Electric vehicle drivers will soon be able to charge their vehicles at a number of the District's car parks after £64,000 of grant funding was secured – we will also be directly investing £38,000 into the project.
 
The following car parks will soon be fitted with a dual fast charge point: Kiln Lane and Northgate East (both Louth); Queens Park Main and Seacroft Road (both Mablethorpe); Lawn and Embassy (both Skegness); South Street (Alford); Post Office Lane (Spilsby); St. Lawrence Street (Horncastle); The Broadway (Woodhall Spa); and Silver Street (Coningsby). Works to install the charging points are due to commence during December 2018.
 
The installation, which will benefit both residents and visitors to the area, has been part funded through the Government's Onstreet Residential Chargepoint Scheme, with the remainder of funding provided by Chargemaster – who are supplying the charging points – and the Council.
 
The chargepoints will be accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and will be able to charge a vehicle from empty in around three hours (dependant on vehicle model).
 
It's hoped that the introduction of the charging points will make the District more accessible to visitors who drive electric vehicles and encourage residents to explore the possibility of owning an electric vehicle.
 
Portfolio Holder for Coastal Economy, Councillor Steve Kirk, said: "Installing these charging points in Mablethorpe and Skegness will finally provide our residents with a viable alternative to conventional petrol or diesel powered vehicles. In addition, I believe it will also make the coast and District a far more attractive proposition to potential visitors who already own electric vehicles."
 
Portfolio Holder for Market Towns and Rural Economy, Councillor Adam Grist, said: "We know that previously East Lindsey has been a difficult area for electric vehicle owners to visit and to travel around. As such I welcome the introduction of these chargepoints as they'll not only make the area more accessible for visitors but also make life easier for our electric vehicle owning residents and maybe even encourage other drivers to consider owning an electric vehicle."

Louth's Food Friday Market takes place on Friday, December 14 with loads of tasty treats on offer. Louth's last Farmers' Market of the year takes place on Wednesday, December 19.
 
Our Winter Market in Louth takes place on Sunday, December 16 with over 50 stalls selling a variety of goods including a selection of quality food, crafts and gifts. Santa will be there with his sleigh provided by Louth Lions, and there will also be Pitoru's Japanese Art Face Painter and Moonshiners will be there providing musical entertainment.
 
Horncastle Town Council will be holding its Christmas Market on Sunday, December 9, with the last Farmers' Market of the year on Thursday, December 13.
 
There will be no markets between December 25, 2018 and January 1, 2019.

In Sutton on Sea, Magna Vitae Trust for Leisure and Culture was invited to organise the event by 14-18 NOW, alongside partners East Lindsey District Council, and The Meridale Youth & Community Centre.
 
A total of 12 volunteers, aged 17 to 60 were recruited to help produce the huge sand stencil drawing of Lieutenant Basil Perrin Hicks – a spectacular portrait of the Sheffield Lieutenant who was killed in action in 1915. The volunteers also helped individuals to pay their own special tributes to war heroes – visitors were invited to use stencils and sand rakes to produce their own drawings.
 
Paying tribute to the support received on the day, Magna Vitae Chief Executive Mark Humphreys, said: "Without the help and support of the volunteers, this magnificent event would not have been possible. It was a fitting tribute to our heroes from the Great War and wonderful to see. All here at Magna Vitae were extremely proud and we thank everyone involved."
 
For East Lindsey District Council, it was an honour to be asked to help organise the event on one of its beaches.
 
Councillor Steve Kirk, Portfolio Holder for Coastal Economy, said: "The Pages of the Sea event was a wonderful and touching tribute to all those who have fought so bravely for their country and a special way to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War. I'd like to personally thank all those whose hard work made the event possible and, of course, all those who attended."
 
A large-scale portrait of Lt. Basil Perrin Hicks, designed by sand artists Sand In Your Eye, was drawn into the sand on Sutton on Sea beach and washed away as the tide came in – representing a small selection of the millions who gave their lives to the war. The portraits featured across the thirty-two were chosen by Danny Boyle to represent a range of stories – ordinary people who gave their lives to the War effort, from doctors to munition workers, Privates to Lieutenants and Majors. A number of the portraits were of notable war poets, who translated the experience of war for those at home. Many were from the regions or communities they were depicted in, with others from towns, cities and international communities not featured to show the scale of loss.
 
