COUNTY councillors have voted to freeze council tax rates ahead of new bills being sent out next month.

Lincolnshire County Council says it has also taken steps to protect frontline services that impact on public safety through the budget which was approved at a meeting of the full council on Friday.

Coun Kelly Smith, executive member for finance and HR, said: “This is a difficult time for everyone financially, and we feel it’s important to do all we can to make life easier for our residents. That’s why we’re freezing council tax for the second year running.”

The freeze has been confirmed despite the county being in line to receive 7.6 per cent – or £16.1m – less for services in the next financial year from its formula grant.

Coun Smith added: “In the last year, the council has made savings of over £50m. And we’ve achieved this without severe cuts to frontline services or large-scale compulsory redundancies, relying instead on making the council ever more efficient.

“Despite our tough financial position, we have again protected services that have an impact on public safety, things like child protection, the fire service, and road maintenance.

“And we also continue to invest in major infrastructure projects, such as the Lincoln Eastern Bypass and next-generation broadband, which will pave the way for renewed prosperity in Lincolnshire.”

The freeze in the county council’s share of the council tax has been made possible by a special one-off Government grant to authorities that agree to keep rises to 2.5 per cent or below.

TWO men were over the drink-drive limit when they decided to move a mate’s car to another parking space as a prank at the works “Christmas do”, Spalding magistrates heard.

Provisional licence holder Liam Martin (18), of Halmer Gate, Spalding, was driving circuits in Springfields car park on December 10 and the screeching of tyres woke someone staying at the Travelodge.

Rebecca Ritson said the guest saw the Citroen Saxo hit a kerb.

Wayne Clark (22) – who had been videoing the action – climbed into the driver’s seat, but the car wouldn’t move because a wheel was damaged.

Martin pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol in blood. Magistrates heard he was just seven milligrammes over the legal limit of 80.

He was banned from driving for 12 months, fined £160 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Martin can cut three months off the ban by completing a rehabilitation course.

He also pleaded guilty to driving without insurance but received no separate penalty.

Solicitor Gordon Holt, mitigating, said: “Initially, the intention was to move it from one space to another and then in the morning have a big laugh when the chap couldn’t find his car.”

Mr Holt said Martin had never been in court before. He had already paid for the car damage.

He said: “One of the police officers said to his mother he had never seen a detainee so remorseful and upset.”

Martin hoped to become a lorry driver and the conviction would harm his career.

Solicitor Ann Whinyates asked magistrates to use discretion in Wayne Clark’s case because he pleaded guilty to being in charge of a motor vehicle, but hadn’t moved it, and needed his car to get to work in Pinchbeck.

He had 49 microgrammes of alcohol in breath – 14 mcgs above the limit.

Clark, of Jubilee Grove, Sleaford, had his licence endorsed with ten points. He was fined £185 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

]]> 1.3542980 Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:00:00 +0000 http://www.spaldingtoday.co.uk/breaking_news_peacocks_store_saved_1_3549442

TEN jobs have been saved after Spalding’s Peacocks store was one of 388 bought by Edinburgh Woollen Mill.

More than 220 stores will close.

MAGISTRATES issued an arrest warrant without bail for former Weston Hills man Alan Howarth when he failed to attend court in Spalding on a charge of sexually touching a girl aged 11.

Howarth (27), formerly of St John’s Road, is now living in Rotherham. The court heard on Thursday morning that the charge arises from an alleged incident in May 2010.

THREATENING to “torch” a pub in Donington after staff stopped him from becoming a drink-driver has left a man with a £165 court bill.

Darren Kitchen (39), of Elizabeth Crescent, West Pinchbeck, said the words as a parting shot to The Queen Inn landlady Martine Roper after he spent the afternoon drinking between eight and ten pints.

As a result, he was charged with using threatening words and sentenced by Spalding Magistrates’ Court last week.

Rebecca Ritson, prosecuting, said Kitchen became involved in a dispute with staff when his partner called them outside to help her.

Miss Ritson said Kitchen tried to get behind the wheel of a car when his partner arrived to pick him up.

She said he became “abusive” and swung his arms towards Mrs Roper’s husband John when they advised him not to drive. Mr Roper grabbed Kitchen and pinned him to the floor to calm him down.

When Mr Roper returned inside, Miss Ritson said Kitchen was swearing at him.

She added: “Kitchen was told to get in the car. He refused and said he would be back to torch the place.”

