CABINET CALL: By Coun Peter Cupland, of South Holland District Council’s Cabinet

Several councillors and I are aware of concerns expressed by local small businesses owners about the disproportionate levels of increase in business rates, predominately in Long Sutton and Sutton Bridge.

My main worry is that these increases could lead to firms going out of business and turn high streets in the district into retail wastelands.

Long Sutton shows in particular how a small market town can thrive without a large supermarket, with local residents supporting small businesses in and around the market place.

So I think businesses and residents in Long Sutton are definitely deserving of a pat on the back.

Over the past few years, local businesses have done exactly what the government has wanted, growing the economy and reducing unemployment, only to be hit in the face with these huge increases in business rates.

South Holland District Council has little power over the level of these increases – we are merely a collection arm for Whitehall.

However, one of our main focuses is encouraging the local economy to be vibrant with continued growth and as a councillor I will work to help achieve this.

I also don’t want to sit back and let these rises go unchallenged because constituents are complaining to me personally.

So what I have done is send an open letter to Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, outlining the concerns of our small businesses and councillors.

We are not the only council to do this and the more representations made to government on this subject, the better.

With a mounting strong national voice concerning this matter, I hope the government may set up a discretionary and transitional relief programme for affected businesses.

I am an ardent supporter of the self-employed, they are the backbone of Britain and I will do everything possible to support them.

An average display made it a disappointing day for Deeping Rangers.

The second-placed Clarets suffered their first home league defeat of the season.

A seven-match unbeaten run in all competitions was ended by Luke Emery’s two close-range goals at the start of the second half.

Until then, Newport Pagnell Town had offered no threat.

But there was no way back for Deeping who were left to reflect on missed chances in the opening period.

They never got anywhere close to top form – but you would expect Rangers to put away at least one of those 
opportunities to take control before the break.

Skipper David Burton-Jones’ shot was cleared off the line by Ollie Wilkinson following a corner by Dan Schiavi.

Left-back Tom Smith’s long-range pass over the Swans’ defence released Scott Mooney but his lob lacked power and goalkeeper Mark Osborn got back to grab the ball on the line.

Charlie Coulson’s angled drive flashed over the bar and Osborn was alert to deny top scorer Scott Coupland.

Without being brilliant or dominant, Deeping had still managed to create chances.

The passing wasn’t quite as crisp as they often produce but there had been no sign of what came in the first six 
minutes of the second half.

Suddenly, Rangers were 2-0 down.

Emery smashed home the opener after Remy Forrester and Sam O’Neill both struck the woodwork.

Forrester’s left-wing cross was converted by Emery for his second goal of the day, following successive hat-tricks in the previous two games.

Mooney had a swing and a miss before another low effort was gathered by Osborn.

Schiavi also had a shot comfortably saved but at the end it could have been even worse for Deeping.

Swans substitute Dominic Lawless rolled the ball wide twice in stoppage-time when he should have scored.

Firstly, he failed to take full advantage of a mistake by keeper Richard Stainsby.

Then, in the final action, Lawless held off Dan Flack with a run from the halfway line but again he failed to find the target.

That didn’t really matter as Newport Pagnell had never looked likely to throw away the lead anyway.

Deeping were not too bad but they certainly weren’t particularly good either.

Unusually, they appeared average all over the pitch. The first-half missed chances proved to be costly.

The response was not good enough after conceding at home in the league for the first time in 322 minutes.

Now they need to bounce back at home next weekend.

DEEPING RANGERS

4-1-3-2: Stainsby 6; Flack 6, Hunnings 6, Cotton 6, Smith 6; Burton-Jones 7; Coulson 6 (sub Waumsley 77 mins), Dunn 6 (sub Kilbride 57 mins, 6), Schiavi 7; Mooney 6, Coupland 6. Subs not used: N Zalejski, Bircham.

NEWPORT PAGNELL TOWN

4-4-2: Osborn; Wilkinson, Pryke, Baker, Williams; O’Neill, Smeathers, D Smith, Forrester (sub L Smith 75 mins); Sandy (sub Lawless 62 mins), Emery.

REFEREE

Wyndham Trusler.

GOALS

Emery (47 mins, 0-1); Emery (51 mins, 0-2).

BOOKINGS

Hunnings, Cotton, Emery (fouls); Pryke, O’Neill (dissent).

