4th March 2011

Life in Scothern according to the census                                                               4^th March 2011

We are just beginning to get ready for the national census which is going to take place this month.    We are all going to be asked questions about the state of our lives on one particular day – 27^th March.   The census forms will arrive by post sometime in the middle of the month and we will have to answer a series of question about where we live and what we are up to.  We won’t have a choice – it’s the law!

This got The Clarion thinking about what we know about Scothern from the last census so we sent out our top researcher to find out.

Well, it seems that in 2001 there were 892 of us and we were a pretty insipid looking lot – 99.7% white compared with 90.9% for England as a whole.

Also we were quite a bit more married than the rest of the country – 69.1% compared to 50.9%, which perhaps explains why only 5.2% described our health as being not too good, compared with almost double that in the rest of the country.

Finally we had 2.4% of economically inactive students – and yes, parents of Scothern, we know who they are, don’t we!

If you want to do some of this research yourself you can find all of the above and more at - Scothern 2001 census - happy researching.

Road closure this weekend

Good news – the potholes in the road at Bunkers Hill Lincoln are going to be repaired this weekend.

Bad news – in order to do this the road from A158 roundabout to Wolsey Way is scheduled to be closed between 7 a.m. on Saturday to 10.30 p.m. Sunday, so if you are going to Lincoln this weekend it would probably be better to avoid Wragby Road.   The diversion might make our village roads a bit busier as well.

Gossip

The Royal Wedding will soon be upon us and the weekend before last saw those coveted cream envelopes going out to the great and the good all over the country.  And one of them landed on the doorstep of a Scothern couple – how cool is that.    I know – Scothern.  Our undercover reporters have not yet released  details of the lucky couple – but maybe you know?    But maybe we can’t tell?   We could tell everyone if you are having a street party or similar to celebrate so why not let us know?   The Clarion knows for sure that Langworth is having a big screen event in their village hall – click on Langworth Parish if you would like to know more.

Unofficial notes (and editor’s comments) from the Council meeting of 2^nd March 2011

For the first time in quite a while members of the public (all six of them) outnumbered the councillors – hurrah!  This meant that the public session lasted quite a lot longer than usual and during it concerns were raised about lorries through the village, dog fouling on the verges and adjacent gardens, and planning permission at Red Barn Farm.

Policing matters - The local constable emailed to say there had been no crime in the village during the last four weeks to the best of her knowledge.

Parish Council elections are due to take place on 5th May and we still need people to put themselves forward for election.  You don’t need any “ologies” to be a councillor, nor do you have to have an axe to grind – you simply need to want to help the village continue to do stuff it does well and improve those areas where we need improvement.   Email the Clerk at  scothernpc@yahoo.co.uk if you would like more details.

Grange Park – the council wants to hold a public meeting sometime after 5^th May to make sure we are in tune with local people’s wishes about the way forward with Grange Park.  

Planning – Planning permission has been approved for change of use of some buildings at Red Barn farm.  This was an issue of concern expressed at the meeting and if you want to see the details click on Red Barn documents

Litter picking days – Councillor Judith Flatley is organising two litter picking afternoons – Sunday 17^th April and Sunday 5^th June.  At the same time we will do a pothole survey of the village.  Kick-off is at 2.30 p.m. at the village hall and equipment will be provided.  If there are enough of us there it should only take an hour.  We will send out a reminder email near the date.

Dog ban for village recreation ground? – The recreation centre committee have told the parish council that due to dog faeces being found on the sports pitches there has been a suggestion that the recreation ground should be considered a “no dog zone”.  The council were asked whether there were any legal powers that could reinforce this.   This issue chimed with complaints from villagers about dog mess on the verges and it seems that the council could introduce dog control orders both for the village streets and the playing field.

Or the Recreation Centre could simply ban dogs on the field, as they have done at Sudbrooke.

It seems that everyone hates dog faeces, but most people understand the cultural attachment that many English people have to exercising their dogs and only want to ban and legislate as a last resort.

In the first instance the council resolved to support a campaign to encourage responsible dog ownership, condemn the failure to pick up dog faeces and to create further publicity for these issues.

And to remind dog owners that the behaviour of the irresponsible few could well lead to the loss of a valued place where they can exercise their pets.