Shell UK Oil Products were recently  fined a total of £18,000 and ordered to pay over £53,000 in costs at Grimsby Magistrates Court as a result of a leak from one of the tanks at the Toothill petrol station in Yarborough Road which allowed poisonous unleaded petrol to enter the ground water supply and contaminate the public drinking water supply.  Shell stated that the leak had cost them millions of pounds

Follow this link to read the recent report on the case which was published by the Grimsby Telegraph:-

http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/

Crowds of people lined the route on Cleethorpes seafront on Veterans Day to honour those who fought for their country.The resort almost ground to a halt on Friday as about 200 ex-servicemen and women, led by the band of the Royal Air Force College, marched from the Market Place to the Strike Wing memorial in the first National Veterans Day Parade to be held at Cleethorpes.

Read the report and pictures of the parade from the Grimsby Telegraph on the following link:-

http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/

NORTH East Lincolnshire Council has begun to issue penalty notices to parents of children and young adults who do not attend school on a regular basis.Since the council’s cabinet agreed to allow penalty notices to be used as a deterrent from unauthorised absence, three penalties have been issued - for unauthorised holidays - and several more notices are set to be issued in the near future, some of which are for low school attendance.  Penalty notices are set at £50 if paid within 28 days, or £100 if paid after 28 days but within 42 days. All three of the notices recently issued were paid within 28 days.  Additionally, the council has adopted measures introduced by the Education And Inspections Act 2006, allowing similar penalty notices to be issued in relation to excluded pupils. Exclusion from school is seen as one of the last possible options available to education authorities when dealing with problematic young people, removing the individual from the school environment for a set amount of time. During such exclusions, pupils should remain at home: the expulsion is a form of punishment and should not be viewed as a break or holiday.Parents are responsible for ensuring their child is not present in school hours without excuse or in a public place during the first five days of any exclusion. Parents who neglect this responsibility may be issued with a penalty notice unless they are able to prove reasonable justification.The staff of Children’s Services are pleased with the initial impact of the notices and are hoping to see the increase of regular attendance as the fines come into widespread use.Here at North East Lincolnshire Council we take education and attendance very seriously. Children who regularly miss school have problems with basic skills including reading and writing. These skills are of the utmost importance in an individual’s ability to obtain a fulfilling and rewarding life.  Levels of attendance throughout the borough are on the rise, and I hope that with these new measures in place we will see a sharp decrease in the children and young people who are missing a basic education.

Football and netball sessions on a new-look Grimsby housing estate are proving a hot shot.  Scores of young people from Freshney Green, formerly the Yarborough estate, turn up for the regular Thursday evening sports academy at Yarborough Primary School.  The project has been sponsored by housing firm Shoreline and also by the Ward Councillors, with a donation from the Ward Councillors Fund.Organisers are hoping to attract more firms to join the team to help tempt young people away from anti-social behaviour.  The new academy was hailed a success by Shoreline neighbourhood manager Martin High.  He said: “The academy is fantastic.  It is healthy, fun and free and has already been hugely supported by local residents.”  He added: “We hope it will continue to improve the neighbourhood and reduce anti-social behaviour as well as bring young people and their families together.”Grimsby Town FC sports and education trust community manager Graham Rodger said: “We are extremely pleased. They are showing a desire to learn.   We would like to see some of them coming through the academy and end up among the professional ranks.”

Humberside Police youth diversionary officer Pc Paul Caswell urged more young people to join the project which is held for seven to 12-year-olds, from 6pm to 7pm, and 13 to 19 year olds, from 7pm to 8pm, each Thursday.

Andy Pollock (nine) said: “My favourite thing is learning football. I scored a hat-trick last week.”

Netballer Shaunnah Austin (10) said: “I enjoy learning how to play netball, shooting for goal, doing a pivot and what places there are for players, and I have met new friends.”

Among the teams were three Polish girls.  Karolina Lotycz (12) said: “It is fun playing in a team and I am meeting many other people who are English.”

 The first fixed speed cameras in North East Lincolnshire will be installed on the Laceby Bypass.  It is the first step being taken by the council in a £100,000 scheme to cut road deaths on the notorious stretch of the A46.  The cameras - which will be fitted within four months - needed special permission from the Home Office because of their permanent nature. Step two of the scheme will be to cut the speed limit from 70mph to 50mph, while step three will reduce the road to one lane by the Laceby junctions.The move follows years of campaigning by residents and road users concerned about the high number of accidents on the bypass and continuing A46 in both directions.On the bypass stretch from the A18 roundabout to Cottages Plot there have been 109 casualties from 50 crashes in the last 10 years. They have resulted in 34 people killed or seriously injured.

At the Caistor Road junction there have been 17 crashes resulting in 35 casualties with 10 people killed or seriously injured.

At the Grimsby Road junction there have been 20 crashes with 44 casualties resulting in 12 people killed or seriously injured.

