Though it has taken him a long time, the P&CC for Lincolnshire has at last apologised to the Chief Constable for his ‘irrational and perverse’ decision to suspend him.
Hopefully we will now see two of Alan Hardwick’s proposals acted upon! Firstly ‘a line should be drawn’ – preferably through his contract. Secondly, he ‘moves on’ – to somewhere he is unable to waste any more public money nor needlessly undermine the morale of Lincolnshire Police.
Peter Breach
Pipwell Gate
Moulton Seas End
Property of the Week
Alma House
Sutton St James
£360,000
This good-sized modern family house is described by the selling agents as being in immaculate order. It has no neighbours and enjoys extensive rural views.
The property has potential equestrian and/or business use (subject to permission).
It comprises: reception hall, sitting room, study or second living room, separate dining room, 16ft-long lounge, breakfast kitchen, utility, spacious bathroom and en-suite, large shed and glasshouse, lots of parking.
Money Matters by Scott Woods
With stock markets getting off to a shaky start in January following impressive equity returns last year, will investors approach the 2013/14 ISA season with greater caution?
Or will they opt instead for trying emerging markets or a possible fixed income turnaround?
Despite a confident outlook for markets and investors’ growing risk appetite in 2013, net retail ISA sales for the previous tax year actually fell to £1.1 billion compared to £2.3 billion in tax year 2011/12, according to Investment Management Association figures.
The outlook for 2014, by contrast, appears less optimistic as recent volatility in emerging markets coupled with the removal of quantitative easing (QE) and softer economic data in the USA has seen equities start the year on a less firm footing.
The MSCI World Index has so far returned -1.4 per cent in 2014 compared to 15.49 per cent for the same period last year and the current backdrop is seeing some advisers adopt a more cautious approach to this ISA season.
Bestinvest managing director Jason Hollands said: “This season is very different to last year when we had a very clear and quite bullish view on equities.
“You saw fantastic returns on developed equity markets, supercharged with the tailwinds from QE.”
Other advisers are adopting a more optimistic view, looking beyond any short-term volatility to argue that equities can continue to deliver over the long-term.
Investors could risk missing out on another good year for equities by not participating in the current ISA season, according to Skerritts Financial Advisers’ head of investment Andrew Merricks.
But whatever your view, utilising your tax efficient allowances can be crucial in the search for decent returns.
My wife and I went into town last Sunday, saw loads of litter blowing around, lots of beer cans, empty shop premises, two shopping trolleys in the Welland and a few beer drinkers sitting around on the only day when people could park for a while untroubled.
But we now saw a traffic warden on duty making sure you did not out stay your welcome.
What next, stop and search grannies?
I hope I haven’t given the council ideas.
This town is going downhill fast and this council is hastening the process.
D Crowder
Spalding
Latest news from Spalding’s South Holland Centre
Gavin Robertson has performed his latest comic caper ‘Bond: An Unauthorised Parody’ all over the world and he’s bringing it to the South Holland Centre at the end of the month – we caught up with him ahead of his Spalding visit.
Q: Some of us remember you from Spittoon, Fantastical Voyage and The Six Sided Man, which you performed at the centre in the early 2000s. What have you been up to since then?
A: I was at a festival in Adelaide, Australia – and was surrounded by artists performing one-man shows. I was struck by that and decided to see if I could flex the same creative muscles, so I made a solo show called ‘Crusoe’ (which obviously lent itself to being about ‘one’ person) and then made ‘Bond’ as a more comic follow-up.
I’ve also directed a new show in India with five local actors, two productions in the UK, and toured to USA, Russia and Europe.
Q: So what inspired you to take Bond as your subject?
A: ‘Crusoe’ was a semi-autobiographical show and I put a lot of myself into it. I love performing it but I wanted a more comic ‘light’ follow-up. I couldn’t believe no-one had tackled James Bond as a pastiche or a solo show, so I decided to take it on. I think I won!
