Regular News

We are looking at ways to improve communications with town and parish councils and we are hoping to send a monthly email to you with key information, which we hope you will find useful. Please let us know if you want more information and we will do our best to help. We are hoping to send this out every month.

Elections May 2023

With reference to the elections to be held on Thursday 4 May 2023.

We thought it would be useful, for all parties concerned, to clarify a few points of what will be required during the nomination process.

On 9 May 2023 the terms of office of all councillors will come to an end and if they wish to stand again Nomination Papers must be completed and submitted. Hard copy sets of nomination papers will be sent to Parish Clerks early next year and these will also be available on our website.

Nomination Papers must be delivered by hand to the Deputy Returning Officers at the Guildhall, Marshall’s Yard, Gainsborough on any working day between the hours of 10 am and 4pm.  Appointments must be made to help us and the candidates as we will be receiving between 500 and 600 sets of parish nominations plus the District papers.  The first day for delivery of nominations is Monday 13 March 2023 and the deadline for delivery is 4pm on Tuesday 4 April 2023.  Nomination papers must not be dated before the Notice of Election, 13 March 2023.

To try and save any issues when the papers are brought into the office it would be advisable to read the instructions that go with the nomination packs, information such as no abbreviations, Street not St, Avenue not Ave.  The witness on the Candidate Consent form must be the same person who witnesses the Home Address form and both part 1 and part 2 of the Home Address section, even if part 2 is not used, must be returned.  It is better to return everything rather than us having to reject a paper.  The polling district and elector number of the proposer and seconder, who must live within the parish and be on the electoral register, can be supplied by us on the day the papers are delivered or by calling the office beforehand.  It is also important to note we are only able to make very minor alterations to the papers and informal checks can be carried out before they are officially submitted. 

If a candidate wishes to withdraw from standing for election this must be done by 4pm on 4 April 2023.

All candidates will be sent a set of Expense forms and these must be completed and returned to us by the deadline even if it is a ‘nil’ return.

Following the close of nominations, if there are fewer than, or the same number, of candidates to seats, they will be declared elected uncontested.  If there are more validly nominated candidates than there are seats there will be a poll on 4 May 2023.  Please note uncontested elections still have administration charges.

We are here to help so if you have any questions about the process please contact the elections team on ereg@west-lindsey.gov.uk and we will answer as soon as possible, however, please bear in mind this will be an exceptionally busy time for us but we will respond.

Parish Council Elections May 2023

With reference to the parish council elections taking place on Thursday 4 May 2023.

We will be holding an on-line presentation via Teams on Monday 13 February 2023 at 6pm giving information from retirement of councillors, those standing for Election, Nomination Papers, vacant seats, expenses, post-election actions and a chance for you to ask any questions.

This session is open to clerks and parish councillors alike. If you would like to attend please email: ereg@west-lindsey.gov.uk and send the team your name and email address and you can then be added to the presentation.

Household Support Fund

The West Lindsey Household Support Fund is inviting applications until 3 January – it is aimed at residents who may not have benefited from the Department for Work and Pensions ‘Cost of Living’ payments distributed earlier in the year. The application can be accessed at: https://www.west-lindsey.gov.uk

Waste Services Christmas and New Year – your waste questions answered!

Each year West Lindsey District Council is asked by residents what they need to do with regards to their Christmas and New Year’s waste collections and recycling. So we have put together some handy tips as part of our ‘Right Thing, Right Bin’ campaign, which we have been working alongside Lincolnshire Recycles to ensure that correct items get recycled over the festive period.

Bins collections over the Christmas Period will be as follows:-

Normal Collection Day	Revised Collection Day
Monday 26 December	Tuesday 27 December
Tuesday 27 December	Wednesday 28 December
Wednesday 28 December	Thursday 29 December
Thursday 29 December	Friday 30 December
Friday 30 December	Saturday 31 December

As there is no dedicated collection for Christmas trees, we ask that these are either taken to a local household waste recycling centre (HWRC), or chopped up and placed in residents’ garden waste bins for when collections restart.

Household Waste Recycling Centres are closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. 

Visit www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/recycling-waste or tel 01522 782070 for further information.