To accompany the new fixed cameras, mobile ones will be used on other stretches of the A46 - which runs from Isaccs Hill, Cleethorpes, by Laceby, through Lincolnshire and then on to Oxford. North East Lincolnshire Council’s network manager, Stuart Greaves, said: “We are very much feeling our way as we go along.  “Clearly the cost of safety measures are prohibitive and we don’t feel we can afford to build the Rolls Royce solution. Eventually, our ultimate aim is to make the whole of the A46, from one end to another, into a corridor. The cameras could then be moved to where they are most needed.”Council leader Coun Andrew De Freitas described the plans as “the sensible option”.  He said: “It is a necessity that it is being done. It is the sensible option. If the intention is to defer speeding then it is the best possible option.”

Humberside Police casualty reduction officer Pc John Mallett said: “Any form of engineering to rectify the situation should be welcomed. We provide high-visibility patrols along the whole stretch to influence driver behaviour as part of our normal policing business.  We will support with education and enforcement any engineering solutions put in place. All partner agencies need to assess the effectiveness of the cameras and see if a longer-term solution is needed.”

 I have noticed today that there is an item on the NELC website which attempts to explain the recent changes to the road layout at Bradley Crossroads which I have reproduced here for information only.  If you have any opinions on the changes please let me know, and I will see that they are passed on:-Road layout changes have been introduced at Bradley Crossroads to address long standing safety concerns when pedestrians attempt to cross the dual carriageway from the Bradley Inn towards the shopping facilities.Accident studies have shown that pedestrians are particularly vulnerable at this location from vehicles coming from Bradley Road turning left and from Laceby Road going straight on, as well as from vehicles turning right from Littlecoates Road.. The experimental scheme has seen the left lane of Laceby Road, exiting from

MEN’S health really does matter - that’s the message from North East Lincolnshire Council’s public health team as they launch a new Full Monty styled DVD aimed at getting men to talk more - and do more, about improving their health.The DVD tells the story of five men in a pub - and as the packaging suggests, their discussions cover the full monty of men’s potential health issues, from high blood pressure to erectile dysfunction.Greg Gilbert, men’s health programme coordinator, said: “If you’ve been looking for information on men’s health - then here it is. The first of its kind - a DVD specifically for men, talking about men’s health issues in a language that men can understand.“The idea is not to tell men what to do but to inform them of what is available, then if they decide to make some changes to their lifestyle the DVD contains information about where to get help. It’s as easy as that. No finger wagging telling you what a bad boy you’ve been - it’s up to you. Just watch the DVD and see.” The DVD will be available at the official launch at the Imperial Pub, Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes on Friday, June 27, between noon and 2pm. Men (and women) are invited to come along and pick up a copy of the DVD and enjoy a healthy free buffet. Quick health checks, known as Men’s Health MOT’s, will also be available free of charge.Dr Tony Hill, North East Lincolnshire’s director of public health, said: “Men’s health is an important priority in North East Lincolnshire. Men die several years earlier than women and men’s health is worse than women’s in almost all ways.“This innovative DVD is one part of an important programme of work to try to change this.”The DVD will also be available at NELC customer access points, libraries and at selected factories and pubs across the borough. 

A group of residents of Maxwell Court and Romsey Court presented a petition for the closure of the alleyway to a meeting of the Environment, Culture and Tourism Committee which took place earlier tonight.  After hearing  from the spokesperson for the residents and also from myself  the committee took the decision to recomend that the alleyway be closed to reduce the antisocial behaviour which has taken place in the area for a number of years.  The result was a victory for the residents and an example to us all!

Closing a public right of way is quite a lengthy process, but this is an important step which should result in the alleyway being closed sometime over the next 12 months. 

An application form and supporting information may be obtained by e-mailing standardscommittee@nelincs.gov.uk or by written request to the Director of Law and Democratic Services at the Municipal Offices, Town Hall Square, Grimsby, DN31 1HU. The closing date for the receipt of applications is the 10th July 2008.

CHANNEL 4 newscaster Jon Snow will reveal if North East and

Almost 450 entries were submitted to this year’s MJ Achievement Awards. And the two councils have made it to the final six entrants in the Best Use of Resources category for their joint strategic procurement unit entry. North East and

North East Lincolnshire Council has formally endorsed the appointment of its new chief executive, Tony Hunter.
The meeting in the Town Hall on Wednesday evening welcomed Mr Hunter to the post. He will begin his new role in September.  Mr Hunter has worked in senior local government roles for more than 13 years, including six years with Liverpool City Council and eight years at East Riding of Yorkshire Council as director of social services, housing and public protection.  Before that, he worked as a management consultant at Price Waterhouse, specialising in local and central government. He also worked at child care charity Barnardo’s, Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council and Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council.The council’s previous chief executive, George Krawiec, retired in April. North East Lincolnshire Council has formally endorsed the appointment of its new chief executive, Tony Hunter.The meeting in the Town Hall on Wednesday evening welcomed Mr Hunter to the post. He will begin his new role in September.Mr Hunter has worked in senior local government roles for more than 13 years, including six years with Liverpool City Council and eight years at East Riding of Yorkshire Council as director of social services, housing and public protection.

