The idea of the scheme was bornout of a situation where theCouncil was running housing

benefit surgeries in rural locations andhaving to fill in forms manually that thenhad to be entered onto a computersystem when staff got back to the office.

“This was clearly inefficient and now we

are able to enter details straight onto thesystem from rural locations that haveinternet access.

“The additional advantage is that usersof the location can also use the facilitywhich makes the venue far moreattractive,” said Matthew.

BonusA further bonus is that when council

workers are in the area they can pull intothe car park of a village building that hasbeen activated and use the connection toget onto the Council computer back atheadquarters in Gainsborough.

Clerk to Cherry Willingham Parish

Council, Kathryn Wiswould, said theBroadband facility had proved very useful.

“It is a good thing for the village and isregularly used for benefit surgeries and bythe district council’s recycling team.

Housing providers Acis also use it and itis very useful when we hire the room fortraining,” said Kathryn.

Parishes at Saxilby, Welton andBardney have already expressed interestin joining the network.

If your parish would like to know moreplease contact Matthew on (01427)676676 or emailmatthew.clarke@west-lindsey.gov.uk

West Lindsey District Council

THE NEWSLETTER FOR PARISH AND TOWN COUNCILSTHROUGHOUT WEST LINDSEY

Parish Matters

Free internet

Making a Difference

DECEMBER 2009

available for your villageA free wireless internet connection could soon be onits way to a village hall near you.

The Council has started a programme to wi-fi publicbuildings in parishes throughout West Lindsey andfacilities are already up and running in Keelby,Springthorpe, Stainfield and Apley, Nettleton, MarketRasen, Cherry Willingham and Caistor.

Business Improvement Manager Matthew Clarkesaid: “If a telephone line is needed we will put one in,make it Broadband enabled, and then add some of ourown equipment.

“The village initially pays the bills to the serviceprovider but then the Council will reimburse thecosts.”

Community Led Planning (parish planning to you and me)has been around now for some years and is recognised asan effective way to identify and articulate community need.

A completed plan will have involved a high proportion of thecommunity and used inclusive and innovative techniques of com-munity engagement to identify the real issues for that community.It will also include an Action Plan detailing how those issues are tobe addressed and who should be assisting or leading the commu-nity to help achieve them.

One of the biggest issues around parish plans has been howthey should be used to influence local authorities and how localauthorities should respond to them.

They do not have any formal status in the planning system(unlike Village Design Statements) yet they are a comprehensivestatement of community need and should, therefore, be taken veryseriously.

Until now, West Lindsey District Council has had no formalmechanisms for accepting parish plans but this is changing withthe implementation of the Parish Engagement Programme.

A number of new procedures and activities have been agreedwhich have the potential to give parish plans the full status theydeserve. They are:� During the process of developing the Actions within the PlanWLDC staff should be an active consultee advising on what is pos-sible/or not – and helping to formulate realistic actions. Theseactions could then be incorporated into the Council’s PerformanceManagement Framework and be monitored properly. � The information gathered through the development of a ParishPlan should be captured for useby the Council in

developing future Policy. � Parishes will be invited to present completed Plans at FullCouncil. This provides an opportunity for the local area to getacross its key issues to all councillors and demonstrates theimportance the Council places on the Plans themselves.� West Lindsey Disrict Council service areas will make staff avail-able, through an appointments system, to parishes who have com-pleted, or are developing their plans, and wish to discuss relevantissues.� To explore the possibility of parish planning day(s) where a num-ber of agencies make themselves available for parishes to see.

If your parish would like to develop a Parish Plan please callSue Harrison on (01427) 676600 or emailsue.harrison@west-lindsey.gov.uk..

� In picture are the Parish Plan documentsdeveloped for Welton and Glentham.

A Parish Plancan help shapeyour community

2 Parish Newsletter

We can help you write one

Parish Matters and you

In our last issue we asked how our readers would prefer toreceive Parish Matters.

The overwhelming preference was for email. This is exellent asit not only keeps costs to an absolute minimum but it alsoreduces the Council’s carbon footprint.

With immediate effect Parish Matters will only be sent out byemail to parish councillors. One hard copy will be sent to parishclerks for the benefit of those who do not have access to theinternet.

If you, or someone you know, would like to reveive a copy byemail please send the address to:shelley.knowles@west-lindsey.gov.uk

Please be assured that the addresses will only be used forparish council business and group emails will be sent out asblind copies which means no other recipient will be able to seeaddresses other than their own.

We will not pass on email addresses to third parties.

Readers say on-line is best

We are advertising changes to our refuse collection service over Christmas and NewYear but it would be extremely helpful if, in your role as parish and town councillors,

you could help us to spread the word! If you have a parish noticeboard we wouldvery grateful if you could print out this page and post the information there too.

