East Lindsey District Council To Receive More Government Money!

It has been announced today that East Lindsey District Council is to receive nearly half a million pounds more money from central government for budget year 2016/2017 than had previously been the case. This is great news and will go a long way to covering the deficit being experienced at the council.

The County Council will receive an addition £5.1 million of funding.

This is as a result of rural MPs from around the country meeting with the Chancellor to thrash out a new deal for rural counties.

I don't know exactly what this will mean but I hope that it will result in less service cuts than those already planned by both councils. Fingers crossed!

50% Increase In Skegness Town Council Tax?

I am reliably informed that after a local survey there is a majority of Skegness residents that believe it is okay to increase the Council Tax by 50% and they would be prepared to pay it!

Through the roof in Skegness?

If it is correct that people in Skegness are happy to support such a rise then I am dumbfounded. If that was to happen and then combine that with the increases that are inevitable relating to the share of the council tax from East Lindsey District Council, Lincolnshire County Council and the Police Authority it would put a great deal of financial pressure on an awful lot of people within the Skegness Town Council area.

Going back to the survey, where can I see the results of this survey? Is there an online presentation of the results?

I would love to see that I am in the minority by not wishing to see such a ridiculous and draconian increase.

Just out of interest. I don't know if you are aware that Skegness Town Council voted through a 23.6% increase in its share of council tax last week, so it appears they have taken the results of the survey to heart!

Dig deep people of Skegness!

A52/A158 They Are Our Arteries - East Lindsey Coast

It is normal perhaps for coastal areas to have poor roads leading to them, unless of course they are close to a motorway network such as Blackpool but that is an exception. On this coast we do not have the benefits of motorways, or even for that matter dual-carriageways. We rely on the "A" roads to bring in the business. Are the "A" roads we rely on a help or a hindrance in that regard?

My view is that they are a hindrance.

Every summer, every busy weekend, every Bank Holiday and throughout the main holiday season this coast is let down by the two main roads leading to it.

For instance. Last Saturday I travelled up to Lincoln at about 1 o'clock in the afternoon. The traffic heading west, away from the coast was running smoothly but travelling in the opposite direction the traffic was horrendous. Slow moving traffic and stationary traffic for miles. The worst section was that section heading into Horncastle. The traffic was backed up and stationary all the way to the Caistor turn-off, several miles in length. The reports on the radio told me that Wragby was just as bad but as I turned off the A158 on the Bardney road I will have to take their word for it.  Radio Lincolnshire were also reporting the "normal problems" on the A52 as well.

This issue has been known about for decades and very little has been done about it. A bypass was provided for Burgh-Le-Marsh some 8 years ago. Whilst roads have been improved in the west of the county, with a lot more to come, specifically to deal with bottlenecks and known problems, little has been done in our area. It is not good enough.

Sad to say that there is little that is going to be done in the foreseeable future as there is no mention of our area in the Lincolnshire 4th Local Transport Plan 2013/14 - 2022/23 a link to which I have attached at the bottom of this article. In brief the projects that will be/are being implemented over the next 10 years are:

• Lincoln Eastern Bypass
• Grantham Southern Relief Road
• Spalding Western Relief Road

The Transport Strategies for individual towns are:

• Boston Transport Strategy
• Grantham Transport Strategy
• Lincoln Transport Strategy
• Gainsborough Transport Strategy.

What does that mean for this area? Simply that there are no plans whatsoever in this area for the next 8 years and if there is a 5th Local Transport Plan and this area was lucky enough (sic) to be considered then it could be 10 years after that before anything is done and then there is no guarantee!

When I have raised this issue previously I have been told that the problem we have is that our issues are seasonal and therefore not as high a priority as other areas! With that in mind it is difficult to see any hope for the improvements we desperately need is there?

It was also pointed out that we would be getting a Western Relief Road for Skegness which will link the A52 and the A158. This would relieve the congestion is Skegness Town Centre. Perhaps it would but at what cost? The A158 is already nose to tail for miles out of Skegness at busy times so pushing the traffic from the A52 to the A158 is only going to make things worse in that area! Indeed with Roman Bank (A52) heading north being an absolute nightmare already, it makes even less sense. Without a road running north from the A158 towards Ingoldmells and beyond, extending the relief road, there will be little if any improvement to the overall traffic congestion.

I think folks that we are the forgotten area when it comes to road infrastructure. A decent road from Boston to the coast and a decent road from Lincoln to the coast would open up the whole of East Lindsey as well as the coast. Decent roads would encourage more inward investment, creating businesses and jobs for this area.

In addition it would make the journey far more pleasant for the hundreds of thousands of people that come to the coast for a break. That would surely encourage more to come? Given that one of the priorities of the County Council is to double the worth of tourism to the county, then surely money spent on making the primary tourist area in the county more accessible should be viewed as a priority? I live in hope rather than expectation!

As I referred to in the title of this piece. The A52/A158 are our arteries. We all know what happens when arteries become blocked don't we?

How Long Before Someone Is Killed Or Maimed?

Great to see that Drummond Road in Skegness has had the surface replaced even if it is with that horrible grey stone stuff. A vast improvement on the chasms, ravines and canyons that have plagued the road for the last number of years.

What I would like to know is how long is it going to take the County Council to put the road markings back in? The parking along Drummond Road is now atrocious with cars parking down both sides of the road because the yellow lines have been covered over.

This afternoon an emergency blue light ambulance was parked in the middle of the road on a call because the road was parked up on both sides. In addition there are idiots who have become used to driving along that road at 50 and 60 miles an hour and they are still doing it despite the cars parked on both sides. I tell you now someone is going to get killed along there if this situation lasts much longer.

