Decision imminent on proposal for new Grimsby school for 150 children with special educational needs

                                                           v

The site earmarked for a school for children with special educational needs

A DECISION is expected very soon on a proposal to build in Grimsby a 150-pupil school for children with social, emotional and mental health needs.

If North East Lincolnshire Council backs the project, the allocated site is the vacant land off Freeman Street that was formerly occupied by tower blocks of flats. 

Whitehall would pay for the majority of the construction costs - estimated at about £3-million - but NELC would need to borrow £2.3-million for enabling works such as land acquisition (from the Lincolnshire Housing Partnership), remediation of the brownfield site, flood risk mitigation, design and  highways works. 

An alternative option offered by the Government is to award a £7-million grant to pay for various  smaller-scale projects to create  specialist resources and  places in mainstream schools across the borough.

At least in the short term, the alternative looks more financially advantageous.

But the council's own education chiefs favour the new school option because long-term it would save the huge costs currently incurred by the authority in paying for and taxi-ing disadvantaged pupils - currently 169 - to placements outside the borough.

This would also help to breathe new life into a brownfield site that has long been identified as ripe for regeneration.

It is understood the cabinet will make a decision later this month.

If they plump for the new school option, the likelihood is that, following its opening, probably in 2028, it would be run by Wellspring Academy Trust which has been in talks with the council.

Grimsby and Cleethorpes MP Melanie Onn is reported to favour construction of a new school. 

The Grimsby News says: Building a brand new school, then farming it out to an academy trust, would be the easy option for NELC - but would it be the right one for the children? Surely it would be  better for provision to be made for them to be educated alongside their friends and peers in existing schools where they remain part of a community that is familiar to them. In the proposed special school, they would inevitably be stigmatised as 'different' to the likely detriment of their long-term development and prospects. And by what thinking would anyone believe a school should be located  in this depressing part of Grimsby where there is hardly a tree or shrub in sight and where no birds sing? Research shows that pupils - and staff - are far happier where they work in a setting  surrounded by nature rather than by concrete, traffic and urban sprawl. 

Parts of North Promenade under water as high tides and easterly winds batter Cleethorpes seafront

                                                  

The north end of Cleethorpes' North Promenade today took an early-morning battering as easterly winds whipped up the high tide. It certainly provided quite a spectacle for those motorists who didn't mind their cars taking a saltwater soaking.   

                                                         

                                                                         

Financial squeeze puts council on course to overspend its budget unless savings can be found

 

FINANCIAL pressures are continuing to bear down on North East Lincolnshire Council.

Unless savings can be found within the next three months, the authority is on course to overspend its annual budget by some £700,000.

An update on NELC's financial position states: "This reflects the ongoing complex social environment in which we operate.  

"Social care cost pressures continue significantly to affect the overall financial forecast. 

"In Children's Services, notwithstanding the continued positive transformation, key challenges persist around education transport and high-cost out-of-area placements. 

"Furthermore, Adult Social Care is experiencing rising demand for long-term support placements, as well as short-stay and support at home care packages." 

The report continues: "The council continues to face financial pressures in relation to reclaiming full housing benefit subsidies from accommodation providers that do not meet Department of Work and Pensionscriteria for full cost recovery, primarily driven by a rise in unregistered providers." 

Like all local authorities, NELC also faces pay and inflationary pressures.

Its various departments are continually being urged to "monitor budgets to ensure both effective service delivery and financial sustainability".   

In addition, the council's pipeline of ambitious redevelopment projects is said to be "under ongoing review"  to ensure they "reflect current priorities and remain viable".

The report notes that, nine months into the financial year, 79.3 per cent of council tax has been collected. This is almost exactly as for the same period last year.

Revamp project means Pier Gardens will be closed - starting next Tuesday - for more than a year

                             

Bird's eye view of how part of  revamped Pier Gardens might look (Image: NELC)

PIER Gardens is to be fenced and closed off for 15 months while it undergoes a long-delayed £7.9-million refurbishment.