Christmas and NewYear refuse collections

There will be somechanges in collection days

over the festive period.Please find below your

normal collection day andthen check on the right to

see what, if any, therevised collection day is:

Monday December 21 Saturday December 19

Tuesday December 22 Monday December 21

Wednesday December 23 Tuesday December 22

Thursday December 24 Wednesday December 23

Friday December 25 Thursday December 24

Monday December 28 As normal

Tuesday December 29 As normal

Wednesday December 30 As normal

Thursday December 31 As normal

Friday January 1 2010 Saturday January 2 2010

Normal day Revised day

Please make Christmas and New Year more environmentally sustainable by Reducing,Reusing and Recycling the things you throw out.

Always have your bins out for collection by 7amon collection day as collection times may vary.

Remember you can receive an email telling you every time there is a change to refusecollection days. All you have to do is visit our website at www.west-lindsey.gov.uk and click onEmail Alerts on the left hand side of the home page and follow the instructions.

4 Parish Newsletter

Over eight million trees were bought last Christmas in the UK.Most are thrown away creating over 150,000 tonnes of addi-tional rubbish – that’s 21 times the weight of the Eiffel Tower!

So do your bit to reduce this amount of rubbish this year byrecycling your Christmas tree in West Lindsey!

Green waste collections take place once a month during theWinter period (December – March) and every two weeks through-out the rest of the year.

Please help us to tell people in your town or village to put theirChristmas tree out in their green bin on the regular garden wastecollection day. People should check their calendar or visitwww.west-lindsey.gov.uk/mybinday. It would also help us if peo-ple could trim branches before putting their tree in the bin.

Alternatively trees can be taken to one the Household WasteRecycling Centres at any of the following locations:

� Summergangs Lane, Gainsborough� Whisby, near Lincoln� Great Northern Terrace, Lincoln� Bolingbroke Road, Fairfield Industrial Estate, Louth� Redbourne Mere, Kirton Lindsey (in the North LincolnshireCouncil area but West Lindsey residents can use this facility)

� Bigby Road, Melton Ross, Barnetby (arrangments as forRedbourne Mere).

Residents in Gainsborough’s South West Ward who receive abag collection service can recycle trees by placing them at thefront of their property on Friday January 8.

What happens to the trees?All of the Christmas trees collected will be recycled and turned

into nutrient rich compost at one of four sites in the district. Thetrees, and other green waste, will be tipped by the collection vehi-cle on to a heap and aerated. The material will then be inspectedfor any contaminants, such as plastic bags, and once they havebeen removed, the material will be put into a pile and shredded. Itis turned at least three times until it reaches its final product. Thisprocess takes approximately eight weeks before quality compostis produced.

Artificial treesIf residents have an artificial tree to be thrown away it is impor-

tant to bear in mind that it will be sent to a landfill site and the treesare not biodegradable. When residents no longer want an artificialtree, please remind them they can extend its life by giving it to alocal group or charity shop.

Christmas tree recycling service

Beautiful towns and villages in West Lindsey have figuredprominently on the winners’ rostrum of the Best KeptVillage and Small Towns Competition 2009.

Winner of Class I (for populations up to 500 ) was Tealby. Thiscommunity has won this class on six previous occasions – thelast time was in 1997 – and it has had three second places sincethen. Tealby has been placed in the top three 16 times in the his-tory of the competition.

Winner of Class III (for populations between 2,001 and 7,000)was Nettleham. This community obviously has what it takes as ithas won nine times in previous years – the last time was in2008.

The Small Market Town Category (populations up to 7,000)introduced in 2004 was won by Caistor. This is the first time thatCaistor has won this category although it has previously been inthe top three in another category.

Winner of the Past Winners category was Welton which com-pleted a hat-trick of victories. This is an exceptional achievementas the winner is chosen from the winners from classes I and IIover the previous four years.

West Lindsey’s celebrations were completed by Scothern who

were runners-up in Class II (populations between 501 and 2,000)after being third in 2004.

The competition, organised by Community Lincs, attracted127 entries and was judged over three rounds during the sum-mer. Sponsorship came from Lincolnshire’s district councils andthe county council, Pennells Garden Centres and there was sup-port from the Council for the Protection of Rural England.

West Lindsey District Council’s Director of Strategy andRegeneration, Rachel North, said: “Everyone knows WestLindsey is a beautiful place and these results really prove it. Ourcleansing teams are always happy to work with parish and towncouncils to make all our towns and villages look even smarter.”

You beauties!West Lindsey towns and villagescarry off Best Kept prizes

HONOURS BOARD: Top photo shows West Lindsey District Council Chairman, Cllr JessieMilne with Past Winners representatives from Ingham. Bottom left to right are Small MarketTown winners Caistor, Class III winners Nettleham, and Class I winners Tealby.