Local resident David Mason is still working hard on our behalf to ensure that we take full advantage of any opportunities which arise to improve the broadband speeds in Scothern. He is in touch with several companies each of which might be able to provide faster broadband but we are still in the enquiry stage of our operation.
Part of the problem is convincing suppliers that they have a market in a small village like Scothern which is quite a distance away from the nearest exchanges, and we need to make our voice heard at every opportunity.
Lincolnshire County Council has at least three initiatives to improve broadband to the county, and in the case of one of them all readers of the Scothern Clarion could do something to help. LCC have set up a new website – www.onlincolnshire.org – which is designed to keep us informed. There is also an opportunity to register your own interest in faster broadband whilst you are visiting the site. The Clarion has been in touch with Lincolnshire County Council and they assure us that if they get a lot of response from Scothern this will help us in trying to persuade them that we would be good partners to work with in forthcoming initiatives.
If you click on the above link you might well find something of interest on it, but more importantly go to the top of the home page and click on “Register your interest” and register. This will help support us in our efforts to improve broadband speeds. Why not do it now?
In past issues of the Clarion we have featured talented and outstanding residents and former residents. ![]()
Obviously in a small village like Scothern there is a limited number of such people, so for a change the Clarion thought it would be a good idea to give you some info about our councillors – starting with our Chairman, Ian Reid.
Ian lives in Ellison House, School Crescent, which until 1989 was the village primary school; in fact Ian went to school there. He is the European Sales & Implementations Director for Barclaycard Global Commercial Payments. Prior to joining Barclaycard he was the Vice President of Corporate Payment Services at American Express and previous to this the Managing Director of GE Corporate Payment Services Europe. In 2004 he was elected to the board of GE Capital Bank. He is a graduate of the GE Senior Management programme in Crotonville New York
Off duty his passion is for popular music – the eclectic nature of his iPod indicates he may be in the running for the “John Peel of Scothern” title. Although he plays the guitar his expertise is thought to be in listening to, rather than making, music. Unkind? Watch this space for the possibility of undercover video of a recent attempt to “lay down a few tracks”.
Ian has come to Scothern Parish Council with no preconceived notions but with a feeling that it is the job of the council to engender a strong sense of community. Ian says, “There are many ways of doing this, some of them practical like ensuring our facilities are fit for purpose and supporting community action, and some of them involving strategic thinking to give residents and businesses a sense of structure in relation to the conservation and development of our village.”
Oh, and he seems rather unhealthily jealous of Sudbrooke’s Christmas Tree.
Next Parish Council meeting agenda
The next meeting of the Parish Council is at 7 p.m. this Wednesday, 6th July. The formal agenda is attached to the email which forwarded this Clarion. Some of you might want to attend the meeting since there are at least two new items on the agenda which might attract someone not normally drawn to council meetings (i.e. almost everyone!)
The first is the possibility of a Scothern Arts festival. This proposal pulls together several strands of thought – celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee (2nd – 5th June next year), using the village facilities (including Grange Park) in a way that brings the community together, and drawing on the range of talent within our own village to put on a weekend of artistic pleasure which celebrates what a great place Scothern is to live. As of the time you read this the idea is barely a concept – but after you’ve read it maybe you would like to be in on the start and turn it into a reality? We have people in the village who can act, sing, play instruments, paint, write – well you get the idea. If you are interested in such a project – it’s really not very long to next June - why not come along to the meeting and see if we can get this off the ground.
Then there is twinning. Not many villages of our size attempt an arts festival, but quite a lot try a bit of twinning. This is another of those things which is at present just a thought, but if you have any ideas on the subject you might find it worth coming along to Wednesday’s meeting. Anyone for la dolce vita? Or a week or two in Provence or maybe the Weinstrasse?
Any volunteers?
Councillor Richard Noon and resident Nigel Freestone have identified a few areas in the village which require a bit of tlc. Mainly it involves a little bit of gentle painting and work with a hoe where a few weeds have appeared, although there might be one or two bits of manly stuff if anyone is up for it. If you would like to give a couple of hours to this project please contact Richard on 07988491172 or Nigel on 861074 or email Richard on richardgnoon@hotmail.co.uk. It isn’t just about Best Kept Village – it is more about village pride; if we lived on a housing estate in a city we probably wouldn’t even think about doing something like this – but luckily enough we live in Scothern, so how about it?
And finally
Your editor has to report that he was wined and dined extravagantly by Google recently during the promotion of the film “Life in a Day” and all he had to do for it was mention the film in the Clarion (they probably thought The Scothern Clarion went to thousands of households). During the red carpet process he was filmed as part of a “happy couple” who had shared a tiny part of their lives in this acclaimed film of everyday events all over the world. If you would like to see the red carpet clip, which has received over 25,000 hits on Youtube (OMG! as we say in the movie world) and which now also features on a marriage guidance site!?!?! then click on happy couple interview. Please write in if you feel it takes the editor’s wife rather too long to think of a good reason why she has stayed with him all these years.
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