes, approximately 90 households that were previously vulnerable to flooding will be protected.

"We have done remarkably well to secure a slice of only £5 million available nationally - West Lindsey was the only district council in Lincolnshire to be successful - and we are fully committed to doing everything we can to get more funding for other schemes in our area that urgently need implementing."

The terms of the funding mean that schemes have got to be complete by March 2011, and in Fiskerton work is due to be completed as soon as August 2010.

The Fiskerton project is the result of West Lindsey District Council, the Third Witham Drainage Board, developer Morris Homes and the local parish council all working together on a scheme which will intercept water from the north of the village and then divert it under the village - rather than through it - to the drains to the south and then out to the North Delph.

The scheme is designed to resist a six hour storm with an additional thirty percent capacity built in to allow for climate change.

In Saxilby there are known flood risk problems on Sykes Lane and the funding award will be used to tackle flood risk from surface and ground water after heavy rain and to re-route water away from the village towards established and maintained watercourses to the north.

Making the funding announcements, Environment Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said:

"Local authorities have a crucial role to play in tackling flooding and it's vital that they have these funds now so that work can begin on resolving local flooding immediately. At the same time they will have the chance to develop the understanding and skills they need for the longer term. We wanted to make sure these funds went to where they are most needed and where they can make the biggest difference."

Public Meeting Held To Discuss Flood Scheme For Fiskerton

The Lincolnshire Echo is today reporting on the major new plans, that we reported on here earlier in the week, as having been put forward to tackle flooding Fiskerton at a public meeting.


They report that officials unveiled proposals that aim to collect and store water from the beleaguered village of Fiskerton, in order to reduce pressure on drains and sewers.

The scheme would intercept water from the north of Fiskerton and then divert it through existing pipes under the village - rather than through it - before it flows out into drains.

The £100,000 project was revealed last night to a village hall packed with locals.

District and parish councillors have teamed up with drainage officials, housing chiefs and other groups to hammer out a scheme that aims to reduce the amount of ground water getting into the sewage and drainage system.

They are also offering locals a "one-off" opportunity to help to repair watercourses on the land of homeowners who may not even know such things are on their land.

But while no-one at the meeting could question the need to combat flooding, concerns were raised about whether some locals might have to pay to maintain the watercourses.

The paper reports on Mr. Tony Adams, an environmental official at West Lindsey District Council, as saying:

"There is a problem in Fiskerton and practically everywhere else in the district, and even wider still. This problem in Fiskerton was highlighted in the flooding of 2007, as it was everywhere else in West Lindsey.

"Part of the problem has been with ditches in what is referred to as the Morris Homes site. But we have problems throughout the village, and Fiskerton now has a unique opportunity to resolve them."

The aim of the meeting was to seek the community's support for the plans. But the final say will be made by councillors. The timeline outlined at the meeting would see the scheme finished by August this year.

Acknowledgement: LincolnshireEcho | News | 05/03/2010

£100,000 Flood Scheme For Fiskerton

A £100,000 project could soon be underway to relieve Fiskerton of a flooding problem that has dogged the village for more than 20 years.

An open meeting has been called for Thursday 4th March 2010 to discuss innovative plans to intercept water from the north of the village and then divert it through existing pipes under the village - rather than through it - to the drains to the south and then out to the North Delph.

The meeting, in the village hall at 7.30pm, will seek support from the local community. If this is forthcoming the work could take place over two weeks in August later this year.

West Lindsey District Council, the Third Witham Internal Drainage Board, Morris Homes and the parish council have been working on a scheme to reduce the amount of ground water getting into the sewage and drainage systems to reduce the risk of flooding all over the village.

West Lindsey's Public Protection Manager, Mr. Chris Allen, said:

"There is still detailed design work to be done and some finance has yet to be secured.

"But if something is not done the problems will only get worse and the public meeting will be a chance for local people to get answers to their questions and be reassured about the project."

The new scheme is designed to resist a six hour storm with an additional 30% capacity built in to allow for climate change.

Mr. Allen added:

"The resilience of this proposed scheme far exceeds anything else being planned in the district with the period 2085 to 2115 being the storm event size, including climate change, that is being planned for.

"We believe the scheme will relieve at least six known problem areas in the village by allowing the existing systems to function normally. In turn this will allow us to focus our attention on repairs and upgrades that are actually needed."

Sunday Express - Stainton-by-Langworth Pet Cemetary

Related content 'Cllr. Meg Davidson in Sunday Express?'.