Where is our esteemed County Councillor Robin Hunter-Clarke when you need him? I doubt very much whether he has actually been in his division lately and if he has then his eyes are glued shut. He needs to get onto the Highways Department and get this sorted ASAP!

Save The Green Man!!! Save My Sanity!!!

Now listen it has gone too far okay? All the Politically Correct nonsense. What am I talking about, I will tell you.

New road crossing signs, provided by the County Council, have appeared in several parts of the county telling people to "Only Cross The Road With The Green Figure". What? Why?

It is a Green Man for heaven's sake, always has been and always will be.

A Green Man not a Green Figure!! Got that? Good!!

£250,000 It Is Just Not True!

There is a story being put about and statements made that those councillors on Lincolnshire County Council are going to have their allowances increased by 22% at a cost of a quarter of a million pounds. This story is, quite simply, not true.

The facts are these. The Independent Remuneration Panel have recommended the rise of 22% which would have cost the tax payers of Lincolnshire £250,000. Because of this the ruling Conservative group prudently allocated this sum in the last budget in case it was agreed upon by the council that this rise should take place. Not to have done this could have led the council into financial difficulties if they had not made an allowance for the possible increase and it had come about.

As it turns out the ruling Conservative group have decided that, in the present economic climate, the rise was not something that was acceptable to them, nor to the tax payers of the county. They have therefore decided that allowances will be frozen for the next two years. A completely sensible decision. I believe that this will mean that allowances will not have been increased for 4 years by 2013 when the next county elections will be held. As far as I am aware all political groupings on the council are in agreement with this decision.

This decision, which will be ratified by the full council this week, means that the £250,000 will not now be allocated to councillors allowances and will therefore be available as "spare monies". I do not know how this money will now be allocated.

Readers may be interested to know that Lincolnshire County Councillors actually and traditionally receive smaller allowances than other councils in the East Midlands, so it could be said that they are good value for money.

So you see, this is really a non-story, with no basis in fact whatsoever.

£6.21 million - A Lot Of Road Repairs

Good news on road repairs and pot-holes. The government has given our lovely county of Lincolnshire an extra £6.21 million to help to repair our roads and the damage caused by a succession of extremely cold winters.

Those of us who travel the counties roads will already have seen the many stretches that have already been repaired or have seen the men in yellow doing the job and enjoyed the inevitable delays!!

From what I know the extra money is to be used to provide permanent repairs as opposed to pot-hole filling. Excellent news I think!

Definitely Not A Labour Of Love!!!

Those of you who read my previous posts on my original blog site will know that I am always banging on about Skegness Town Councillors having the ability and the desire to liaise with each other across the local authorities, i.e. East Lindsey District Council and Lincolnshire County Council. It is extremely important that this liaison is carried out for the good of Skegness as a whole.

I have long accused the Labour Councillors (some very much more than others) on Skegness Town Council of not wishing to do this for their own political ends and have said that this attitude does absolutely nothing to enhance the town or it's residents. Indeed, in my view, having such an insular outlook actually damages the prospects of the town and it's residents.

Last night proved my point. Let me explain.

Last night was the scheduled meeting of the Skegness Area Committee. This is a meeting which brings together councillors from our three local councils to hear of and discuss the important happenings that are directly affecting our area. This is an opportunity to exchange ideas based upon the agenda items and to hear what others think. A meeting of the minds and of opinions. To have your say and to help influence the policies of the future relating to our area. Very unfortunately, the local Labour councillors representing Skegness wards on both Skegness Town Council and also East Lindsey District Council were conspicuous by their absence. It is reliably reported to me that not one of them managed to attend. NONE. The Labour Party has the largest contingent of any one party on Skegness Town Council and none of them turned up last night. Now it is very much accepted that, on occassion, councillors cannot make it to meetings and committees, but for none of them to turn up is very much beyond the pale.

Perhaps the construction of an enormous eye-sore building on our beautiful coast relating to the wind turbines was not of interest to any of them? Perhaps there was not any real need for them, nor a desire, to receive a presentation regarding the local Youth Council, perhaps nothing else on the agenda tickled their fancy?

I am sure if they do need to find out what went on they can always ask any of their Conservative councillor colleagues from all three local authorities who did manage to attend. They will, I am sure, be more than happy to liaise with them to bring them up to speed. Working together for the good of the town does not appear to be a problem to them.

Skegness Town Council Must Support Church Farm Museum

As you all know Church Farm Museum is under threat. Thanks to the efforts of many, there is now a very good chance that it can be saved and go on to become a real tourist attraction in it's own right. This has been done by forming a brand new local organisation to run the Museum.

The County Council have promised £35,000 to the venture and will continue to provide suppot to it. East Lindsey District have agreed to continue to allow the use of their land and the Friends of Church Farm Museum have agreed to provide financial support. One of the final pieces to the jigsaw is for Skegness Town Council to match the funding provided by the County Council and it will be full-steam ahead. The Town Council has approximately £125,000 in it's reserves and so there is no real fiscal reason why they cannot provide the much required funding.
The Council have agreed a special meeting at the Town Hall on the evening of 19th January to discuss this matter and make a decision on it.
They really need to take into account the importance of this Museum in preserving the heritage of the area, the standing it has not only as a Museum, for which it holds prestigious awards, but also as a tourist attraction in it's own right. They also need to take into account the strength of feeling amongst the local population as displayed when the possible closure was announced in the autumn of last year.

Come on Town Council. Show the right commitment to the town and provide the funding for this. I urge a yes vote from all councillors when the time comes.Not to do so would be a travesty.

DO IT FOR THE TOWN.