Mark Hudson, defending, said Kitchen did not remember the incident and was “upset” at the events.

Magistrates gave him a £65 fine and ordered him to pay £85 costs and a £15 surcharge.

OWNERS of a former gas works have apologised to neighbours as work continues to bring the land back into use.

National Grid is in the middle of a remedial project on the site in Albion Street and is currently working to break up the concrete foundations of former buildings.

Scott Lewis, commercial property manager, said: “We want to bring this site back into beneficial use and improve the environment but we appreciate that this work can be noisy at times and we are working to keep disruption to a minimum.

“The concrete breaking will continue in earnest for a further two weeks and after that we will need to carry out this type of work on a more infrequent basis until the middle of June when the project is scheduled to finish.”

The Albion Street site was developed as a gasworks in 1832 and expanded in the 1900s, but production ceased at the site in 1968. A small depot still operates from the site.

A BOURNE pub is to close for a five-week revamp to give it a quirky new theme.

The Jubilee in North Street closes on Sunday, February 26 and will change its name to Jubilee Garage when it reopens on Friday, April 6.

The new look will include a 1970s Volkswagen camper van as the bar, garage signs, petrol pumps and vehicle seating.

The pub will also be showing Sky Sports on six new screens.

The theme was chosen because the building was a garage between the 1920s and 1950s.

Operations manager Ross Dykes said: “It’s a quirky idea and I hope people will like what we are trying to do. It will be very different to what it is now.

“We want to turn it into more of a venue for families. We need to make it into a sustainable value-for-money pub.

“We are conscious that people are spending less and that will be reflected in the refit.”

Mr Dykes said the revamp was in line with the group’s aim to refit its pubs regularly.

Pub owner Mick Thurlby also owns Smiths in Bourne, as well as pubs in Stamford, Oakham, Ufford and Easton-on-the-Hill.

Mr Dykes added: “We decided to make it more of a pub so it has a bit of identity. At the moment it’s a restaurant during the day, a pub in the evening and a nightclub at night.”

IN a prison cell in New South Wales, Australia, a man awaits trial accused of sexual assault of two girls aged just 12 and 14.

It might be the other side of the world, but this man is believed to have flown to Australia to carry out the attacks after grooming the youngsters online from his home in Holbeach St John’s

After his arrest by New South Wales police last March, Lincolnshire Police raided his home on behalf of their Australian counterparts and took away the computer.

On it they discovered a number of indecent images of children and logs of some of the online conversations in which he had groomed his victims.

This is just one of the investigations Lincolnshire Police Paedophile Online Investigation Team has been involved with.

The team is small – just five detectives and one sergeant – but it’s size belies it’s reach – and its successes.

In 2011 the team seized five million indecent images of children – more than three times the number uncovered in 2010.

Each of those images is a picture of a victim and the team is dedicated to tracking down those victims and those who abuse them – wherever the trail leads.

DS Paul Hutchins (pictured), who heads the team, said: “The internet has no boundaries so our work tracking down those who use it to abuse children can’t be bound by county lines.

“Technology is always improving and as it grows so does people’s access to these images and the capacity they have to store them.

“Just a few years ago a large haul of indecent images would have been 60,000 to 70,000, but the last two big ones we have been involved in have been nearer 800,000.

“Academic research shows that 85 per cent of those who enjoy looking at this type of image go on to commit an hands-on offence, so when we arrest those who have images on their computers we are effectively saving a child from abuse.

“We also go to awful lengths to track down the victims in these pictures.

“The case in Australia shows just how far and wide these people operate, so that’s what we have to do.”

But DS Hutchins fears the good results achieved in the short time his team have been working could be unravelled as the squeeze on police budgets becomes ever tighter.

He said: “We are under constant review, like every other team in Lincolnshire Police.

“The force as a whole is getting close to a record low number of officers - last year we lost 70 and there will be more.

“The team has only been at its current level for 12 months and we have had a huge impact.

“To lose just one member of the team would mean we could not safeguard as many children as we do and not bring as many offenders to justice..

“We are racking the cases through the court system but we can only do that with the resources.”

SOUTH Holland District Council leader Gary Porter has fired a warning shot across the bows of both developers hoping to launch schemes in Spalding.

He said: “I wouldn’t bet on either of them getting approval because I haven’t seen anything that would convince me that we would want to do what either of them are proposing.

“From what I have seen, I would not recommend either of the two proposals, but if either of the two are likely to be developed in a way that does become attractive at the moment my money would be on Mr Moran getting there first.”

