West Lindsey District Council

THE INTERNAL NEWSLETTER FOR MEMBERS OF WEST LINDSEY DISTRICT COUNCIL

The Councillor

Jackie has wheeliegood day on the bins

OCTOBER 2010

Donning safety boots, hi-visjacket and gloves Cllr JackieBrockway spent a day working

side by side with colleagues in thewaste services team.

And the Chairman of the Waste ServicesCommittee was surpised at what shediscovered.

She said: “This job requires more skillsthan one might at first expect and I learneda great deal.”

Cllr Brockway used a day of her summerholiday to do a shift as a refuse collector onone of the council’s refuse freighters.

She said: “I was surprised by the speedand fluidity with which they do their jobsand I found myself having to run to keep upat first, before getting into a routine.

“They showed me how to inspect therubbish and to get the bins onto the liftingmachinery which then tipped it into theback of the wagon.

“This was far from easy and it took me afew attempts before I got the hang ofthings.

“My new colleagues were extremelypatient with me, even when I failed to getone bin to catch on the lift and the contentsfell out onto the road.”

Mrs Brockway said she was impressedwith how the driver manoeuvred the 26tonne lorry smoothly through some incred-ibly narrow and difficult traffic situations.

Staff worked with accuracy, managing toremember where every bin came from andCllr Brockway watched them handling resi-dents’ queries with care and diplomacy.

Cllr Brockway added: “This is not a jobfor the unfit and there is no slow point in theday when the men can simply stop and

� Continued on page 2Making a Difference

Members’Newsletter2

Jackie’sday onthe bins

Has your parish or town council bene-fitted from a share of £10,000 toguard against flooding?

All councillors are being urged to make suretheir parish or town councils have applied for ashare of the money if they are worried aboutflooding. So far only 11 local councils havesecured grants to support their communities andreduce the threat of water getting into homes.

Public Protection Services Manager ChrisAllen said: “We still have a significant amount ofmoney available which will be distributed on afirst come first served basis.

“I would urge all councillors to check their townor parish council has applied or they may missout.”

Sandbags, aqua-sacs and radios, are justsome of the tools purchased by councils to man-age flood risks in the district.

Mr Allen added: “We are delighted that wehave been able to give grants to so many parishcouncils.

“The grants are being used for a variety ofthings including: clearing a beck of blockages,extending a culvert to stop flooding and develop-ing flood risk management strategies.”

As previously reported, the district council has£10,000 to allocate to town and parish councils,who are best placed to know and understandflooding issues within their areas.

Langworth Parish Council has used its grant toarm its flood wardens with personal protectiveequipment and tools that may be needed in case

of a flood.Parish councillor Clive Buttress said:

“Langworth was hit quite badly in the 2007 floodswith 12 properties flooded, eight of which wereon Scothern Lane.

“Many people had to leave their homes, whichis a tremendous upheaval.”

Mr Buttress who is also a flood warden alongwith local resident John Dearman welcomed thefunding.

Cllr Buttress added: “We will be purchasing

Has your ward got itsshare of flood cash?

waders, which we will find very useful walkingthrough flood waters.

“The radios will be extremely useful when weare out patrolling especially if we see SudbrookeBeck rise again.

“We are also looking to purchase LED head-lamps as in the 2007 floods we were working inthe dark or in poor light as we tried to stabilisethe flood wall.”

The surplus cash will be used to purchaseaqua-sacs to keep in storage.

Town and parish councils that have alreadybeen successful in securing cash are:� Market Rasen Town Council� Ingham� Waddingham� Brattleby� Cherry Willingham� Sturton by Stow� Broadholme� Keelby� Dunholme� Reepham� Langworth

If your council is not named please get them tofill in an application form, which are available onthe council’s website by visiting: www.west-lind-sey.gov.uk/parish/floodgrant� Pictured (above left) are Keelby parishcouncillor John Indian with clerk Stuart Davisand just some of their Aqua-sacs

Flood warden John Dearman and vicechairman of Langworth Parish Council,Clive Buttress, pictured on flood patrol

FLASHBACK TO JUNE 2007: Scenes like this onein Scothern Lane, Langworth, were commonthroughout our district. Could your ward benefitfrom money available to reduce flood threat?

