Les Bonner

The next meeting of Yarborough Forward takes place at 6.00pm on Thursday 7th February at the Community Centre, Yarrow Road.  The agenda for the meeting is as follows:-

• Apologies 
• Minutes of last meeting 
• Matters arising 
• The Ambassador Project – presentation by Jayne Chudley 
• Adult Education in the Yarborough Ward – Presentation by Lynne Maultby 
• Neighbourhood Policing in the Yarborough area 
• Relaunch of Yarborough Forward  
• Update  From Neighbourhood Regeneration Team 
• Acorn bids 
• Any Other Business 
• Time and Date of Next Meeting

 The meeting, which normally lasts just over an hour, is open to anyone interested in helping to make the Yarborough area better place to live, and new faces are always welcome.

The next elections for NELC take place on 1st May.  This is your opportunity to vote for the person who will be one of your representatives on North East Lincolnshire Council. You can only vote in elections if your name is on the Register of Electors. The Register is updated in the autumn each year using the details from the registration forms delivered to every household. A new Register is then published on 1 December every year.

Moved home? Coming up to 18? Just not on the register?

If you’ve moved since the Register was compiled or have been missed off, you can get your details amended. All you have to do is to fill in a Voter Registration Form. You have to sign your own form, someone else cannot do it for you.

Registration forms are available from the Council’s main reception points at the Municipal Offices, Grimsby; Civic Offices, Cleethorpes; and Kennedy Way, Immingham. Alternatively, print off the registration form below:-

VoterRegistrationForm.pdf

Applications must be signed by the elector and returned to the Electoral Registration Office, North East Lincolnshire Council, Municipal Offices, Town Hall Square, Grimsby, DN31 1HU.

Anyone may apply for a postal vote at an election. Or you can apply for someone else to vote for you if, for example, you are blind or disabled, or if you will be away from home during an election. Contact the Electoral Registration Office for details at the Municipal Offices, Town Hall Square, Grimsby, DN31 1HU. (Tel: 01472-324160/324118.

There is a deadline of 5 pm. eleven working days before the day of an election for the receipt of new postal vote applications and six working days before the day of election for the receipt of new proxy vote applications.   Forms to apply for a Postal Vote or a Proxy Vote can be downloaded from the following links:-  

Postal Vote Application Form.pdf

Proxy Vote Application Form.pdf

Get involved at the heart of your community

Do you want to make a difference to your community and contribute to building an effective and vibrant local economy?

North East Lincolnshire Council is looking for dynamic and enthusiastic people who feel that they could represent the views of their community by standing for election as a North East Lincolnshire Councillor.

Two informal events are being organised to help inform prospective candidates on how to become a Councillor. These are taking place in Grimsby Town Hall on Saturday 26 January from 11.00am to 1.00pm and Tuesday 5 February from 6.00pm to 8.00pm.

North East Lincolnshire Council Officers are inviting anyone with an interest to turn up to the events where they can gather information on the process of how to stand for election, the support available to Councillors once elected and there will be the opportunity to meet and speak to current Councillors.

There is no need to book a place on these events but anyone who would like further information should phone 01472 324124.

If any residents of the Yarborough Ward have concerns about the reoccurance of flooding during the latest period of heavy rain I would like to pass on the advice that I have received from NELC - that you should contact the NELC call centre team on 01472313131 or 01472324500 and let them know the location of the problem, and it will be dealt with as soon as possible.  If you are not satisfied with the response please let me know and I will ensure that appropriate action is taken.

 Officers from NELC have been informed about the state of the drains and gullies in Boulevard Avenue and Yarborough Road, and we have inspected them together.  It has been discovered that the drains have been damaged in numerous places.  Work is currently taking place on an ongoing basis to clear them as much as possible.  A thorough examination is taking place to assess the full extent of the damage and necessary repairs will take place in the near future.

**NELC have rceived more than 60 requests for drains and gullies to be cleaned during the recent period of heavy rain.  It has been arranged for a crew to work overnight to clear this work in anticipation of further heavy rain over the next few days.**

Identity Cards WILL be Compulsory for NEARLY ALL of Us!

The Identity Cards Act of 2006 allows the Home Office to “designate” any official document.  If you apply for ANY designated document you MUST also apply to be entered on the National Identity Register or show that you are already on it.  Unless there has been a change in Government plans this will include anyone who applies for a passport, and it will also include anyone who applies for a CRB check (this includes teachers, medical staff, security guards, carers, youth workers, school governors and anyone who performs voluntary or paid work with young people, the elderly, or any other vulnerable group.  Once you have been included on the National Identity Register you cannot leave it, and you will also be legally compelled to notify the authority of any changes in “registrable facts” about you in any of it’s 50 categories.  It also means that if you were to take a low paid job in a care home, or as a security guard, for example, you could well end up having to pay most of your first week’s pay to the Government  for your identity card or you would not be allowed to do the job! 

 Click below to see the policy of the Liberal Democrat Party towards Identity Cards

Food For Thought! 

How many invaluable volunteer workers will choose to give up their irreplaceable work in our communities rather than “volunteering” to give their personal information to the National Identity Register?  How does the Labour Government propose to fill the gaps that this will create, which will occur in some of the most deprived parts of the country? 

Did You Know This?

2007 was the worst year ever for personal privacy.  Over 37 million items of personal data went missing.  Most of the data was lost by government officials but councils, NHS trusts, banks, insurance companies and chain stores also mislaid or published personal information about staff or members of the public. The details lost included those of names, addresses, passports, bank and mortgage accounts, credit cards, hospital records, dates of birth, national insurance numbers, driving licences and telephone numbers.  How can the Labour Government expect us submit our precious personal information to the world’s largest database when we cannot trust them to keep it safely? 

Applications for grants from the Ward Councillors Fund have been approved to finance:-

• Purchase of additional tables and chairs, and refurbishments to the kitchen at Littlecoates Community     Centre.

• A series of activity nights  for young people to be organised by the PCSO’s to take place at the     Yarborough Community Centre.

• Activity days for young people in the school holidays to take place Yarborough and Littlecoates Community Centres.

There is still a small amount of money available from this year’s allocation.  If you have any suggestions for additional grants please inform any of your Ward Councillors without delay as the deadline for applications from this year’s fund is fast approaching.

The next meeting of Yarborough Forward will take place on 10th January,2008 at 6.00pm at the Yarrow Road Community Centre.

What is Yarborough Forward?  It is a group of people from the Yarborough Ward who meet regularly to consult with representatives from NELC and other agencies who operate in the area to put forward the views of the residents to ensure that their wishes are taken into consideration when planning the future of the area.  If you live in the Yarborough Ward you are welcome to come and take part.  If you would like to learn more about Yarborough Forward you can do so by turning up for the meeting, or by contacting me or any other member of the group.

Click the following link to read the New Year’s message from Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats:-

new-years-message.pdf

or click on the following link to see the message in a short video:-

http://c.cminteractive.com/?1nqhPkffY=1956059