ATTENDANCE

135

STAR MAN

Dan Schiavi – deserves credit for trying to be creative.

ENTERTAINMENT

★★

WHO’S NEXT

Eynesbury Rovers (H) – Saturday.

Boss Michael Goode has called for Deeping Rangers to bounce back from their first home league defeat of the season.

They lost 2-0 to Newport Pagnell Town on Saturday as in-form striker Luke Emery scored twice at the start of the second half.

Deeping missed a chance to close the gap at the top of the ChromaSport & Trophies United Counties League’s Premier Division.

However, they remain in second spot with a seven-point advantage ahead of next weekend’s home game with fifth-placed Eynesbury Rovers.

Goode said: “Of course, we are disappointed with the result.

“We have to respond by bouncing back next time.

“We weren’t horrendously bad, although we weren’t at our best on Saturday.

“But we had four chances in the first half which we did not take. We weren’t clinical in front of goal.

“Then we started off the second half by going backwards which allowed them to build periods of pressure.

“We got caught out by an overlap for the first goal and within five minutes we were 2-0 down.

“There wasn’t enough quality or intensity in our play to drag us back into it.

“You can see why Newport Pagnell reached the FA Vase quarter-finals because they managed the second half and slowed down the game.

“Dan Schiavi tried to make things happen for us by putting balls into the box.

“We will have to regroup and make sure we respond against Eynesbury with the performance and result.”

Defender Jonny Clay – who was unavailable on Saturday – should be back in the squad next weekend.

He was replaced by Jack Cotton who made his first start for Deeping in more than 12 months.

The last time Richard Fairman commented in your pages about how he had reduced the flood risk in our area, I let it pass. But not this time. Because so much of the east coast of Lincolnshire is at or below sea level and on most days of the year there are two high tides, the tidal flood risk is twice a day.

However, as he rightly points out, the generations of great drainage engineers (including the Internal Drainage Boards and the Environment Agency) have provided us with defences that mean that the probability of tidal inundation is relatively low, generally speaking about 1 in 200 in any one year.

As you know, much of our land, including housing, is lower than the embanked 
water courses that drain into the sea. This means that the risk of fluvial flooding is any time the water level is higher than the surrounding land. In a lot of places this is all the time. Again, due to the skills and efforts of the aforementioned generations of engineers, the probability of fluvial flooding is also much lower, around 1 in 100 in any one year.

The problem highlighted by the maps, is that should a breach occur, the water will remain in the low-lying bowl created by the surrounding embanked water courses, such as between the Welland and Coronation Channel, until it can be pumped out. This was the problem on the Somerset Levels.

I have been friends with Richard for over 25 years and am currently helping him repair the engine in his boat. Richard is an engineer and as such maintained his engine well. However, on a trip along the Welland, we were stranded near Peak Hill when the 
engine broke.

Despite his best efforts to prevent it, the engine was put under pressure once too often and failed.

The same is true of flood defences. The probability is, the reality is, that at some point the defences will be overtopped and forces far 
beyond our control will determine the extent, velocity and depth of the ensuing flood.

A village hall in Fleet Hargate has been priced out of the use of community groups, it has been claimed.

South Holland District Council has been accused of unintentionally making the use of Hargate Community Centre “very restrictive” by charging groups at least £10.50 an hour for hiring it.

The claim from ex-Fleet Parish Council member Joan Woolard was put to the Local Government Ombudsman by her to see if the district council could be investigated.

Mrs Woolard said: “Before 2011, tenants at sheltered accommodation in Hargate Close, Fleet Hargate, had free use of the hall and could also invite their friends to use it, provided they were in attendance as well.

“But the very restrictive use of Hargate Community Centre has meant that so few of the local community are allowed in.

“Hire of the hall is £10.50 per hour for non-profit groups, plus £12.50 for use of the kitchen.

“Clearly the exorbitant fees means that the building isn’t going to be used as much as it should be.

“People wonder why it is called ‘Community Centre’ when so few of the local community are allowed in and we have no other hall in Fleet Hargate.”

The complaint by Joan Woolard about hire charges for Hargate Community Centre was supported by Fleet Parish Council member Coun Eileen Gilliatt.