The Sunday Express is reporting that villagers whose last resting place is a discreet plot in a country churchyard may well be turning in their graves.


The paper mentions that plans are afoot to open an environmentally-friendly burial ground where pet lovers can be interred alongside their beloved animals.

The village of Stainton-by-Langworth, north of Lincoln, will become the only place in England where humans can be buried with their dogs, cats and even hamsters forever.

West Lindsey District Council gave permission for the scheme because the local churchyard of St. John the Baptist is, like many others in Britain, fast running out of space.

Mrs. Deidre Oswin, who lives in nearby Langworth village, is quoted as saying:

"Some people might take to the idea but it is a very peculiar sort of planning application. It’s quite unusual, to say the least."

Cllr. Mrs. Meg Davidson, Conservative (Fiskerton Ward), is reported as saying she was braced for an outcry and the need for a special planning meeting to explain what the project was about. But she was surprised to find that, after some initial concern, the plan was approved without opposition from the district or parish councils. Mrs Davidson is reported to have said:

"It did seem very strange at first and we didn’t quite know what to make of it all.

"We didn’t know what the local reaction would be as nothing like that has happened round here before, but after everything was explained there were no real objections.

"Many people thought it made sense because graveyards, as everyone knows, are running out of space."

An acre of the four-and-a-quarter acre site will be dedicated to animal burials and the rest of the space will become a 'green' human burial ground. The application indicates that the burial site aims to have a low impact on the environment while maintaining a rural appearance.

People who choose to be buried there will have biodegradable shrouds instead of wooden coffins, with a tree or flat plaque to mark the grave instead of a traditional headstone.

The site will remain agricultural and wildlife will be encouraged. It is intended that, over time, it will turn into a small wood and orchard.

The paper report that the Environment Agency has issued a licence for the burial of animals at Stainton-by-Langworth and believed it would become the first burial ground in England where pets could be buried with their owners. A spokesman explained:

"We have never heard of a burial ground like this before.

"It seems like a new but rather strange trend – people not wanting to be separated from their pets in death, that is."

There are nineteen pet cemeteries in England and Wales but so far none has been linked with human cemeteries.

Related content on the web: Yahoo India

Acknowledgement: Express.co.uk | UK News | 24/01/10

Meg Davidson Begins Re-Election Campaign for Fiskerton Ward

Cllr. Mrs. Meg Davidson, Conservative (Fiskerton Ward), has begun her re-election campaign early. Like David Cameron, the Conservative Party Leader, who announced the first chapter of the Conservative's manefesto yesterday, Cllr. Davidson started her campaign even earlier.

It is understood that Cllr. Mrs. Davidson has circulated a New Year's Message to every household in the Fiskerton Ward which covers the villages of Barlings, Bullington, Fiskerton, Goltho, Holton-cum-Beckering, Langworth, Newball, Rand, Reasby, Short Ferry and Stainton-by-Langworth, between Christmas and New Year's Day.

In her letter wishing residents a Happy New Year Cllr. Davidson says:

"When I was first elected as your District Councillor back in 2002, someone told me, 'It’s mostly rubbish and drains!' Both have featured prominently in my workload over the past year.

The new 'triple bin system' is working well. We are now recycling more than ever before.... I have been working hard to make sure that our area gets the flood protection it needs. There is progress: a lot of work has been done to improve flood defences in Langworth, there are plans for a flood mitigation scheme for Fiskerton and the highway drains are being cleaned more regularly."

Cllr. Davidson mentions her role as Vice Chairman of the Health Scrutiny Committee, which keeps an eye on health services in the county and that now the microbiology laboratory at Lincoln County Hospital has closed, she is keeping a close watch on the service being provided from Scunthorpe.

Cllr. Mrs. Davidson skillfully deals with the problems the have emerged at the district council saying:

"West Lindsey’s Planning Department has come under the spotlight in recent months. A number of problems have been identified. These are now being put right and a new manager is being recruited. I am optimistic that the service provided will be greatly improved in 2010."

Cllr. Mrs. Davidson also mentions the loss of Post Offices, the difficulties that lie ahead but that a strong community spirit is encouraging and pomises:

"I will do my best on your behalf in the months to come."

This is likely to be the first salvo of the new year in the local elections battle that will come in the months ahead as Liberal Democrats, led once again by Cllr. Reg Shore, (Stow Ward), and Conservatives go to the electorate in West Lindsey with a third of seats up for election. The Conservative Group currently has 20 seats, the Liberal Democrat Group 13 there are 3 Independents and 1 vacancy that will be elected in May.