Q: Who is your favourite Bond actor?
A: I actually think Daniel Craig is brilliant. Other than that it would have to be Sean Connery (who makes a brief cameo in my version!). I’d still like to see Liam Neeson as a Bond villain.
Q: What can people expect from the show?
A: I try to deliver as many clichés as possible! So they’ll see me playing many different parts – it’s like a cartoon: Scooby Doo meets Austin Powers maybe?
Q: Do we get to see a fluffy cat or exploding pen?
A: An exploding cat or fluffy pen might be funnier? And yes... but they’re invisible. That will make sense if you see the show!
Q: How do you actually use the stage?
A: I use only three metal frames and some very pretty lighting! There’s a certain elegance in being inventive with a minimum amount of props or stage set. I really try to tap into the audiences’ imagination so that my secret weapon is our shared vocabulary from all those movies. The net effect is a great atmosphere of silliness, complicity and imagination!
* Gavin Robertson performs ‘Bond: An Unauthorised Parody’ on Friday, March 28.
A lawn mower and number plates have been stolen in separate incidents in Sutton St James.
Thieves cut a wire fence outside a house in Manor Hill before going inside a shed and stealing a Westwood ride-on lawn mower between Friday February 28 and 4pm on Friday.
Then a set of number plates were stolen from aa vehicle parked on a driveway in Baulkins Drove between 10.30pm on Thursday and 8am on Friday.
Anyone with information should call 101.
A supply of lead was stolen from Hall Farm, Dowsby, overnight between Thursday and Friday.
Also, tools were stolen from a barn in Hall Meadow Road, Deeping St James, between 10am on Thursday and 2pm on Friday.
If you can help, call 101.
Residents of Sutton Bridge have renewed their fight to stop a multi-million pound gas-fired power station being built close to the River Nene following a 10ft tidal flood surge in the river in December.
EDF Energy’s plan for the 1,800MW power station will be decided by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).
South Holland District is an official consultee and residents are asking the council to oppose the plan.
South Holland and The Deepings MP John Hayes revealed he has misgivings about infrastructure like Sutton Bridge B and the EnergyParK Sutton Bridge gasifier being placed in an area “that’s possibly subject to tidal surges”.
Resident Brian Collins-McDougall, from New Road, tells the council: “It is sheer madness to consider building a plant of this size on a red zone that is at high risk of flooding.”
He said the riverbanks “only just held back the surge” in December.
East Bank residents Colin and Janet Blundell tell the council: “The recent flooding and excessive ground water levels have not been taken into consideration.”
The Blundells are also worried by emissions from three power stations in such a small area.
The council was asked to forward its comments to the DECC by March 18, but has asked for the deadline to be extended.
District planning committee chairman Roger Gambba-Jones said he believes mitigating measures could be incorporated into Sutton Bridge B as they have been in other coastal areas.
EDF said it carried out a “comprehensive flood risk assessment”.
Intruders tried to break into a home in Chapel Lane, Haconby, near Bourne, on Friday.
A back door was damaged but no entry was made during the attempted burglary between 8.30am and 9.30am.
Anyone with information should call 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111 stating incident 130 of March 7.
It’a A Vet’s Life with Vetsavers of St Thomas’ Road, Spalding
There are many different views on the subject of male dog castration. Not surprisingly, if you ask most men if they would want their pet castrated they will say “no”.
As vets, we delve a little deeper because it can be the kindest cut of all.
Some dogs start to enter sexual maturity around six to nine months old and this is when problems with behaviour can start to occur. Unneutered dogs could:
l Display unwanted behaviour related to testosterone production such as aggression, not responding to commands, or unwanted sexual behaviour.
l Health problems are less likely – castration involves the removal of the testicles, so there is no chance of testicular cancer, and the chances of developing other cancers which are testosterone responsive are reduced.
l There is also a lower risk of some prostate problems in castrated dogs.