She said: “I created a group called Friends of Fleet with the intention of befriending people who had moved to the village over recent years, as well as existing residents, to add another social dimension to the area.

“However, the cost of using the centre for two hours was £45.50 which seemed much too high a charge.

“It is such a shame that we have such a lovely community centre but can’t afford to use it.

“A more reasonable fee should be charged for those wishing to support community spirit and involvement in the village.

“But when even residents of the sheltered housing accommodation like Joan can get no support, it seems there is no hope for us - especially when it seems that no one wishes to take responsibility for hearing our pleas.”

The Spalding Guardian contacted the district council for a comment but it was unable to provide one at the time of going to press.

Moulton Seas End is to host a new group for the elderly to help them avoid feeling isolated and lonely.

The group is to hold its first session at Moulton Seas End Village Hall on Wednesday, March 15, from 10.30am until noon.

Coun Suzanne Thorpe, a member for Moulton Seas End Ward on The Moultons Parish Council, came up with the idea of forming a group for the elderly across the area after meeting a widow who lives in the village.

“I was at a dog training group where I met an 86-year-old lady who said that she didn’t have any family in the area.

“When she told me that she struggled to get to the group, I offered to visit her which was when she told me how she felt isolated because there weren’t many people who popped in to see her.

“But it was when the lady told me that she hardly got out of the house that I thought there must be lots of people like her around, especially those whose mobility might be restricted.”

Support for the new group has come through on social media, including a message from Dorothy Keeble, of Spalding, who said: “I personally think it’s a good idea as lots of villages have a club.

“Even if it’s only once a month, you could even do a hot meal and I think people would contribute to the costs.”

Figures from the 2011 Census for South Holland showed there were nearly 20,000 people aged 65 and over living in the district council area.

Further proof for the idea of a group for the elderly in Moulton Seas End, along with people from Moulton, Moulton Chapel and Moulton Marsh, came from the district Council itself in 2015.

In a statement about Extra Care Housing provision between 2015 and 2018, the council said: “The district of South Holland has an ageing population, with percentage of the population aged 55 or over expected to increase by 51 per cent over the next 25 years.”

Coun Thorpe said: “The Moulton Seas End Village Hall committee estimates that there are 100 people in the village who are aged 65 or over.

“But the group is for the whole of Moulton parish.”

What would Whaplode Drove be like without its Four Boys Village Store and Post Office in Broadgate?

The village, which takes its name from “the settlement by the road which the people of Whaplode used to drive their cattle to pasture”, according to historians, has four distinct community services.

St John the Baptist Church has services every Sunday, the Elizabethan Centre has hosted community events since 1981 and the W. H. Brand motor dealership has been a fixture in the village since 1925.

But Four Boys is a labour of love for owner Sue Mellish and her staff, as well as an essential part of Whaplode Drove in 2017.

Sue said: “My dream has always been to run a village shop and my family had a small one in Tydd St Giles.

“But I wanted to have a larger one and before I had my fourth son, I took over Four Boys when it was called Whaplode Drove Post Office.

“Then I decided to name it after the boys when I had my fourth son.”

Newspapers, groceries, household goods, bread and cakes, fresh fruit and vegetables, pet food and postal services are the staple diet of any village shop.

But Four Boys is also thinking strategically, having launched its own meal deal yesterday from when customers can buy a hot pie or cold sandwich, standard-sized packet of crisps and a bottle of soft drink, all for £2.99.

Sue said: “We’re at the heart of the community and if we’ve not seen somebody in here for a little while, we ask about them to see if they are alright.

“People come in and talk to us, we look after the elderly and take care of everyone, even the horses.”

Four Boys has customers from Spalding and Wisbech, to Sutton St Edmund and neighbouring village Holbeach Drove.

Kim Coles, of Holbeach St Johns, said: “It’s so convenient having Sue here and I don’t mind helping her when stock for the shop is delivered.

“Last Friday, I came to the shop at 5.30pm when some stuff had been dropped off and I helped Sue put it away.

“Holbeach St Johns doesn’t have a shop so it would be a disaster if Four Boys shut.”

There is even a spirit of partnership working in Whaplode Drove when it comes to Four Boys and W.H. Brand, according to sales manager Adam Brand who said: “We’re customers of Sue’s and she’s a customer of ours.