� From page 1take a rest (apart from a shortlunch break).

“They’re on the go the wholetime and they have to be veryaware of hygiene, road safetyand the needs of residents.

“I was appalled by the waycar drivers pushed past therefuse wagon, often at speed,with no care for the safety ofthe refuse collectors.

“I’m really grateful to theteam for giving me the benefitof their time and experience.

Chief Executive Manjeet Gillsaid: “We certainly need morewomen in OperationalServices and the lads at thedepot have given Jackie astunning reference if she everneeds a job.”

Operational ServicesManager Glyn Pilkington said :“Refuse and recycling is oneservice that directly impactson all residents and thereforeit is important that councillorsfully understand the difficultiesof the service and the need tomake it as simple as possiblefor residents to recycle”.

1. Why have an Elected MemberDevelopment Plan?

The changing context of local govern-ment has implications for all members.Some of these challenges are:� The current national and interna-tional economic climate, and budgetchallenges� The implications of central govern-ment plans on the role of the electedmember� The complexity and uncertainty ofelected member roles and their manydifferent arenas� Different circumstances for differentgroups of elected members� Political, economic, social, techno-logical and organisational change andrestructuring

Councillors have a pivotal role in repre-senting the community and in makingsure that individually and collectively theywork properly and efficiently to improvethe quality of life for the people of thearea. 2. What are the benefits?

Planning your personal developmentwill help you do your best for the peopleof West Lindsey. It will increase your con-fidence that you have the up to date skillsand knowledge needed to be effective inyour various roles in a forward lookingand ambitious local authority.

Development Plans for youThe Lincolnshire Improvement and Efficiency Programme (LIEP)has allocated funding to West Lindsey to undertake and develop

Personal Development Plans for Members. This is not a newinitiative as the Democratic Team meet annually with Members toupdate their individual plans but it is considered that we should

undertake a complete refresh and use the Political Skills frameworkto do this and to enlist the help of the IDeA.

Democratic Services Manager SUE HARRISON answers some of thefrequently asked questions

3. What does the Elected MemberDevelopment Plan do?

Elected Member DevelopmentPlanning provides you with the opportuni-ty to discuss your work as a councillor,consider your future plans and identifydevelopment needs and how they canbest be met. You will do this within thecontext of your various roles as a council-lor.

A member peer from Local GovernmentImprovement and Development will leada guided discussion on:� your current roles � what you hope to achieve over the next12 months � benefits from any previous training anddevelopment� training and development activities thatwill help you now or in the future

Experience shows that members findthe interview to be a positive and inspiringdevelopment activity in its own right. Themeeting will last around 60 minutes.

4. How do I prepare for theinterview?You may find it helpful to read the polit-

ical skills framework document that will becirculated to you.

In addition, you will offered the opportu-nity to complete a learning styles ques-tionnaire. Knowing your preferred style(s)of learning enables you to benefit morefrom a whole host of activities that havean impact on your personal developmentand will help in the discussion and pro-duction of your development plan5. Is this confidential?

Actual discussions about your achieve-ments, career aspirations and what youperceive are your development needs,are totally confidential. Officers responsi-ble for organising and monitoring devel-opment activities will receive a reportwhich details key issues but not any spe-cific information that could be attributed.Any concerns about confidentiality will bedealt with sensitively.

Parish councils and schools across WestLindsey are being offered workers to helpthem on community projects.

West Lindsey District Council and socialenterprise company, Hill Holt Wood, areoffering the new scheme as part of theFuture Jobs Fund.

Promotions Officer for Hill Holt WoodDawn Allen said: “The FJF is for peoplewho have been out of work for six monthsor more. They do 25 hours work a week forsix months or more. It is an ideal opportu-nity to get people back into work and helpthem build their confidence and pick upnew skills.”

This new scheme will use the FJF staff tocarry out work around the district.