And Coun Porter reissued a challenge he previously made last year for Mr Garvie to show him the results of the consultation Mr Garvie claims he carried out with 3,300 Spalding residents.

CEREBRAL palsy sufferer Alice Bates is on top of the world now Botox treatment has boosted the distance she can walk with her gait trainer.

Alice (5), from Long Sutton, had the drug injected into her hips earlier this month and started intensive physiotherapy. Within days she went from taking her usual five or six steps to walking 20 metres.

The drug relaxed muscles in Alice’s legs, stopping them from crossing over and allowing her to step with confidence.

Mum Charlotte said: “We noticed a difference almost immediately. It wasn’t so difficult to move her legs while we were dressing her.

“About ten days afterwards we had an assessment with her physiotherapist and she wasn’t tripping over her own feet.

“She’s gone from taking five or six steps to walking the whole length of the school hall and back, which I would say is about 20 metres.”

Last year Alice received two life-changing gifts from Lincolnshire Free Press and Spalding Guardian readers.

Within two months of us launching an appeal, you bought Alice an £8,000 powered wheelchair with donations to the Lincolnshire Free Press Children’s Fund.

It was the first time Alice could move any distance under her own steam and join her brothers and sisters for play times in the park.

The chair is also Alice’s transport to and from school.

Earlier this term, Alice was awarded a certificate in her school assembly for achieving level one power chair skills.

Charlotte said: “She is very pleased with herself. She can now go in any direction on command – when she feels like taking instructions – and can anticipate when to stop when approaching an obstacle.”

Long Sutton Primary provided Alice with a gait trainer to use at school, but your donations allowed the family to have a secondhand £500 gait trainer at home.

Charlotte said: “I don’t know what we would have done without the Children’s Fund. There is no doubt it makes a huge difference to children’s lives and I want to say thank you again to everyone who donated.”

A FARM worker who tried to rip the heart from a woman after horrifically stabbing her in the chest has today been jailed for 18 years.

Andrzej Chranowski (34) stabbed night shift worker Christine Seymour (59), while she was talking to a mate on her mobile phone outside her home in Spalding. He then pushed his hands inside her chest in an apparent attempt to tear out her heart.

Police, alerted by other residents in the shared property, arrested him inside Ms Seymour’s room.

Michael Cranmer-Brown, prosecuting, said that when officers entered the room Chranowski calmly asked for a cigarette and confessed “I’ve just killed a woman with this,” still holding the scissors.

Chranowski, of Green Lane, Spalding, denied attempted murder on February 2, 2011 but was found guilty by a jury after a trial. He was also convicted of wounding another resident with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm.

Judge John Milmo QC, passing sentence at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday, said “This was a wholly unprovoked attack with a potentially lethal weapon.

A 78-YEAR-old Long Sutton woman denied attempting to murder her husband when she appeared before Lincoln Crown Court today.

Florence Thomson, of Sturton Way, is alleged to have stabbed her husband Keith Thomson on November 11.

Judge Michael Heath adjourned the case for trial on a date to be fixed and remanded Thomson in custody.

A MAN of 18 was remanded in custody by Grantham magistrates on Thursday when he appeared in court accused of dangerous driving after a car crashed in Foxes Low Road, Holbeach, on Wednesday.

Adam Hughes, of no fixed address, is also accused of driving without a licence, insurance and MOT. He will appear at Lincoln Crown Court at a later date.

A RENEWABLE energy pioneer has become the first in Lincolnshire to have the newly MCS accredited Bergey Excel-S 10kW wind turbine installed on his property.

Roger Marshall, who owns a cold-store business near Quadring, trading in vegetables, opted for a Bergey system maintained by a 25 metre self-supporting lattice tower, ensuring the turbine will not be affected by wind shear and turbulence.

SIAC Wind Energy, which installed the turbine, has taken a unique approach within the UK and bucked micro wind energy trends by advocating taller towers, ensuring output is maximised at each installation.

The turbine was put up by a team from SIAC’s installation and re-sale partner for Lincolnshire and Norfolk, Greenleaf Microgen, of Spalding.

It is expected that the 10kW turbine will pay for itself in less than five years.

Jon Naylor, Regional Manager at SIAC Wind Energy, said: “It has been a pleasure working with Roger to bring his Bergey installation to fruition.

