City of Lincoln Council

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.

City of Lincoln Council has given permission for a central Lincoln McDonald’s to relocate.

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The fast food outlet in the city’s Cornhill Quarter will move into the current HMV store on the High Street.

McDonald’s revealed its plans to relocate to another area of the city back in July.

Now, city council planning officials have given their backing for the move.

In its plans, McDonald’s confirmed that all 83 members of staff will be moved to the new location and the restaurant will retain its 24-hour opening times.

The fast food chain said the move came as part of “the landlord’s desire to relocate a number of tenants within the centre".

HMV will relocate into the Cornhill Quarter in the unit next to WHSmith.

The future of the Usher Gallery in Lincoln could still involve art exhibitions if a third party can be found to run the venue.

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The gallery is currently run by Lincolnshire County Council but the authority wants to change the use of the building to incorporate registry and celebration services as part of plans to restructure heritage provisions.

But the City of Lincoln Council which owns the building and collections has objected and a public consultation attracted more opposition than support.

County councillors will vote on 3 September on a proposal to work with a third party who may want to run the gallery themselves.

If a solution can't be found and the city council continues to object, Lincolnshire County Council says it will close the building and walk away.

A water fountain with pulsing jets could be built in Lincoln city centre.

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City of Lincoln Council is considering installing something similar to the fountains in Queen Victoria Square in Hull (pictured).

It's part of the multi-million pound redevelopment of the Cornhill Quarter, withe the council also looking at what it can do to improve the Central Market building.

The plans are expected to be discussed by the authority's executive committee, next week.

A further £65,000 could be spent tackling drug addiction and anti-social behaviour in Lincoln city centre.

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An intervention team started work in the city last October, following increasing problems with drug addiction and alcohol abuse.

City of Lincoln councillors are expected to meet tonight to discuss more funding for the team, which would allow it to continue working until December 2020.

More than £896,000 will have been spent on tackling rough sleepers in Lincoln by the end of this financial year, a report has revealed.

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According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Lincoln was named as one of the 83 councils to have the highest number of rough sleepers and received £376,747 in October, and a further £519,396 in December for the 2019/20 financial year.

The authority has had two lots of funding from a £30 million Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government pot set up to tackle the rise in rough sleeping across the country.

Tomorrow, councillors will examine how the money has been spent and how it is helping homeless people in the area.

The authority has set up a Rough Sleeping Team, and was named as one of 11 cities around the UK to get a Somewhere Safe to Stay centre which offers support on mental health and substance misuse, and providing short-term shelter.

There has been a rise in street homelessness in recent years and this funding allows us to work with partners to help people who are in this position to access the vital services, including accommodation, that they require.”

Plans to gate off a concrete shelter in Lincoln over concerns about anti-social behaviour will have a knock-on effect on rough sleepers, according to one homeless man.

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The City of Lincoln Council must decide by Friday whether to close off the building in the grounds of the Usher Gallery.

A report states the shelter has been vandalised, and there have been incidents of drug-taking and antisocial behaviour. It states it is now unsafe for the public to use.

But Ricky, who has been sleeping rough for six months, said: "People will find somewhere else and it's just moving the problem on. Then there will be more areas getting abused, misused, mistreated. Until you resolve the underlying issues, it's just moving the problem on somewhere else."