An entire dog can sometimes drive you crazy when a bitch in the close vicinity is in season. Some dogs have been known to jump fences, dig under fences or just bolt at any given opportunity to get to the bitch.
Again this can cause problems, both for the dog and for both owners, because if your dog manages to escape and mate with an entire bitch this would not be a planned pregnancy and can cause problems in itself.
Our advice would be if you are not planning to use your dog for stud ALWAYS neuter!
You can have a dog castrated at any age but the earliest is from about six months old.
The recovery for a dog after castration is very quick, They will be fully responsive when you come to collect them after their surgery and after care is also very easy – restriction on exercise for seven to 10 days and then that’s it!
The cost is not huge and you can not put a price on the health risks that are removed.
Question
This week’s question is from Mrs Zainiskova:
Q: My dog, Mishka, a Yorkshire terrier, is nine months old and has recently started to not want her food. I havn’t changed her food, so what is wrong?
A: You say you havn’t changed Mishka’s food so it could be a couple of things.
Firstly, Yorkshire terriers can be a little fussy and suddenly decide they don’t want their usual food, especially when they think they may get something better from your plate.
However, dogs will not starve themselves if food is available, so if this continues over three days then we would advise with some urgency that you let your vet take a look over Mishka.
A village pub residents fought to save has been reduced to a heap of rubble.
South Holland District Council, which placed the fire-damaged Ye Olde Dun Cow on its community assets register, is under attack from campaigners in Cowbit for allowing the demolition to go ahead.
Owners Market Homes applied for planning consent to demolish the pub, saying the building was unsafe.
But Jonathan Matthews, spokesman for the Save Ye Olde Dun Cow Campaign, said: “It seems incongruous that in one breath the planning authority could recognise the obvious need for Ye Olde Dun Cow as a vital social hub and, in the next, encourage the developer to demolish a pub which goes back to the 1500s and which more than 600 people in the village, John Hayes MP and local district and county councillors wanted to be saved.
“So much for localism.”
He said the council chose not to invoke a rule that would have allowed a public consultation – denying residents a chance to play a part in the future of a pub that has had a key role in village life for many generations.
Mr Matthews said the council had “run roughshod over the wishes of the very people it purports to support”.
UK Border Agency officials and police arrested five men at a restaurant in Quadring in relation to suspected immigration offences.
The raid took place at The Curry Inn, in Main Road, on Thursday.
Police say the men booked into custody were aged in their 20s and 30s and came from addresses in Cambridgeshire, Hampshire and Cheshire.
The UK Border Agency is expected to issue a statement later today.
The restaurant is continuing to trade.
The weekend’s warm temperatures resulted in “a number” of alcohol-related incidents in Spalding.
Police had “a very busy Saturday night”, with five prisoners in custody overnight following several outbreaks of alcohol-related violence.
It was almost like mid-summer in Spalding’s Ayscoughfee Hall gardens at the weekend.
Temperatures soared to about 18C in Spalding on Sunday, with families throwing off their winter woollies to picnic in the grounds or enjoy a snack outside at the cafe.
The Met Office said after a cooler start, the warm weather will return towards the end of the week.
Councillors were warned not to risk jobs in Donington in spite of a plan for 51 homes there being described as “awful”.
Permission to build 39 houses and 12 apartments next to haulage firm Turners Donington Ltd was deferred at South Holland District Council’s planning committee following concerns about noise and lack of road access to some of the homes.
Westleigh Developments Ltd and New Hall Park Ltd want to build the homes on a brownfield site accessed from Malting Lane.
Coun Roger Gambba-Jones, chairman of the committee, said councillors should tread carefully when asking about the noise impact from Turners on the homes.
He said: “Donington is a growing community and this plan is very disappointing.
“But if Turners get too much hassle from this they could easily up sticks and move, costing jobs.
”The same happened with Machins of Holbeach.”