“With the village being quite remote, people would have to travel so it’s pretty vital to have something like Four Boys Village Store and Post Office for the local community.

“If the shop closed, it would make a lot more work for us because we would have to travel further for the use of a post office.”

Sue has help in running the shop from her “Four Boys”, as well as lifelong Whaplode Drove villager Rita Tomizzi and part-time shop assistant Linda Warner, of Crowland.

Rita said: “I’ve worked here for 12 years, serving people who used to live in the village and have moved away, but who still come to support us.

“Sue is always thinking of adding new things to the shop and one of them is where we collect prescriptions from Abbeygate Surgery in Crowland and give them to the customers.

“We also deliver newspapers seven days a week and when they are in season, we sell strawberries and raspberries.”

The Reverend Richard Morrison, Priest-in-Charge of St John the Baptist Church, said: “It’s wonderful having my newspapers delivered early in the morning and the shop is always a nice, friendly place to get a lot of shopping done.

“It’s an invaluable community resource where people can bump into each other and have a chat.”

But Sue Mellish knows the true value of Four Boys Village Store and Post Office to Whaplode Drove better than anyone.

She said: “It’s my livelihood, I love it, my staff are reliable and we’re just like one, big, happy family.”

A Spalding mum-of-three is honouring her dad’s memory by raising awareness of the condition which ended his life.

Hannah Harris (35), of Horseshoe Road, took her campaign to highlight motor neurone disease (MND) to the heart of county government when she met Lincolnshire County Council members on Friday.

The incurable disease, which attacks nerves in the brain and spinal cord to cause muscle weakness, loss of mobility, speech, swallowing and breathing difficulties, claimed the life of Hannah’s dad Mick Smith in 2015.

Hannah said: “Dad became very poorly and started to lose the ability to use his hands about nine months before he died.

“He kept going to the doctors, only to be turned away every time because they said nothing was wrong with him.

“The most frustrating part was that Dad moved from his home in Long Sutton to Yorkshire where he was diagnosed as having MND in March 2015 while he was living with his sister,

“I’m so passionate about this that I’ve become a qualified MND Association visitor, getting to meet families of people with MND in order to help them.”

County councillors agreed to adopt an MND Charter, which South Holland District Council signed up to in 2014, committing themselves to five points to help raise awareness of the condition.

Points in the Charter include “the right to an early diagnosis and information, access to quality care and treatments, to be treated as individuals, with dignity and respect and to maximise their quality of life”.

County councillor Angela Newton, who represents Hannah as member for Spalding West ward, said: “The MND Charter is a statement of respect, care and support that people living with MND and their carers deserve and should expect.

“I am delighted our council has agreed to adopt the MND Charter as it is vital that more people are aware of the needs of people with MND so those living with this devastating disease can maximise their quality of life and die with dignity.”

Chris James, Director of External Affairs for the MND Association, said: “The importance of the MND Charter is undeniable.

“We want everyone to be clear that access to the right care, in the right place and at the right time, as set out in our Charter, can transform lives.”

Bourne Police are appealing for information after items were stolen from a van parked in van in Godwin Close overnight on February 27.

Call police on 101, quoting incident number 394 of February 28.

A battery charger left in a plug socket caused a house fire in Surfleet on Saturday afternoon.

The occupiers of the Gosberton Road home returned at around 7pm to discover there had been a blaze which had ignited some fabric curtains.

Police are hoping to identify these three men after a theft from the Co-op in the Burghley Centre, Bourne, on Thursday.

Call police on 101 if you have any information and quote reference number 17000090380.

Why, oh why, do people dump rubbish like this when the recycling centre is open?

I suppose someone has paid them to take the rubbish to a centre but the person just pocketed the money and dumped it at Peartree Hill.

Someone has now to clear up the mess and this will be another cost to the tax payer. As it happens at this site in Whaplode Drove, would it not be prudent to set up CCTV cameras on the pumping stations?

It seems no one cares about the countryside.

Trevor Taylor

via emailgh

A scheme for “much-needed” housing in Spalding should come before improving a railway bridge, according to a leading councillor.

Plans to build ten homes in Parkside Crescent, off Park Road, by Welland Homes Ltd was unanimously passed by on Wednesday.

But Spalding cycling group Pedals wanted to see Steppingstone Bridge, near Park Road, improved to provide disabled access instead.

