LCFC - Break From The Old Routine

After several weeks of Saturday and Tuesday grind-stone games without a break, requiring hundreds of miles of travel it is a bit of a god-send not to have a mid-week game this week.
It is an absolute certainty that the players needed the break and, to be honest, so did the supporters.

We have done exceptionally well over the last hectic 3 weeks or so and, although we are now not assured of safety, at least we are a good way along the track.

There are still plenty of points to play for and an awful lot of excitement, highs and disappointments to fit in between now and May, but the outcome is going to be a good one.

So it's re-coup the energy and charge the batteries for a few days before it is off to Barnet on Saturday for an important game. I say important game, but to be honest until we get to that 50 point safety total they are all important games. Barnet away followed by two home games against Oxford United and Accrington Stanley could see us very near to that magic mark.

Let's hope we do reach the magic half-century as quickly as possible and then see how much further we can go.

Do your best to get down to the Bank to support The Imps over the coming few weeks. It is what the club and the team need most of all.

The Taxman Is Very Taxing And A Shambles To Boot.

Her Majestys Revenue and Customs was formed in 2005 to replace both  the Inland Revenue and HM Customs and Excise. Given the letter that I received this morning with a dreaded P800 in it, all I can say is  what a mess they have made of it all.

Despite having paid every penny in tax that I have been told I owed and being employed, therefore paying through PAYE, the wonderful HMRC have now informed me that I owe them hundreds of pounds.

Flabbergasted!!

How can that be? This goes back nearly 4 years, I am reliably informed after waiting well over half and hour on the telephone calling their "HELP-LINE". It is not their fault, I am also reliably informed it was down to those responsible for collecting the tax and me for making a tax underpayment!!! I always thought that HMRC was responsible for collecting the tax and ensuring that the tax collected was correct!!! What a simple and naive being I really am.

As I was on the Helpline, I thought I would ask for a bit of help. What can I do about this then, I asked. Well, to put it bluntly "Pay up" I was told. So that is what I will have to do. Pay up. Thanks for the help!

From what I can understand, the good old Her Majestys Revenue and Customs are still working through a backlog of people's tax records and will be sending more of the dreaded brown envelopes out soon. Gird up your loins people, it could be you next.

Shopping In Skegness - Thoughts And Questions.

LUMLEY ROAD SKEGNESS LOOKING WEST

There has been much comment over the last few months, both on the internet and in the local press as to the shopping available in Skegness, be that what we have lost, what we have now or what we would like to see.

I have a lot of sympathy with those that would like to see a better range of shops and therefore choice in the town. My concern is how this can be achieved. I have spent a lot of time looking at this problem and so far I have not been able to come up with a solution.

There is an awful lot said about the fact that Skegness is full of "tat shops". By that I think people are talking abou the "bucket and spade" shops and those aimed predominantly at the tourist market that are prevalent. Is that fair though? If you consider that the population of Skegness is approximately 21,000 residents and this grows ten-fold in the summer, would it not appear correct that those entrepeneurs who wish to open a shop would do so aimed at the largest audience of shoppers, i.e. the tourists? Is that fair to the residents? I think it is correct to assume that those people who wish to run a shop do so on a commercial basis and thereby they wish to make money from it. Hard as it may be to take, that money is to be made from the tourists, in the main, and not the local population.

Skegness has a population of approximately 21,000. What sort of mainstream shops would that support on an all-round annual basis? Is it a large enough population to attract large stores that can then make the sort of returns that they need to be viable? It has been said that many people from the outlying villages around the town would come into Skegness rather than go to the already existing retail centres, such as Boston, Grimsby and Lincoln, thereby boosting the numbers, but would they. Possibly so, but in the numbers required to support large stores?  From a commercial point of view would a large retail business that already had a successful store in one of the locations listed wish to open another one in Skegness? Would they not already be receiving the custom of the people of Skegness and the surrounding area at their established stores? Interesting points.

Another thought that occured to me is where would we be able to locate large stores in the town. The obvious answer is Lumley Road, but is it really an obvious answer? Are the buildings on Lumley Road suitable for large stores? Do they have sufficient floor area and is there enough storage space for goods? Are the buildings able to supply the facilities needed for a company wishing to put in a large store?