This was confirmed today by North East Lincolnshire Council.

Following a protacted bidding process, the contract has been awarded to Maylim, a London-based civil engineering firm with special expertise in paving. 

Previous projects undertaken by the company have mostly been in the capital but at least one in Birmingham.

The man in charge in Cleethorpes will be Tom Taylor, who enthuses: "The plans aim to make a beautiful space that people will want to spend time in."

Will there be jobs for local people?

Insists Mr Taylor: "We want to work with the community by creating local employment and businesses opportunities.

"There will also be a series of events to engage the whole community."

The scheme - which will see the loss of some lawns and shrubs to paving - has not been entirely welcomed in Cleethorpes, but NELC leader Cllr Philip Jackson says: "It's time for a change."

                                 

An uncertain future beckons for the long-established lawns and shrubs in Pier Gardens

                                 

No precious coins or jewellery found, but Top Town dig yields important clues about medieval Grimsby

                                            

All very interesting - the dig has revealed new clues about the Grimsby of yesteryear

AN archaelogical dig has opened a window into the life and times medieval Grimsby.

No buried gold, silver or gems have been found, but experts from York Archaeology have scooped up  remnants from scraps of leather shoes to potery and fish bones  at Grimsby’s Freshney Place redevelopment site, near the historical Flottergate area.

The excavation has been undertaken  about two to three metres  lower than the modern ground level and is thought to have been the probable ground level of Grimsby in medieval times (approximately 450AD to 1600AD).

The finds - made between last October and this week - seem to confirm that this part of town was once home to  a leather workshop.

Says Phil Moore of dig co-ordinators BWB Consulting: "The wet nature of this site means that there was always the potential for finding preserved organic material - wood or leather, for example.

"You may think that damp conditions would cause these to rot away, but the soil can actually contain very little oxygen, which stops the microorganisms that prompt decomposition from surviving here."

Louise Jennings, North East Lincolnshire Council's heritage officer, has welcome the discoveries.

"You could well imagine people of the time making leather aprons or shoes on the site.

"Being so close to the sea, it’s understandable that people would have fish and shellfish as part of their diet, so the appearance of oyster shells and fish bones isn’t surprising.

The items found have been removed to York Archaeology’s conservation laboratory for cleaning and further examination, with a view to them being returned to the town and  put on display in the future.

Cllr Hayden Dawkins, NELC's portfolio holder for tourism and heritage, comments: "This is wonderful to see - knowing that a whole world is right under our feet is truly fascinating.

"It is so important that we understand our past and have the ability to teach younger generations about how the Grimsby of today came about."

NELC says 10-week revamp of site in Grimsby will create more welcoming area for pedestrians

    

Refurbishment project will see installation of a maze

WORK has begun on a 10-week project to spruce-up a triangle  of vacant  land between New Cartergate and Frederick Ward Way in Grimsby.

The first phase involve the installation of  new paving, public seating, street furniture, soft landscaping a ground-level maze and CCTV.

To allow the team from contractors Specialist Surfacing Ltd to work safely,  five parking bays on the east side of New Cartergate are being temporarily suspended. 

However, vehicle access for residents and businesses is being maintained at all times, along with access to the seven parking bays on the west side of New Cartergate and the footpath to the bridge over the River Freshney.

The second phase is due to  take place during the school holidays, from Monday 16 February to Friday 20 February, and will involve the installation and realignment of four tactile pedestrian crossings at the corners of Lord Street and Cartergate.

Says a North East Lincolnshire Council: "The works will transform an overgrown and underused space in the heart of the town into a safer, more welcoming area for residents and visitors to utilise."

Pier Gardens has become winter camping refuge for rough sleepers with nowhere else to call home

                                                     

A sad early-February sight on Cleethorpes is the increase in distressed individuals who are having to sleep rough in tents on Cleethorpes seafront becaus they have nowhere else to call home. Just over the past  few days these two tents have appeared in Pier Gardens ahead of its proposed revamp later this year.