In addition, the public were asked to join in by creating silhouettes of people in the sand, remembering the millions of lives lost or changed forever by the conflict.
 
Poet Carol Anne Duffy was also invited by Danny Boyle to write a poem to mark the centenary of Armistice Day. The poem, The Wound in Time, was read by individuals, families and communities as they gathered on Sutton on Sea Beach on 11 November and was read out loud at the Meridale Youth & Community Centre. Cards were distributed on beaches featuring over 14,000 different images of casualties from the First World War drawn from records held on the Pages of the Sea website, which includes records uploaded by the public. The images were also drawn from the Imperial War Museum's 'Lives of the First World War' website, which aims to tell 8 million stories of those who served from Britain and the Commonwealth. Visitors to the website have been adding their own portraits of members of their family or community who contributed to the First World War: www.livesofthefirstworldwar.org

Economic Development Officer and event organiser, Samantha Phillips, said: "It was great to see so many organisations and businesses attend the Expo, and I'd like to thank all those who came along – especially those businesses who delivered the tremendous workshops. I think the Expo provided a great opportunity for all our attendees to network and feedback has been very positive."

What does your day involve?

For quite some time, the preparation of the Local Plan was the main focus of our work, but now that it is adopted by the Council, the routine work revolves around monitoring how the policies are working, which includes working with partnership organisations. We need to keep the evidence that supports the policies in the Plan up to date and so data collection and research on existing and emerging planning issues forms part of the job.

The team respond to consultations with colleagues dealing with planning applications, providing data to support their decision making, advice on interpretation of policy and sometimes joining them in meetings with developers. We also provide support to colleagues in other departments of the Council and report to Planning Policy Committee to keep the Councillors informed on current planning matters.

However, enquiries from the public, planning agents or solicitors can come in at any time and often means that your plans for the day change and you have a very different day from the one you anticipated. I am also the Council's representative on various groups associated with the management of the Lincolnshire Wolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The team also support local communities preparing their own planning policies for their Parish, called Neighbourhood Plans – so the work is very varied.

The Environment Agency monitors water quality throughout the summer to ensure people can make informed choices about when and where to bathe.  Water quality results are classified as 'excellent', 'good', 'sufficient' or 'poor'. 

The classifications are based on the level of bacteria in the water as monitored by the Environment Agency between May and September. 

At 6pm every day a video will be filmed at all the centres and the lucky ticket pulled from the present – and the holder of the lucky Christmas ticket will WIN a free month's Platinum membership, that's the very best you can get and includes the use of all facilities across all of the four Magna Vitae sites.

Every day the Christmas present will fill up, with no tickets taken out – so the more frequently you visit the centres, the more chance you have of a win. And there's more! Posted on social media and in the centres will be classes and activities that you need to attend to receive up to 10 bonus tickets.

Plus, as an extra special surprise, it will be worth keeping your eyes peeled as the venues' Christmas elves will be hiding up to four festive envelopes around the centres at various times during the day. Find them, and you get a prize, with four different people winning daily.

"We want everyone to get into the Christmas spirit and how better than to encourage a healthy run-up to the big day, while motivating more people to start 2019 with fitness in mind," said Magna Vitae Chief Executive Mark Humphreys.

In the last six months we have been working across the district, achieving:

• Over 700 older people attending T.E.D. events
• 51 businesses now hold a T.E.D. Age Friendly Business Award
• Nearly 300 active volunteers, aged 50+, have contributed 1665 hours of volunteer time, representing an equivalent financial value of £13,036.95

If you are interested in getting involved, either by becoming an age friendly business, creating a local friendship group, becoming a T.E.D. member, volunteering or taking part in our regular events, contact the T.E.D. team ted@communitylincs.com or by phone on 01529 301966
 
T.E.D. is managed by Community Lincs and is part of the National Lottery funded Ageing Better programme set up by the Big Lottery Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK. Ageing Better is one of five major programmes set up by the Big Lottery Fund to test and learn from new approaches to designing services which aim to make people's lives healthier and happier. To find out more about T.E.D. and forthcoming events visit www.tedineastlindsey.co.uk.