If Lumley Road is not suitable, what are the alternatives? Build stores out of town? Expand the retail park off Wainfleet Road. Build another one? Would that be commercially viable? Is that what the town needs? A complete re-vamp of Lumley Road, possbily turning it into a pedestrian precinct, or at least a part of it anyway? Is that a possibility? All of those ideas could work but where is the money going to come from to see them become a reality? Is the town an attractive enough business proposition for a commercial enterprise to take something like that on?

What about smaller more specialist shops? Would they be viable without being able to ride on the coat-tails of larger stores? If we are talking about low volume sales then the profits would have to be fairly high on the sales made. Therefore we are moving towards the luxury end of the market. Given the large amount of deprivation we have locally, are there enough people in the town with the financial ability to support such shops?

Much has been made of the level of the perceived high rents and business rates applied to the town. If these items are high, what can be done about that? Business rates are set by central government and apply nationwide. Is it possible to be granted local exemptions relating to business rates? Rents are set by the owners of the individual properties, the landlords. Would it be possible to persuade them to lower the rents? Only, I would think, if the tenants started disappearing because the rents are too high. That is a complete Catch-22 situation though isn't it?

So there are my thoughts and questions about the situation we are in at the moment. Is our situation any different for any town of our size? I am sure the rurality of our county and the distances between Skegness and the existing retail centres make matters worse but that is not something that can be changed.

There are plenty of solutions to the problems that I have highlighted but there are two main issues that I cannot get round. Firstly, who has the money to pay for those solutions and secondly if stores are attracted to the town would they be viable and have a long term future? Has anybody got any viable answers?

This is a big, big issue that will take big, big solutions.

Skegness - Best Beach In The Country?

Having been about a bit in this great country of ours, I can honestly say that I have never found a beach that can match ours at Skegness.

Fantastic yellow sand that runs for miles, finishing in the lovely Girbraltar Point Nature Reserve in to the south of the resort. It is no wonder that so many people come to Skegness for the day, park themselves on the beach with their beer and sandwiches and don't move again until they set off for the car park to go home.

Even on the busiest day there is always room on the beach. The sea is clean (not very often warm I will admit) and sometimes, at very low tide it can be a bit of a hike to go for a dip. Plenty of kiosks in the vicinity selling all sorts of food and drink and if you can work out how to put one up you can hire one of the ubiquitous stripey deck-chairs.

In the last 12 months or so the beach has hosted an opera concert, motor-bike racing and professional beach volleyball.

Just to top it off the beach also hosts the official best group of donkeys in the country.

We have our own beach guards and also the Lifeboat Station is situated slap-bang in the middle of the main beach. It houses a full-size life-boat and also inshore rigid boats.

Beautiful beach and safe.

If there is a better beach in his country, I don't know where it is!!!

A Fantastic Coup For Skegness

I don't know if it is me being thick, no comments thank you, but I have only just realised just what a fantastic coup for Skegness this years SO Festival is going to be as Games Time comes to Skegness between 22nd and 24th July.

Games Time is very much linked to the London Olympics of 2012 and as such will have some fantastic publicity.

As I understand it Skegness was selected from a large number of applicants to stage this fantastic event along with 4 major cities in the UK. For Skegness to beat of bids from some of the major cities in this country is a fantastic achievement.

Apparently, last years SO Festival attracted an extra 30,000 visitors to the town and an extra spend of £1.25 millinon came into our economy, not counting accommodation costs. I would expect this years festival to be an even greater success bringing with it further good economic news for our town.

Let's all work together on this and make it a fantastic success and make it something that will further enhance the standing of Skegness as a cultural destination following on from the successes of 2009 and 2010.

Hildreds and Tesco - What's Afoot?

Is it just me or is anybody else confused about the reports in the local papers with regard to the Tesco expansion planning application?

We have the owners of the Hildred's Centre stating that the area occupied by the Co-Op is available for sub-let, the Co-Op saying they have not got plans to move or shut the shop and the Post Office, which is located within the Co-Op, saying that they know nothing about any closure and nobody has talked to them.