Before that, he worked as a management consultant at Price Waterhouse, specialising in local and central government. He also worked at child care charity Barnardo’s, Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council and Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council.

The council’s previous chief executive, George Krawiec, retired in April. 

Environmental Health Officers have asked people to make sure they “C” sense in the kitchen - to avoid becoming a food poisoning statistic.Food Safety Week, which runs from June 9 to June 13, is concentrating on the four Cs of food hygiene - Cooking, Cleaning, Chilling and avoiding Cross-Contamination.And Steve Mercer, North East Lincolnshire Council’s environmental health manager, said: “The food we eat has never been so safe - but there are still more than 5.5million reported cases of food poisoning each year.”This campaign encourages people to see the potential dangers in their cooking spaces to avoid becoming a food poisoning statistic.”As a phrase, “food poisoning” includes an endless range of infections, some of which may be only very mild in their effects and some can prove fatal. The vast majority will last several days, cause diarrhoea and vomiting and can be, at least inconvenient and at worst highly debilitating.There are undoubtedly a wide range of causes of food poisoning, but it is probably true to say that the most dangerous place for food poisoning is under our direct control - our own kitchens!Mr Mercer added: “Contrast your own kitchen with your favourite restaurant. If you saw cats or dogs in the restaurant, would you eat there? If you saw the proprietor washing his smalls in the kitchen would you leave immediately?”Would you expect to have efficient refrigerators and freezers and to know their temperatures, or for them to know how long they stored prepared food?”These are all reasonable presumptions and are legal requirements in a commercial environment, but they are generally not carried out in the home, yet this is where we consume most of our meals.”Mr Mercer offered some appropriate food safety tips to keep your home as a hygienic haven. These include:

• Washing your hands before preparing food, after using the toilet, eating or smoking, handling raw meat, poultry and vegetables and after going to the bin
• Keep the temperatures of refrigerators at 4-5oc. Any colder and you are wasting electricity, any warmer and you will allow bugs to grow and your food to spoil much more quickly.
• Keep frozen food at -18oc, the same principles apply.
• Know what the temperatures really are in your refrigerator, not just what the dial tells you. Invest in a simple refrigerator thermometer and try it on different shelves, you might be surprised at the differences
• Keep all open food covered, ideally in lidded plastic containers. Not only does this prevent contamination, it will also help preserve the food quality
• Try to make a note of the “use-by” dates on opened packs and transfer them to the lidded container, use a purpose-designed marker or sticky labels.
• Keep raw food, meat poultry eggs and vegetables on the bottom shelves. That way any leakage or spillages cannot drip onto and contaminate ready-to-eat items with harmful bugs
• Your refrigerator can only work efficiently if the air inside can circulate, so try not to overfill and leave space between items to allow the cold air to do its work
• Most commercial caterers also know how hot their food is, ensuring they have killed any germs that will have been present in the raw food — can you say the same thing?

Finally, Mr Mercer had some words of advice about having pets in the kitchen. He said: “We know they are part of the family and you would not want to make the kitchen a complete “no go” area for a kitty or pooch. But under no circumstances should we allow them on the work surface. They are not particular about cleaning their feet - would you put your own shoes on the counter before you prepared food?”And he also advised people to: keep food and water bowls scrupulously clean for their welfare, but never mix them with your own plates and crockery; after handling your pets is another good time to wash hands if you want to avoid the risk of a nasty bout of gastro-enteritis.Councillor Steve Beasant, portfolio holder for communities and neighbourhoods, said: “There are plenty of measures we can all take to ensure our homes are hygienically sound. Food Safety Week puts the spotlight on what we can all do to ensure cleanliness in the home and put a serious dent in these alarming food poisoning statistics.” If any of these issues give you cause for thought, then don’t hesitate to contact the environmental health department on 01472 324770 

 

RESIDENTS of the former Yarborough estate are coming together to take part in a community clean-up day on Sunday, June 22, 2008 as they continue to prepare for the major transformation of their neighbourhood.Shoreline officers, residents, neighbourhood wardens and young people deployed by the probation service’s Community Pay Back scheme will work together to clear the land.Shoreline neighbourhood officer Martin High said: “This project aims to create a better, cleaner environment. “It really shows the neighbourhood spirit the residents of Freshney Green have and it is a great promise for what this community can achieve in the future.”Neighbourhood warden Jon Nicholson, who has organised the event, added: “These community clean-up days have a proven effect in bringing about a real feel-good factor amongst residents.“Such events instill a real sense of pride into the community - I’m sure this weekend will have the same result.”Over the next eight years Shoreline and Stamford Homes will carry out the multi-million pound transformation of the estate creating a high-quality sustainable urban environment that will include up to 440 new homes and associated open space, a health centre, play area and traffic calming measures.The clean-up will take place between 9.30am and 6pm. Anyone wishing to take part should ensure that they wear suitable clothing. 