Coun Roger Gambba-Jones, chairman of the planning committee, said: “I’ve had a great deal of involvement with Steepingstone Bridge over the years.

“So I’m slightly disappointed that the people who commented had chosen to ignore all the efforts made by this council where we refused the bridge offered to us by Network Rail on the basis that it had no disabled access.

“We’re certainly not going to lose much-needed housing in the hope that in 20 to 30 years time, disabled is going to be achieved.”

Donington could have more than 70 new homes after initial plans for a development were backed by South Holland District Council.

At Wednesday’s planning meeting, there was unanimous support for Cemex UK Properties Limited, of Surrey, to build 72 homes on land off Malting Lane.

The developer had at first wanted to build 73 homes before changes were made due to the impact on neighbouring properties, particularly regarding drainage.

Hannah Godley, an agent for Cemex UK Properties, said: “We have made significant amendments to the initial masterplan, one being that the houses will be of a height that is comparable to the neighbouring developments.

“There are no objections to the application on technical matters from any of the statutory consultees.

“It is imperative that suitable housing can be brought forward, in the short term, to address South Holland’s shortage of housing supply.”

A Cemex spokesman said: “We are very delighted that the planing consent was granted and very pleased.

“We have worked very hard with the planning officers and also engaged with the local community, along with local ward members, in this application.”

South Holland District Council has turned down a six-home development at a site in Sutton Bridge seen as “immensely difficult and very complex”.

Plans by Peter Crawley, of Wisbech, for six, two-storey detached homes to be built on land near Chestnut Terrace were refused by 13 votes to one.

Councillors opposing the scheme feared the road was too narrow and in too poor a condition for new homes to be built on it.

Sutton Bridge district councillor and planning committee member, Coun Chris Brewis, said: “This is an immensely difficult site and a very complex site where the original plan was for this site to be developed, with access off Allenby’s Chase, not Chestnut Terrace.

“Here is the worst form of piecemeal development when an overall housing scheme would solve all the problems.

“This road is completely unsuitable for any development and the prospect of six two-storey homes sitting on top of Sutton Bridge Children’s Centre nearby has us worried.”

In contrast, a statement on behalf of the developer said: “Due to the land being allocated (by the 2006 South East Lincolnshire Local Plan), it is considered that this site is suitable for development.”

Fears that plans for 80 new homes in Gosberton amounted to a “betrayal” of villagers have been ignored by district councillors.

Initial plans for the development near York Gardens was unanimously passed, three months after Gosberton Parish Council was forced to reverse its neutral stance on the plans by two Gosberton families.

A joint planning application by the Casswells and Roziers, both of Gosberton, sparked opposition from other villagers outraged by the potential loss of agricultural land, loss of countryside views and privacy.

Speaking to the Lincolnshire Free Press in December, the Rev Steve Weatherly-Barton, of Gosberton Baptist Church, said: “A neighbour told me that many people had deliberately moved to where they live now because of the lovely, open view they have onto agricultural land.

“Nothing was indicated then about possible development and they feel betrayed, having invested in their retirement homes, only to discover that a large housing estate may be built.”

But planning committee vice chairman Coun James Avery, who backed the plans, said: “The district (South Holland) needs housing and this is an opportunity for Gosberton to provide towards this.”

A £325,000 contribution towards health care provision in Holbeach has been agreed as part of plans to build up to 185 homes in the town.

South Holland District Council planning committee members confirmed the deal in relation to new housing off Battlefields Lane, Holbeach, initially given approval in January 2013.

Meanwhile, the committe has asked for more details on a plan to build ten homes in Campains Lane, Deeping St Nicholas.

Planning committee members fear potential problems for drivers because of the road’s narrowness if the homes are built under plans by R.C. Tinsley Ltd of Stamford.

Another decision put back for more information concerned plans for three new homes in Bridge Road, Sutton Bridge.

The deferral was due to parking concerns at the proposed site and planning committee member Coun Bryan Alcock said: “Everybody will be driving across everybody else’s front doorway and the turning facilities mean you’ll be turning around on someone else’s land.”

A homeowner is selling up and moving out of his village in protest at the state of its road safety.

The man, who asked not to be named, blamed county highways officials for the “complete mess” created by “great, big container lorries” travelling through Moulton Seas End and Saracen’s Head.