The owners of the Hildred's Centre have written to the Town Council complaining abut the Tesco expansion plans because they say Tescos could move into the Town Centre, possibly their building, although there is no vacancy there at the moment according to the tenants that are there. What? They also complain that the information regarding the potential for retail expansion in Skegness is outdated. Surely that is Tescos problem? I would have thought that a company as successful as Tesco, with the business acumen that they possess would know whether their plans are sustainable or not!!

The Town Council have taken this at face value, by the looks of things, and have decided not to support the Tesco expansion plans. For goodness sake!!!

Thankfully, they do not have the actual say as to whether planning permission can be given, ELDC do. It is to be hoped that they take a more sensible view!

It would seem to me extraordinary if anybody is expecting Tesco to set up a second shop in Skegness about half a mile from the one they already have. Why on earth would they want to duplicate their operation? Where is the common-sense or logic in that?

What a total muddle.

Something that comes to mind for me is this. Did Morrisons have all this trouble with their expansion? Were they expected to move into the town centre? If they did or they were then it certainly wasn't noticed by me and, from memory, there was not all this hoo hah in the local press! Is there a reluctance in this town to assist when it comes to anything to do with Tesco's?

In a time of recession and with no other investment due to come into the town as far as I know, it is plain daft to put barriers in the way of Tesco expanding it's operation here in Skegness. If the only reason for it going ahead is the 75 permanent jobs that are to be created, then that is good enough for me. Everything else is peripheral in my view.

Let's get on with it I say. Let's accept the investment and be glad of the extra employment within the town. We most certainly need it!!!

The Skegness Academy And 17.5 Million Pounds!!

What fantastic news that the Skegness Academy is to receive £17.5 million pounds in funding from central government to achieve it's expansion and renovation plans.

I see this as a huge boost for the education prospects of the children of Skegness and congratulate all those involved in the project.

Not only is this a boost for education but also, looking at the facilities to be provided, for the local community.

Here is a thought though. I am of the old school, in this case The Canon William Morris Secondary School which for those of you that don't know was the forerunner to the present school via the guises in between. For me and those of my ilk that site will always be the Morris School. It was a great school to go to and had some fantastic teachers. In my time the likes of Pop Jenner, Derek Dutton, Frank Crabbe and Mike Sharman, to name but some, were all excellent teachers who provided an excellent education for the pupils in their care.

Anyway back to my thought. I would love to see the Academy incorporate the history of the school by including the name Morris School or somesuch in it's present day title. This would give the school some historical significance and the pupils the ability to look back on their forebears and their education. At a time when the heritage of the town is under threat, Church Farm Museum and the Railway Station buildings spring to mind, I think this is a very good idea.

Morris School Emblem.

The Skegness Canon William Morris Academy? Has a certain ring to it for me!!! What do you think?

Local Doctor Cover - Weekends and Bank Holidays

There is an interesting article in the Target this week regarding GPs providing cover for patients over Bank Holidays. This article has been published in response to a letter received by the paper from the Skegness Hospital Watch group (SHW). The basic issue is that local GP surgeries should provide this service.

The problem with the ideas expressed by the group is that they seem not to understand that GP practices do not have the responsibility to provide this cover, nor the resources to do so.

The responsibility to do so was moved from GP practices to local Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) when a new national GP contract was introduced by the last government in 2004. The requirement for GPs not to provide the Out Of Hours Service was central to the acceptance of this contract. Along with the responsibility went the funding to provide the cover. GP surgeries have to pay a portion of the income received from the NHS to the PCTs to allow or to assist them in funding the services.

Our local PCT provides a telephone service, a special non-emergency number 111 to get advice and an on-call GP service for those calls deemed to require the attendance of a GP to a patients home. In addition there are specially trained Para-Medics that are also available to respond. So in actual fact there is cover for all non-emergency medical problems. Emergencies are covered through the normal 999 service which operates on a 24 hour, 365 day a year service.

