City of Lincoln Council

Council bosses say a £1m government grant intended to help the authority cope with the impact of coronavirus is "devastating" and up to £4m short of what is needed.

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City of Lincoln Council has been awarded £1,050,718 out of a £3.6 billion government pot.

However it predicts it will need between £4-5 million to recover from the pressures on income, including car parking, rents, planning and leisure, and a predicted drop in council tax and business rates.

Council leader Ric Metcalfe said without further funding some council services may be stopped.

"To be allocated little more than £1 million at this difficult time is truly devastating for the city," he said.

“If more funding does not become available, we will be forced to look closely at the services we provide and it is inevitable that some of these will have to stop in order for us to balance the books."

Councils in Lincolnshire are to receive an extra £28m to help them respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

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It's to be spent on services such as social care and housing the homeless.

The extra cash has come at a time when councils are facing a potential loss of millions from things such as car parks and leisure centre.

This fresh allocation of government help brings the total amount so far allocated to Lincolnshire to £43m.

More than £27m has been awarded to 980 businesses by the City of Lincoln Council to help firms during the coronavirus pandemic.

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The money has been made available to businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector via the authority's business rates relief scheme.

It comes on top of more than £16.5m awarded to 1,317 businesses through the government's Business Grant Funding scheme

Council leader Ric Metcalfe said: "We've got a terrific concern about what the medium to long term effects of all of this are going to be on jobs and business in Lincoln.

"We're very concerned as a council, that's why we're doing everything we possibly can to ensure as many businesses survive."

City of Lincoln Council has confirmed almost 500 businesses in Lincoln have been given a share of £5m to help during the coronavirus pandemic.

Officials say the payments should arrive in the next three days and that it's now looking at a further 300 applications for the government cash.

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A huge effort has been made by our team and we are proud to be supporting so many businesses at this difficult time. Businesses are the lifeblood of the city, employing thousands of people, and we want to ensure their future is safe.

City of Lincoln Council has launched a telephone befriending service to help those in isolation feel more socially connected.

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The service aims to provide friendly conversation to vulnerable people that may be experiencing reduced social interactions during self-isolation.

Following the outbreak, staff in many departments across the council have stepped out of their regular roles to quickly create this brand new service which will offer vital support and reassurance to many who are feeling the social effects of self-isolation.

If you would like to refer yourself to the befriending service, you can contact the signposting team on 01522 873461/873374.

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A decision is expected to be made later on whether to allow a £28m animal rendering plant to be built at Norton Disney, near Lincoln.

Lincoln Proteins wants to relocate to Villa Farm in Norton Disney from its current site in Skellingthorpe.

The plant would process animal by-products using heat and pressure, but local people have expressed concerns about the potential for smell and impact on traffic and wildlife.

The company says it's committed to protecting wildlife and archaeology, as well as managing odours.

But planning officers have recommended the plans are refused based on the impact of an industrial development on the countryside and harm to local heritage.

There are also concerns about the impact on the local bat population.

Demolition of the disused Ermine West Methodist Church in Lincoln to make way for a housing development looks set to go ahead.

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The church and community hall, in Trelawney Crescent, was built in the latter half of the Ermine Estate's development in the 1950s and early 1960s.

The city council says it needs permission to flatten the building as the land is “earmarked” for a housing development.

City of Lincoln Council’s planning committee has been recommended to approve the demolition, with councillors due to make a final decision at a meeting on 6 November.

Litter, needles and human excrement are some of the things workers say they're often having to clean-up from their shop fronts in Lincoln.

They say it's damaging the High Street and they're now calling for action to be taken to stop it from happening.

Look North's Jessica Lane examines the issue:

Landlords in Lincoln could soon face fines of up to £30,000 for breaking housing rules.

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City of Lincoln councillors are being recommended to approve the fines, which will act as an alternative to prosecution for specific offences under the Housing Act 2004.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the authority’s Policy Scrutiny Committee will examine the plans under changes to its Health and Environment Policy 2019-24.

Under the new rules, landlords or licence holders could be penalised for:

• Failure to comply with an Improvement Notice
• Offences in relation to licensing of houses including as Homes of Multiple Occupation
• Contravention of an overcrowding notice
• Failure to comply with the management regulations in respect of Homes of Multiple Occupation

Council officers said the move will make enforcement more robust, enhance training and make it clear what its approach to enforcement is.