FORMER TOWN CENTRE NIGHTCLUB TO BE CONVERTED TO NINE APARTMENTS

A FORMER  nightclub in Grimsby town centre is to be converted to nine self-contained apartments.

Developer Paul Whitelam has been given the green light to change the use of the upper floors at 128-130 Victoria Street to six one-bedroom flats and three two-bedroom flats.

The application did not go before North East Lincolnshire Council's planning committee but was determined under delegated powers by case officer Simon Johnson.

COUNCIL'S UNPOPULAR HIGHWAY DECISION STALLS

  TORY  OPPOSITION GROUP DEMANDS  RETHINK

 

Are traffic lights really necessary? Noon on a Wednesday and scarcely a car in sight

THERE has been a setback to the unpopular North East Lincolnshire Council proposal to replace the roundabout at WalthamTollbar  with a traffic light controlled junction. 

The authority's  Conservative Opposition Group has blocked  the Labour cabinet's decision pending further scrutiny.

Explains Tory leader Coun Philip Jackson: “It is important that pedestrian safety is improved at Tollbar so that, during term-time,  students can get safety to nearby Tollbar Academy, but having a traffic light controlled junction at this location will just add to delays and congestion throughout the day.

"The current roundabout works perfectly well for 22 hours of every day. We support the alternative idea of part-time traffic lights on the roundabout which can be switched-off outside peak times.

"Traffic light controlled pedestrian facilities can also be incorporated.”

The call-in, which will be heard by a future meeting of NELC's  regeneration, environment & housing scrutiny panel, is being proposed by Humberston & New Waltham councillor Stephen Harness and seconded by Scartho councillor Ian Lindley.

Continues Coun Jackson: “The Conservative Group has campaigned for fewer traffic lights across North East Lincolnshire’s roads and was please that common sense prevailed with regard to retaining roundabouts at Nuns Corner and the Littlecoates Road/Cambridge Road junction.

"Now let’s hope we can get a change of heart at Tollbar."

The Tory leader added: "Since last week’s cabinet decision, I and my colleagues have been inundated with calls and emails from the public, protesting about the Tollbar decision - the local parish council is also vehemently opposed.”

GRIMSBY COUNCILLOR QUITS UKIP FOR TORIES

  'LOCALLY, UKIP LACKS DIRECTION AND  IS INEFFECTUAL'

Cllr Pettigrew - keen to hold Labour administration to account

A UKIP member of North East Lincolnshire Council has quit the party and defected to the Conservative Group.

Coun Nick Pettigrew represents Grimsby's Freshney ward.

Announcing his decision, he declared : "Ukip has now achieved its primary aim and the Conservative Government is taking Britain out of the EU.

"Locally, the Ukip Group has no clear direction and is ineffectual.

"It is the Conservatives who are holding the Labour-led administration to account, and I want to help with that important task.”

Coun Pettigrew's switch of allegiance has been applauded by Conservative Group leader Coun Philip Jackson.

He said:  “I am pleased to welcome Nick on board.

 "He is a hard-working councillor for the Freshney ward, and I am sure he will be a great asset to our group on the council. He is  the third ex-Ukip councillor to have joined  join us.”

Grimsby Conservative Association chairman Debbie Landymore said “It is great to welcome Nick as a member of the local Conservative Party, and I look forward to working and campaigning with him.”

Current state of the parties on North East Lincolnshire Council:

Lab: 19
Con: 13
Lib-Dem: 5
Ukip: 4
Ind: 1

STRIKER RECALLS BLUNDELL PARK DISAPPOINTMENT

                                                   

Player's  mum missed out on massive Grimsby fish

FORMER England and Arsenal striker Ian Wright has revealed how one of  the disappointments of his illustrious career in football came after a match at Blundell Park when he was still a young player with his first club, Crystal Palace.

"When we played up in Grimsby, they would give every player a massive fish to take home," he recalls.

But he was persuaded to hand over his fish by  a senior team mate, Jim Cannon,  who had been giving him a hard time in weekday training.

He continues: "I gave it to him, hoping to placate him or something even though I knew my mum would have loved it."

But his act of goodwill was to no avail. Of his team mate, he says: "On Monday, he was back to his  regular, miserable self."

The anecdote comes in Wright's  autobiography, My Life in Football,  where he describes his ups and downs both in the game and outside it.

Until recently,  a pundit on BBC's Match of the The Day and other football shows, he is critical of the Professional Footballers' Association  for not doing more to help players facing depression or other issues, particularly after their careers are over.

He says: "A lot of players or former players don’t know what help is available to them or aren’t capable of finding out for themselves.

"This is where the PFA should come in. I don’t think they do nearly enough to ensure the wellbeing of footballers  after they have  finished playing.

"We pay enough to them in our careers, and they get a cut of TV  money, but they don’t instigate the sort of help so many players need.”

The author (52) also queries the role of agents, claiming there are "more  bad ones than good ones”.

He continues: “On the purely practical side, nobody needs an agent - they do nothing that a solicitor or accountant can’t do.

“When a player gets an agent,  all he is  doing is giving that person the opportunity  to be a middleman to make money for himself which, in the majority of cases, is all he does.

“Agents are like glorified hotel concierges. They answer the phone and fix up little things, but they do not necessarily advance a player’s career or make sure he still has one.”

* Ian Wright: My Life in Football is published by Littlebrown at £18.99