• Bin collection days can be checked by visiting (www.west-lindsey.gov.uk/mybinday).
• New collection calendars for 2023/24 will be hand delivered to residents during January 2023.
• Please see below some reminders from our ‘Right Thing, Ring Bin’ campaign over the Christmas and New Year period.

What cannot go in your blue recycling bin?

• Crisp tubes and packets
• Glitter/shiny wrapping paper
• Dirty tinfoil
• Plastic bags (or any recycling contained within plastic bags)
• Bubble wrap
• Polystyrene packaging
• Old or broken plastic toys

What cannot go in your purple lidded bin?

• Crisp tubes (such as Pringles)
• Glittery shiny/glitter wrapping paper
• Drinks cartons (these need to be in your blue bin)
• Shredded paper
• Tissues/wipes/kitchen roll
• Takeaway cardboard pizza/food boxes

Christmas Crackers

Separate your crackers out once you’ve used them. Any cardboard and paper can be recycled, as long as it doesn’t have any glitter or foil on it.

Other items, such as plastics, ribbons, or any foil or glittery card needs to go in your general waste bin.

Please note: If items cannot go in your purple lidded bin then they will need to go in your black bin (with the exception of drinks cartons).

Please scan the QR code below to see our Right Thing, Right Bin leaflet on our website.

West Lindsey District Council Services Christmas Opening Times

• Face to face and telephone service at the Guildhall will close at 3pm on Friday 23 December and Friday 30 December.
• Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 the Council will be operating normal working days.

• The CCTV office will be operating 24/7 over the Christmas and New Year period
• Lea Fields Crematorium will be closed from 16:30pm on Friday 23 December 2022 and will reopen on Wednesday 28 December 2022 at 8:30am. On Friday 30 December 2022, the office will be closed from 16:30pm and will reopen on Tuesday 3 January 2023 at 8:30am
• Trinity Arts Centre are open on Christmas Eve, but not on Christmas or Boxing Day. The panto finishes on 31 December and they will be closed on New Year’s Day.

You can access our website by visiting: https://www.west-lindsey.gov.uk/

Consultation

Our Thriving Gainsborough 2024 project, has been co-produced with our communities, politicians, local businesses and third party investors. It builds on the momentum created by previous interventions and implements further visibly impactful and transformational change. Our intention is to directly address the most pressing systemic challenges and market failures that continue to hold the town and our communities back, while ensuring that the town plays an active role in reducing carbon emissions.

Through a series of aligned interventions Thriving Gainsborough 2024 will establish the physical, economic, social and environmental conditions required to address economic decline and the acute deprivation experienced across several wards. There are 6 main projects taking place including looking at the Market Place, the Cinema and the Parks.  To find out more information on these projects and more please visit the Invest Gainsborough website.
As part of this we are asking residents to complete the questionnaire which will allow us to understand how you feel about Gainsborough. This questionnaire will close at 9am on 23 January 2023 at which point the results will be analysed and fed into the projects.
If you have any questions or queries please contact engagement@west-lindsey.gov.uk.

Events

We would love to hear about your upcoming events within West Lindsey. If you would like us to advertise your event for free, please send your event information to our Cultural Events and Marketing Officer by emailing daisy.fields@west-lindsey.gov.uk.

Please ensure you include the event title, image, date and time, location, description and a link to booking tickets or a page for attendees to find out further information.

Wellbeing Lincs

Did you know Wellbeing Lincs is available to supports adults across Lincolnshire to live fulfilled, confident and independent lives. It achieves this through a range of services, that support them for up to 12 weeks. Wellbeing Lincs works with eligible adults to develop a personalised support plan in partnership with a Trusted Assessor, to meet their specific needs.

Identified areas may include:

• Response
• Resettlement
• Small aids and minor adaptations
• Hospital and in-reach care

Please share this in your parish to raise awareness of the service – more information is available on their website. https://www.wellbeinglincs.org/  You can also call: 01507 601111 or email the team: wellbeinglincs@e-lindsey.gov.uk

Key contacts to share:

• Transportation Helpline: 0345 456 4474  – for information and advice on transport choices throughout Lincolnshire
• Confidential emotional and Mental Health support line for Lincolnshire: 0800 001 4331  (available 24 hours a day, 7days a week)