SHW call upon GP Practice Managers to provide GP cover over the two Bank Holiday weekends in April, but how is that to be paid for? Where is the money going to come from for, not only paying GPs to be there but also the Administration staff necessary to allow this cover to be provided. If they are requiring a full GP practice service then those costs escalate in line with the services provided.

Sorry folks but if you are not happy with the cover being provided then the PCT are the people that should be contacted and the demands for more cover, or cover provided in a different way,  should be made to them. They have the responsibility and the funding to provide the cover. How they do that is really up to them and not up to the local GPs or their Practice Managers.

Some useful telephone numbers:

GP Out Of Hours Service - 0845 0450281 (Evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays)
Non-emergency advice line - 111
Emergency Number - 999
Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust - 01522 513355

Me At The 2012 London Olympics - The Big Interview

Big interview was yesterday at the Excel in London. What a day!!!!
I left myself 4.5 hours to get "dahn the smoke" for what should have been a 3 hour drive. Thanks to a lorry fire near Cambridge those 4.5 hours were not enough as both the A14 and the M11 were closed for most of the day. My decision, carry on straight down the A1. As in all decisions you found out whether you were right or wrong. Guess I was wrong then. Huge holdups caused by all of the traffic being diverted away from the Cambridge area plus the ubiquitous road-works made for a crawl rather than the relaxing drive I was looking for.

As a result, at 12.30 pm, when I should have been sitting down calmly to be interviewed for a post on one of the Anti-Doping Teams, I was still careering around the M25, within the speed limit of course, cursing lorries, road-works and life in particular.

Finally arrived at the Excel, a marvellous building which is situated right on the Thames in Docklands, at nearly 1.00 pm, fearing the worst. Full of apologies I presented myself to the reception area and I have to say the staff could not have been nicer. From then on, it was all rush, rush, rush. My original time of 12.30 was the last slot of the morning for interviews. As everyody else was already moving around the system I would have to do the whole thing on my own and not as a part of a group as planned! Now not only feeling flustered but also embarrassed!!

So it was off to a film-show about the process, during which I had to play Rock,Paper, Scissors which is a bit surreal when you are on your own. From there, after having Eddie Izzard wishing me luck for my interview, he was in the film and not there in person, it was straight into Interview Pod 8. Still breathless and to be honest in a bit of a whirl.

The interview was not at all what I was expecting. It took me a couple of minutes to realise that it was very much of the happy-clappy variety, full-on up for the Olympic experience, positive to the Olympic ethos and "Welcome the world to London". Once I picked up what was called for it all started to fall into place. Funny really, I was enthused by the interviewer and really got into it. Lots of questions about past experiences, giving examples of behaviour under certain situations and proving that I was a genuinely nice guy. (No comments thank you). After half and hour or so. Done. Finito. Ende.

After that it was into the exhibition area, full of interesting facts and figures about the London Olympics and history of the Olympic movement. I was told I should have seen all of this before the interview but because I was late I had to wait until afterwards. It would have been better, given some of the questions, if I had seen it first but "too late" was the cry.

How did it go? Difficult to say really. I think I did okay and I definitely gave it my best shot. One thing I will say is that now I have done it I will be absolutely gutted if I am not offered a position. The whole experience has made me want it more and I didn't think that was possible.

When do I find out if I have made it as a volunteer and a Gamesmaker? As I understand it, November. Better not hold my breath then but it is a long time to keep your fingers crossed.

Here's hoping.

Oh. By the way. Roads were fantastically clear on the way home and did it in well under 3 hours. Life can be like that sometimes can't it??

Is This Really On Track?



STRAIGHT THROUGH PLEASE - NO CHANGE





Reports today of a direct rail link from Skegness to London. What?

Has been on Look North tonight but is it really something that can be expected to happen? For myself, I would love to see it come about but I am not sure that it ever will.

How likely is it? Well it is mooted in an official Network Rail document but it would appear that this is just an "aspiration", I.E. on a wish-list.



It would really be on my wish-list but I am not 

holding my breath.

Not so much "Now then ducky" as "Alright treacle".

We can all dream though, can't we??