“He already embraces environmentally friendly technology, using heat from his cold stores to heat his home and a Photovoltaic system installed on the roof of the building.

“His enthusiasm for all things renewable really knows no bounds.

“Roger will now enjoy many years of free energy and income from the Government’s Feed-In Tariff scheme.”

For more information visit www.siacwindenergy.com

THE efforts of apprentices and employers alike have been celebrated at a ceremony in Holbeach.

Staff, apprentices and guests turned out to University Academy Holbeach to see who would be crowned top of the class in three categories for the annual apprenticeship awards night.

Glen Farrow in Spalding and Mick Cawley Motor Engineers were jointly praised for their roles in the Employer of the Year Award.

Apprentice Samantha Scott was applauded for her efforts to train in the motor trade as she was crowned Personal Achiever of the Year.

The final award of the night saw the apprenticeship assessors put forward their nominations for Apprentice Of the Year and Tasmin Cunningham, who is completing her level three in business and administration, took the top spot.

A MAN and a woman accused of intimidating a court witness have been sent to Lincoln Crown Court.

Adam Bishop (28) is accused of driving a car at Anna Burnett as she walked across the entrance to a car park on October 9 in Boston Road South, Holbeach.

Kerrieann Facer (29) is accused of telling Ms Burnett: “Mark said ‘hi’ and whatever happens, we’ll come and get you” on October 13 in St John’s Street, Holbeach.

Bishop, of Lawyers Close, Holbeach, and Facer, of Fleet Street, Holbeach, had their conditional bail extended when they appeared at Spalding Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

They are due to appear at the higher court on March 15.

HOMES without water in Market Deeping should have a normal service shortly after 12noon today.

Anglian Water engineers were called out to Church Street at 6.50am where a four-inch pipe had burst.

A spokesman for the firm said a normal service is expected to resume just after 12noon.

If problems do continue into the afternoon, customers are asked to report them to customer services.

Original story, 10.30am today - A BURST water main is to blame for homes in Market Deeping having no water or low water pressure this morning.

Anglian Water engineers are currently working to restore the supply to the area and an estimated completion time has been given on the company’s website as 2pm.

The message adds: “Once again, we apologise for the inconvenience caused by this interruption to your service.”

TWO developers at the centre of ambitious plans to bring big name stores to Spalding have locked horns over the benefits their schemes will bring to the town.

After claims in the Spalding Guardian on Thursday that the Holland Market development would not bring any benefits for the people of South Holland, a furious Michael Moran, who represents Holland Market owner Corbo’s interests in the UK, is believed to have contacted Richard Garvie to express his anger.

Mr Garvie, the man behind plans for a Sustainable Spalding regeneration company, revealed plans to bring a supermarket and cinema to a 12-acre site off the A151 opposite Spalding’s McDonalds.

He claims it would generate millions of pounds of investment and pay for the running costs of a regeneration company for five years, while Holland Market plans would “not lead to any new investment in new facilities for Spalding”.

Corbo has threatened to take legal action against Mr Garvie unless he publicly retracts his statement.

Mr Moran told the Lincolnshire Free Press: “I had a rather blunt conversation with him and I told him we take it very seriously when someone makes false claims about our scheme.

“He hasn’t got a clue what we are doing.”

Town leaders have dismissed Mr Garvie’s plan as “pie in the sky”, saying he has not come forward with any concrete evidence to back up claims the site was the option preferred by the majority of people he talked to during a consultation exercise last year.

Jason Rooke, chairman of Spalding and District Area Chamber of Commerce, said: “It strikes me that Mr Garvie’s plan hasn’t got any legs, but even if it did, what would we prefer – a development within the town, albeit to the side of the town centre, or one on the outskirts of town?

“To me the town needs development, not the bypass, so my feeling would be that if Holland Market is done carefully it would be a positive thing.

“To say that Holland Market development would not lead to investment in the town is ridiculous, because there are plans for additional community facilities such as the football stadium.”

YOUNGSTERS from three Spalding schools came together for a fun morning of competitive sports.

Pupils from the Parish Church of England Day School, St Norbert’s primary and Monkshouse primary took part in a kingball tournament, hosted by the Sir John Gleed School.

PE teacher Hannah Bray said: “Mixed teams of ten took to the court.

“Myself and fellow PE teacher Alice Dooley co-ordinated the festival by issuing kingball games packs to the schools, then allowing them time during PE lessons to prepare for the event.”