Villagers and councillors have campaigned for a footpath to be built in Moulton Seas End which Lincolnshire County Council has so far resisted.

But after a bus full of students left Seas End Road, Moulton Seas End, and landed in a ditch last December, the man has decided to leave the village.

He said: “I want to move because of what’s going on, with HGVs coming near my fence and an enormous pothole outside my house.

“These roads aren’t meant to be carrying these great, big container lorries that come through the village daily and the locals are totally fed up with it.

“They now are parking their cars in a way to stop HGVs coming into the village, even when the highways department advised HGV drivers to keep off the grass verges as they are soft.

“I’ve complained about it to the highways department, but they’ve done absolutely nothing and there are no plans to do anything about it.”

Fears over excess traffic coming through Moulton Seas End have led parish councillors to oppose plans by Moulton growers Oldershaws to expand its cold store building for potatoes.

A statement from Oldershaws said: “The extension is required for the extra storage of potatoes as we are growing more crops and required to keep them for longer.

“As this is the main yard, this will reduce the transporting of crops to other yards and back again, to grade at a later date.”

But in its objection statement, The Moultons Parish Council said: “The additional storage facilities will increase traffic, in addition to the large amount of traffic currently having access to the site”.

Figures from Lincolnshire County Council, after a Freedom of Information request by the Spalding Guardian, showed that 18 accidents had taken place on roads in Moulton Seas End between January 2010 and September 2016.

During this period, 26 people had been injured in those crashes, five seriously and one fatally.

Campaigner Dawn Adams, of Moulton Seas End, said: “I have been in contact with Lincolnshire highways department countless times to request a footpath between the Seas End Road part of the village and The Golden Lion pub which is always declined.

“There is no adequate verge to walk on and a blind bend so when it is wet and dark, how can you safely expect children to walk down this road when it is pitch dark by 4pm in the winter?

“The point still remains that with traffic speeds out of the village, on this part of Seas End Road, a footpath is desperately needed before an accident does occur.”

Coun Suzanne Thorpe, a Moulton Seas End ward member on The Moulton Parish Council, said: “The amount of accidents registered appears to be lower than expected and I wonder if it takes into account the single-vehicle accidents that blight the Loosegate/Seas End Road area between Woodhouse Lane and the village? “It was very concerning when the school bus came off the road with children on board late last year because, over that time, myself and other residents had noticed other vehicles that had left the road around the time when it was dark, muddy and sometimes icy.

“Perhaps a reduction in speed, speed enforcement and white lines to mark the road’s edge might reduce the incidents.

“Often it seems as if the vehicle gets on the soft mud, at the roads edge, and can’t recover as it slides into the ditch because there is no verge before the ditch

“In my opinion, either a pavement should be installed, if possible, or some signs and speed enforcement.”

All three district councillors for The Moultons have pledged to continue fighting for a footpath and other road safety measures to be taken in Moulton Seas End.

Coun Anthony Casson said: “Seas End Road is an extremely dangerous stretch of road, coming into the village from the direction of Moulton.

“There is no footpath on either side of the road, making it very dangerous for people to walk along and they do so at their own risk.”

Coun Rodney Grocock said: “A resident of Moulton Seas End reported this problem to me 18 months ago and the problem that causes some accidents is speed.

“Common Road/Seas End Road is a two-mile straight road and strangers to the area or people unaware of the layout of Moulton Seas End come off the straight part of it at high speed, losing control of their vehicles and into people’s gardens.

“I emailed the facts to the highways department and they said it would be looked at, but nothing has changed.”

Coun Andrew Woolf said: “I totally support what Dawn Adams is doing and, in reality, I don’t see any reason why provision of a footpath should be resisted any more.”

A county highways spokesman said: “Although there have been accidents in this area, none of the resulting investigations have found the roads themselves to be a contributory factor.

“With regard to having a footpath created, this has been explored in the past and there is simply insufficient highways land to accommodate one.”

Long Sutton firefighters attended a junction box fire in the town last night (Sunday).

The blaze, in London Road at 11.14pm, was caused by an electrical fault. The crew cordoned off the area until the arrival of an engineer.

Bourne Police are hoping two identify these two people, who may have information about a theft on Thursday from the Superdrug store in West Street.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101, quoting reference number 17000090196.