Miss Allen explained: “We can help pro-vide the labour to help with grass cutting orgrounds maintenance and much more. Theonly stipulation is that it is a green or envi-ronmental job and is something that willbenefit the community.”

Saxilby has already benefitted form thescheme (pictured right).

Parish Clerk Tracey Broughton said:“The scheme has helped so much with dayto day jobs.

“It has also helped us with much biggerjobs which we would not have been able todo without them, including pruning treesand carrying out maintenance work on oursports facilities at no cost to us.”

Employment and Skills Project Managerat the council, Nicoya Palastanga said:”West Lindsey District Council and Hill HoltWood have provided Saxilby with threegrounds maintenance staff.

“They have cleared up areas of the vil-lage, and carried out improvement andmaintenance work, which has opened newareas of the village to public use. One of theoriginal groundsmen has also been given apermanent contract, which is brilliant.”

“We also helped provide an admin assis-tant to work alongside the parish clerk, and

a marketing assistant who produced pub-licity for village events, and a parishnewsletter, which has been fantastic.”

As previously reported, the council wasgiven £585,000 from the Government lastOctober, to create 90 jobs in 18 months.

To find out more information about thescheme contact Miss Allen on07810658322.

Could your ward do with aFREE helping hand?

4 Members’Newsletter

Our Chairman has admitted heis ‘enjoying his new role’.

Cllr Owen Bierley took over theChairman’s chain at the end of May thisyear and has already been invited tonumerous events both within the districtand beyond.

He said: “I believe this role is importantin the promotion of the district and thecouncil as a whole especially the serviceswe deliver.

“My aim as Chairman is to add value tothe communities we are responsible for byraising our profile and encouraging morepeople to visit the area.”

Although Owen has been a councillorsince May 2003 – he never dreamed hewould one day be Chairman of theCouncil.

The self employed computer mainte-nance/repair man has always been inter-ested in village affairs and politics ingeneral.

He said: “I wanted to be part of thedecision making and what happens to ourcommunities, which is why I became acouncillor. I never thought when I startedthat I would become the Chairman.”

Owen has embraced his role whole-heartedly with a sense of purpose anddrive to make West Lindsey a better placeand is thoroughly enjoying the role.

He said: “It has been absolutely brilliant

Owen’senjoyingbeing partof the

Chain Gang

WHAT THE CHAIRMAN DOESThe Chairman of Council is the civic andceremonial head of the Council: He/she:� Presides over meetings of the Council. � Upholds and promotes the purposes ofthe Council’s Constitution and to interpretsthe Constitution when necessary. � Promotes the efficient despatch of busi-ness giving due regard to the require-ments of the Council’s procedures,acknowledging the rights of Councillorsand the interests of the community.

� Promotes the interests of the people ofWest Lindsey including their economicdevelopment requirements through theprocessing of matters in accordance withthe principles and practice of moderndemocratic procedures. � Promotes public involvement in theCouncil’s activities. � Attends such civic and ceremonialfunctions as he/she determines appropriate

so far, I have met so many wonderful peo-ple. I am enjoying the variety of the work.

“I have already been to a Roman week-end in Marton, raised the flag for the sec-ond Armed Forces Day and opened theTrent Valley Academy.”

During his time as Chairman, Owen ishoping to raise the profile of four causes,which are close to his heart.� Age UK Lindsey – based at Horncastlebut covers East and West Lindseyresidents� Keelby Sports Association � Keelby Village Hall� St Bartholomew’s Church, Keelby

Owen will be holding a Quiz Night on

Friday, 15 October at Keelby Village Hall.Tickets cost £10 which includes a

sausage and mash supper with apple pie– made from local produce.

Teams of four will be able to attend forthe discount price of £35.

Everyone is welcome to go along andsupport the event and raise money for thegood causes.

Owen aims to helpfour good causes.

Can you raise a teamfor his quiz night?

In pictureABOVE: the Chairman

does the honours at an artsand crafts show

BELOW: He announcesthe completion of theGainsborough town centreimprovement work