ELDC Councillor William Gray's News

March 2025 News

Giving our thanks to all those involved in Horncastle’s Place Team winning a Destination Lincolnshire award

Special thanks to all of our amazing partners who helped the Horncastle Place Team show off the town to the judges, helping us to win Destination Lincolnshire's Pride in your Place award:

  • Jacob Greenan from Horncastle Business and Community Network
  • Paul Scott from the Joseph Banks Centre and Dr Ian Marsham, Mary Silverton and Nick Fox from the Horncastle History & Heritage Society. Our judge also heard about the Horncastle Horse Fair with thanks to Sessions House Arts
  • David Dean, Chairman of the Horncastle Community Centre who showed us around the building, the Community Larder and Trish Hughes who talked about her work with St Lawrence School
  • Sadie Hirst, Horncastle Library Manager. The library was absolutely buzzing with people attending the Barclays banking sessions and Lincs Digital
  • Ben Cross at Shine’s HQ at Bert House. We heard about the many projects and collaborations and met Cllr Gray there to talk about the Christmas market and the new Horncastle Youth Group
  • Colleen Layton (East Mercia Rivers Trust) met us at the Tesco riverside by Wings sculpture and talked us through all the engagement work they have done as well as the river and riverside enhancement project and work carried out in conjunction with Horncastle in Bloom
  • Stuart Goodacre and Cllr Mike Beecham from Horncastle Estates and Horncastle Town Council walked us back to the Wong via Hamerton gardens and the refurbished pig pens. We ended the tour by looking at new planters and hearing about further improvement work that will take place on the Wong.

Campus for Future Living: Project Update

Exciting progress continues at the Campus for Future Living, with the internal fit-out phase well underway. Internal walls are now in place, along with the kitchen, lighting, and temperature control systems, bringing the campus closer to completion.

We’re also pleased to announce that the new Campus for Future Living website is now live! You can visit www.campusforfutureliving.co.uk to stay updated on the project’s progress and learn more about what’s to come.

Key dates:

  • Lindum Construction is set to complete work on 17th March 2025, with keys handed over to operating partner Acis Group on 4th April 2025
  • Grand Opening Event – 12th June 2025: The Acis team is planning a special event to officially launch the Campus. Make sure to save the date to explore the site and see everything it has to offer!

We look forward to sharing more updates soon as we get closer to opening this exciting new facility for the community.

For more information on Acis Group visit www.acisgroup.co.uk

You can also follow Campus for Future Living on Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube: @Campusforfutureliving

Hear from the Acis team, Roxanne Warwick, Healthy Living Service Manager and Cllr William Gray in this video update about the Campus: https://www.facebook.com/eastlindseydistrictcouncil/posts/pfbid035v1xJxSWYF3UPMBAZsSihuhy5G3pJJKT3XCgAvLubpeNEqQYfvp7ETXxh1ebskUGl

Cllr Gray has also provided a video update which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8lTWk6ckj8

Progress update at the Embassy Theatre, Skegness

Slowly but surely, the Embassy Theatre is being carefully revamped, redecorated and rebuilt, ensuring that the Theatre can offer an enhanced Embassy Experience come April.

You can read all about the changes online here: https://embassytheatre.co.uk/development/

The contractors are working throughout the entire venue - revamping so many spaces for the new season, which begins in April 2025. The Box Office remains open for telephone and email sales only.

Got a question for the Embassy Theatre team? Email them at embassytheatre@mvtlc.org.

Looking for ways to be more active now spring is in the air?

Find ideas and inspiration to start moving more on Let’s Move Lincolnshire: https://letsmovelincolnshire.com/

Being active is about finding what works well for you.

That might mean starting small and growing your levels gradually – Let’s Move activity finder includes walking routes, support for people with health conditions and maps of local activities!

Upcoming digital inclusivity sessions with Lincs Digital

Lincs Digital have announced extra sessions in the East Lindsey area to help residents get online and access essential services more easily. The sessions promise one-on-one assistance, tips for staying safe online, as well as fun and interactive learning.

These sessions are:

  • Tuesday 18 March, 10am to 12pm - Woodhall Spa Methodist Church Hall
  • Wednesday 19 March, 10am to 12pm - Eastgate Union Church
  • Friday 21 March, 10am to 12pm - Chapel St Leonards Church Hall
  • Tuesday 1 April, 10am to 12pm - Mablethorpe Wellbeing Hub
  • Thursday 3 April, 9.30 to 11.30am - Skegness Tower Gardens Pavillion

Looking for community grant opportunities?

Please find below links to information about the different community support and grants available:

Louth Household Waste Recycling Centre

Redecorating and running low on paint?  Pop down to Louth Household Waste Recycling Centre where you can collect free paint! After the success of the first Community Repaint scheme in Grantham Lincolnshire County Council have expanded and have opened a second paint store in Louth. Paint is dropped off at the recycling centre and provided it is still usable, it is added to the Community Repaint store. This then allows other residents and community groups to take any paint they might need from the store for free. For more info https://tinyurl.com/2s48f7jp

New Plastic Bottle Recycling Facility

Cllr Graham Marsh, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Leisure and Culture Carbon Reduction and Cllr Martin Foster, Portfolio Holder for Operational Services, visited the new plastic bottle recycling facility at Sutton on Sea.

East Lindsey District Council teamed up with Blackrow Group who brought the vision to life. The Council secured the funding through the East Coast Community Fund, the community engagement programme for Ørsted's Race Bank and Hornsea Project One offshore wind farms. - (20+) Facebook   https://www.e-lindsey.gov.uk/.../New-shell-shaped...

East Lindsey Budget

East Lindsey District Council has set its balanced budget for the next year, delivering an extensive Capital Programme totalling £54m and setting out plans to use its new Investment Reserve to support its communities and deliver economic growth, whilst delivering efficient services.  The setting of the budget continues to be challenging due to unprecedented changes in funding levels from Central Government, the impact of the special levy to support the vital work of Internal Drainage Boards and continued changes in resident, customer, and business needs. Despite this, the Council is delivering projects through its own budgets and external grant funding. These include the Investment Fund, the Towns Fund, Cultural Development Fund and Long Term Towns Funding aiming at supporting our places and to support communities to thrive in what is a challenging economic environment. From April 2025, East Lindsey District Council will increase the maximum amount of Council Tax Support for eligible low or no-income families and households. This will rise from 75 per cent to 85 per cent, giving more support to people struggling to pay their annual Council Tax. Read more here: https://loom.ly/Ki3fNzQ

Telephone opening times

Due to Annual Council Tax Bills being issued, we anticipate our phones lines to be busier than usual over the next few weeks. We are therefore extending our telephone opening times until 7pm on the following days:

  • Monday 17 - Thursday 20 March
  • Monday 24 - Thursday 27 March

Did you know you can also email us at counciltax@e-lindsey.gov.uk, or use a self-serve system at www.e-lindsey.gov.uk/selfserve? You can also make payments online via our website or over the phone using the automated payment line!

We can also be contacted through our Webchat function on the website, during normal operating hours. If you do need to call, we have a call back service. When asked please press one, confirm your phone number and rest assured we will call you back when you reach first in the queue. All we ask is that you don’t call us on a withheld number.

 

William Gray BSc(Hons)MRICS

Ward Member for Roughton

Portfolio Holder for Housing Communities and Better Ageing

Older Persons Champion

East Lindsey District Council

07946 782677

Friday, 4th April 2025