Nene Valley Harriers were clear winners of the final Frostbite Friendly cross country league match at Hinchingbrooke Park last Sunday as they took the senior team title.
The Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire-based club beat their closest rivals, Hunts AC, by 181 points on the day, and by 95 points to 87 overall to take the title for the second time since joining the popular local running league ten years ago.
Nene Valley’s junior athletes were the seventh-placed team on the day at the Huntingdonshire circuit and fifth overall.
The hosts, Huntingdon-based BRJ, had to alter the route for the five-mile race at short notice due to the usual course being dangerously water-logged.
Nene Valley had three men in the top ten, with Lloyd Kempson, Michael Moore and Mike Chapman working hard to come sixth, seventh and ninth respectively.
Adam Birch, James Vernau and Sean Beard made up the team in 14th, 15th and 21st positions to ensure they set the club up for a strong chance at clinching the title.
However, the teams must be made up of three women as well as six men – and the ladies didn’t disappoint.
First in for the club and taking the top female spot for the fourth time this season was Tracy McCartney in 35th place, earning her the senior runner of the series trophy as a result.
Second lady in for the Harriers was Yolanda Gratton in 93rd position. She recently married marathon-running legend Mike Gratton, who ran 2.09hrs in London in 1983, and is an accomplished endurance runner in her own right.
Closing the winning team in was Louise Blake in 147th place out of 340 finishers.
The Harriers’ first junior to cross the line and fourth female overall was Megan Ellison, who out-ran all of her male club mates.
The first male youngster to finish was Codey Holland in 43rd place, less than a minute behind Ellison.
The overall winner on the day was Cambridge and Coleridge’s cross country supremo, Sullivan Smith.
He was followed in by top steeplechaser David Connell from Hunts AC and Riverside’s Alan Turnbull.
Visually impaired Bourne skier Jade Etherington and her guide Caroline Powell have made history after becoming the first British women to win a Paralympic skiing medal.
The duo won the silver medal in the women’s downhill at the Sochi winter games on Saturday, before bagging bronze in the ‘Super G’ event yesterday.
Etherington, who turned 23 on Sunday, grew up in Bourne and attended Deepings School. She was born with glaucoma and Axenfield’s syndrome, a rare genetic condition which causes fluid blockages in the eye and can lead to total blindness.
She currently has around five per cent vision in each eye, so requires 19-year-old Powell to ski in front of her and guide her down the slope. The duo, who communicate via Bluetooth headsets, often reach speeds of 60mph.
Etherington clocked 1.34.28 minutes to claim Great Britain’s first Paralympic medal in any format on the slopes for 20 years on Saturday.
She crashed heavily at the finish line, but had already done enough to medal.
A rest day on her birthday followed, before the Bourne star took on the Super G – which is regarded as a speed event, in contrast to the more technical giant slalom and slalom events.
She showed great skill to record a run of 1.29.76mins despite hitting a gate hard midway through the course. That was enough to seal third place in an event won by Team GB team-mate Kelly Gallagher.
Speaking after her silver success on Saturday, Etherington said: “We had a good run despite my crash at the end. I think I was just so happy to go through the line that I couldn’t stop in time.
“I was aiming for the finish line, saying ‘go, go, go’ and listening to Caroline. I hope I have done GB proud.
“I actually was really happy there was no training run, because personally I feel if you’re going to be scared for your life you might as well get a result at the end of it.”
Etherington and Powell could yet add to their medal collection in Russia, with the more technical slalom and giant slalom events still to come. They are considered the duo’s stronger events.
Martyn Glencross loves most things about the village where he lives, West Pinchbeck.
He loves its rural nature and the fact that it is quiet.
He and his wife Karolina have made lots of friends in the village and got involved in the parish church, St Bartholomew’s.
The couple appreciate the fact that the school their five-year-old daughter Zoë attends, St Bartholomew’s Church of England Primary School, is close to where they live in Six House Bank.