After the scores had been settled, headteacher Janet Daniels presented medals to the winning school, St Norbert’s.

Mrs Daniels said: “It was a fantastic morning of sport. A fun time was had by all involved and when the games had finished, pupils were given juice, fresh fruit platters and an opportunity to have a guided tour of the school.”

THE roof of a house at Gosberton Risegate has been completely destroyed in a blaze which saw firefighters on the scene for six hours.

The fire broke out at the semi-detached house in Siltside at about 3.30pm yesterday.

Fire crews from Donington and Spalding attended initially and were later joined by crews from Kirton, Holbeach and a second crew from Spalding.

The roof was destroyed, while the rest of the house, including the garage, was severely water and smoke damaged.

Firefighters used two breathing apparatus, four hose reel jets and three main jets to tackle the blaze, which was caused by hot metal filings from an angle grinder igniting wood shavings.

MORE than 1,700 South Holland people could soon make history by switching to the first ever cheap gas and electricity deal negotiated by a district council.

Bills are set to be slashed by at least 15 per cent – and more savings are likely to come with the so far unnamed consortium offering to put all customers on Smart Meters.

More than 1,700 people have so far registered an interest and council leader Coun Gary Porter says there are at least another 400 people in the pipeline.

Coun Porter said the consortium is happy to start with “a relatively small number” of interested people to make the deal happen and they about to submit a formal proposal to the council.

He said: “We will then get our people to do ‘due diligence’ on it to make sure it all stacks.

“I am fairly confident that it will stack, but I still wouldn’t want to put our name on it until we have thoroughly checked it out.”

No one who has registered an interest is committed to going with the new deal. The final deal will be offered formally once the council is completely satisfied.

Coun Porter said the council is working out its communications strategy for residents switching to cheaper fuel and it may include village roadshows where people can sign up with the consortium.

He said: “We have told them we don’t want any cold calling so there will be no door knocking.”

Coun Porter personally negotiated the cheaper fuel deal after publicly criticising energy companies for charging inflated prices.

He is delighted the deal is about to be sealed and says he will be even more pleased when he too is benefiting from cheaper energy.

Coun Porter said: “If the deal is the right deal, it would be stupid for me not to sign up. People will think I am either a liar or a fool if I don’t sign and I don’t want people to think either of those things.”

You can register an interest by:

l Visiting www.sholland.gov.uk and clicking on ‘Deal Offered for Cut-Price Fuel’

l Visiting the council offices in Priory Road, Spalding, or seeing your ward councillor

SPALDING landlords and police have welcomed calls by Prime Minister David Cameron for measures to help ensure responsible drinking.

Mr Cameron has vowed to launch a new strategy to tackle the “scandal” of drunkenness and alcohol abuse which blight many town centres on Friday and Saturday nights.

One of the measures that could be included come the autumn is a minimum price on alcohol, which could see the cost of supermarket own brand bottle of vodka rise from £8.35 to £11.85 and a cheap bottle of wine from £3.75 to £4.20.

It is hoped that it will discourage people from binge drinking and getting “pre-loaded” before they go out for a night in town.

Insp Rod Rose, of Lincolnshire Police, said: “Many people choose to buy cheaper alcohol from supermarkets to drink before they go out because at the moment some alcohol is very cheap.

“If a minimum price was introduced it might result in a reversal of that trend.

“People would still only have the same amount of money but if they spent it in pubs and clubs they would not have so much alcohol and therefore not get so intoxicated and would not be so incapable of behaving themselves.

“A lot of problems we face at the moment are because people are coming into town after having so much to drink at home first.

“It is the police and health services who have to pick up the pieces when people get out of control”

Matt Clark, owner of Spalding’s Loaded nightclub, said there is a definite trend of people drinking at home before a night out.

“He said: “Our venues are predominantly entertainment so we don’t rely so much on the sale of alcohol but pubs and bars need those sales to stay alive.

“I think people definitely do pre-load because we have definitely seen an increase in the number of people coming to Loaded straight from home who are already inebriated.”

And Pete Williams, landlord of the Punchbowl in New Road, said: “A lot of people don’t come into town now until 10pm or 11pm and they are already well oiled, then they may only buy two drinks in the pub until closing time.

“They come in to enjoy the ambience but they are already at the alcohol level they want to be at to enjoy the evening and I don’t get the benefit of taking their money.

“So I would welcome a minimum charge, it would be a miniscule amount of help but it’s a step in the right direction.”