North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus (CTP) has published a guide to local NHS and care services called “Your Guide to Local Health and Adult Social Care Services 2008”.  The guide is a source of advice about the local NHS and social care services that are available in North East Lincolnshire. It is being delivered to households in North East Lincolnshire Council’s Linc Up newspaper. The guide, which has been produced by the Care Trust Plus, includes useful telephone numbers including emergency contact numbers, information on how to access services, and lists of nursing and residential homes. The guide also includes a fold-out section with a map of GP practices, pharmacies and other local services.  For people to make the most of local services, they need to know what services are available. The guide has been designed to give this information in a user-friendly way.  We asked a wide range of patient, user, and carer groups what information they wanted to see included and this has been included in the guide.  People who have not received a copy of the guide, or who would like additional copies can contact the CTP on (01472) 302832.  An electronic version of the guide can be downloaded from below:- 

your_guide_final_2008_with_map.pdf 

SOCCER teams in North East Lincolnshire are being urged to register for the Lifestyle Football Festival, taking place on Saturday, June 14 at the town’s Bradley Pitches.The festival combines both a boys and girls tournament and is open to school teams, clubs, community teams and anyone else who would like to take part. Deadlines for submissions is Monday, June 2 and spaces remain in the girls tournament for the under 10s, 12s, 14s, 16s and the open age woman’s category.For the boys tournament they are spaces remaining for the under 12s and 14s categories.There is a nominal fee of £5 per team.For further information or an entry form, contact Louise Smith, sports development officer on (01472) 323379.

Negotiations between North East Lincolnshire Council and local bus companies have brought about a result that’s just the ticket - with the introduction of free travel at any time for eligible pass-holders residing in North East Lincolnshire, starting from the earliest bus services on June 2. Currently, pass-holders can travel free on any local registered bus service between 9.30am and 11pm, in accordance with a national travel scheme. From Monday these time restrictions will be removed.

People have told us that they need to travel outside the hours of the national scheme. We have listened and removed the time restrictions for North East Lincolnshire residents.  Liz Jones, the council’s interim head of paid services, said:  “I am delighted that we have been able to complete the work in order to reintroduce peak hour concessions quicker than we anticipated.”The scheme applies to people over 60 years of age and to people with certain disabilities. This enhancement to the scheme applies to any bus journey starting within North East Lincolnshire.The new England wide concessionary bus fare scheme for the over-60s and others who qualify started on April 1.The scheme is of significant benefit to many deserving people and also supports the council’s CO2 emissions and climate change policy by getting more people to use public transport as an alternative to using cars. 

North East Lincolnshire Council has invested £101,110 in a new state-of-the-art gully wagon to help keep clean the 33,000 road gullies the council is responsible for. North East Lincolnshire Council has now spent £480,000 since last summer’s deluge on flood repair and prevention.The latest investment from the Council is in a hi-tech road sweeper, the new SC52 gully wagon, which was purchased to replace an existing vehicle that has gone off lease and is the latest addition to the council’s fleet of vehicles.Nearly one year on from last summer’s floods, residents are still fearing a repeat of the disastrous deluge.Glenn Greetham, head of neighbourhood operations, said: “The new vehicle was purchased through the council’s five-year procurement programme, funded through the capital replacement programme.“The machine will be called upon in times of flooding; it can also assist the police in the finding of weapons discarded down gullies, and the public in the retrieval of lost keys.”

Last year, the Grimsby Telegraph ran the Drain Watch campaign, after blocked drains were blamed by the public for exacerbating some flood water levels’  This was one of the campaigns which won them the title of Community Newspaper Of The Year 2008 from the Newspaper Society.

Nearly 200 readers sent in locations of blocked drains and gullies - and the council responded, clearing out 152 and visiting more than 184.

The SC52 is effectively a large vacuum cleaner. Pressure is built up in the rear tank, the large pipe on the side of the wagon is then lowered into the gully pot and suction is created, thus removing all debris from the gully pot.  Skilled operatives then refill the gully with water to check that all is running freely. In cases where the connection to the main sewer is blocked and water does not flow, operatives then use a 100m high pressure jet reel to the rear of the wagon to unblock it.

The vehicle is a Mercedes-Benz Axor chassis cab with a Whale combination unit for gulley cleaning and drain pressure jetting. Weighing in at 18 tonnes, the wagon is fitted with a tracking system which logs each gulley once it has been cleaned.