The only blot on the landscape is the village’s lack of facilities.
When they moved there five years ago from Fleet Hargate Martyn says there was a Post Office.
Unfortunately that closed within six months of them moving into the village.
Martyn says: “Really, we noticed there is nothing there. No shops, no nothing.”
Martyn and Karolina, like most other residents, have to drive a couple of miles to Pinchbeck for their nearest shops and even further for a greater choice of facilities.
Martyn has limited mobility following a car accident in which he broke his spine when he was younger, and some days is forced to use a wheelchair.
Understandably, he spends a lot of time on the Internet or pursuing his other hobby, taking photographs of local scenes – when he and Karolina, who is also his carer, are not busy.
However, an incident involving a stray dog he came close to hitting with his car spurred him into creating what he hopes will be a useful resource for everyone in West Pinchbeck.
He has set up a Facebook page called the West Pinchbeck Voice which he says is for everyone to use to share information with others.
That might be news about forthcoming events, warnings about bogus callers and burglaries, or even appeals for help when a family pet goes missing.
Luckily, Martyn’s near miss with the dog ended happily. Some young girls who witnessed it recognised the animal and so were able to return it to its owners.
Martyn imagines his page could be useful for sharing this type of information.
He said: “I thought if people were to lose their dog they have more chance of finding it if they put it on to this page.
“People can advertise local things like events or things happening in the village, such as if there were bogus callers in the area or a burglary they could warn other local people.
“They can put anything up there but I have clearly stated I won’t tolerate any abusive posts. It’s purely an informative page for the people of West Pinchbeck.”
Within a day of launch, ten people had signed up – and some were sharing pictures of their children dressed up as literary characters for World Book Day.
Martyn Glencross would like as many people as possible living in West Pinchbeck to join up to his new Facebook page, the West Pinchbeck Voice.
He feels confident it will take off – just a day after launching it ten people had signed up and people Martyn speaks to are responding positively.
Some have already posted pictures of their children dressed up for World Book Day, but the site could prove useful for all kinds of things.
Martyn says: “It is a page for all the villagers to post their old stories and pictures of the lovely village.
“It will have other benefits for the locals though. For example, if a villager loses their dog then they can post a message on the page and it might mean the difference between getting their pet back or not.
“People can post what they want so long as it is to do with the village. All I ask is that it is not abusive or the person will be removed.
“The only criteria is people must live in West Pinchbeck to be added.”
Martyn will administer the site to keep an eye on content, but is already planning to upload some of his own photographs of local scenes.
Five illegal workers were found in a police and Home Office Immigration swoop on the Curry Inn at Quadring on Thursday.
Home Office Immigration Enforcement say the restaurant could now be left with a fine of up to £50,000 – £10,000 for each man – unless its bosses can prove that pre-employment checks were carried out, such as seeing a passport or Home Office document.
Checks found that three members of staff were visa “overstayers” from Bangladesh – all three men, aged 24, 28 and 32 have been taken into immigration detention pending their removal from the UK.
Two other Bangladeshi men, aged 36 and 38, had outstanding immigration applications which did not entitle them to work in the UK. They were escorted from the premises but not detained as they were entitled to be in the country.
Four immigration officers, supported by three police officers, visited the restaurant in Main Road just after 6.30pm.
Home Office Immigration Enforcement said the restaurant closed for the evening.
But it has since been open for its restaurant and takeaway customers.
Rachel Challis, from Home Office Immigration Enforcement, said: “Where we find people who are in the UK illegally we will seek to remove them.
“But we are also looking to target the employers who take on illegal workers and encourage illegal immigration in the process.
“We are happy to work with businesses to let them know what checks need to be done on staff, but those who choose to break the law will face heavy financial penalties.
“I would urge anyone with specific and detailed information about suspected illegal working to get in touch.”
Police say the illegal workers came from various addresses in Cambridgeshire, Hampshire and Cheshire.