It has been good to see a family of Mute Swans faring well at Grimsby's Riverhead. As of this weekend, both parents and four fast-growing cygnets were looking very contented.
Sunday, 6 July 2025
Proposed children's homes in Grimsby aim to provide 'caring, loving and nurturing' environment
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| The Welholme Avenue property |
TWO houses in Grimsby could be converted to small children's homes if North East Lincolnshire planners give the green light.
They are those at :
* 12 Welholme Avenue
* 2 Vivian Avenue
The application for the former, which has been submitted by NELC, states: "This proposal seeks to establish a new children’s home to provide a caring and loving home environment for local children.
"There are insufficient homes within the borough to enable all children in care to remain within their local area, so many have to live at a distance from their local support networks.
"This is costly in many ways and has a proven negative impact on the young people themselves as they navigate adolescence and become young adults.
"Establishing this property as a children’s home is thus part of the council’s wider strategy to provide sufficient local homes for children in its care."
If approved, the will become a home for up to three children in care, with adult carers on-site 24 hours a day.
Continues the application: "In all practical senses, the extent of the 'change of use' is negligible.
"For decades, children’s homes were larger-scale and perceived as ‘institutional’.
"However, a modern children’s home is very different. It is much smaller in scale (typically providing a home for up to three children as is being proposed here) and is designed to look, feel and operate like a normal family home.
"Indeed, Ofsted, the body which registers, regulates, and inspects children’s homes, requires it to do so and ultimately has the statutory power force the closure of a children’s home that fails to meet its exacting standards.
"Consequently, most newly established modern children’s homes are based in normal residential family homes such as this property."
The application for the house on Vivian Avenue has been submitted by Shore Care Services.
It states: "The proposal is to change the use of the property to a children's home, providing a safe and supportive residential environment for up to four children aged between eight and 18.
" The proposed use aims to create a homely and nurturing environment, replicating that of a traditional family setting.
If approved, the home will operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with staff providing care and support to the children.
There would be a manager and deputy manager in post, along with three staff teams of three people (one team leader and two support workers).
The teams would work on a two days on, four days off rota, with changeovers happening every other day.
The application continues: "The routine will be similar in nature to that of a traditional family home. with the children enjoying a balanced diet of home cooked meals, accessing education undertaking recreational activities and going on holidays.
"Our company takes a lot of pride in investing in children and young people and their future."
There have been two objections from nearby residents to the Welholme Avenue proposal, but none to the Vivian Avenue application.
It is thought that both applications will be determined by a senior NELC planning case officer without the need for determination by the authority's planning committee.
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| The house at Vivian Avenue |
Friday, 4 July 2025
Bloomin' marvellous! Flowers, shrubs and trees have transformed Grimsby's Top Town for the summer
Plaudits to North East Lincolnshire Council and all involved in the superb floral planting which has given a summertime lift to Grimsby's Top Town. A splash of nature can transform a town centre or any urban setting. It brings beauty into lives. Here's hoping similar initiatives will be adopted elsewhere in the borough - and maintained not just in summer but in all the year's seasons.
Will Grimsby Town's digital sign idea risk causing traffic hazard on one of Cleethorpes' busiest roads?
The existing billboard - Town FC would prefer something more modern
WILL motorists be distracted by a proposed digital signboard in the grounds of the New Clee Constitution Club on Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes?
Grimsby Town FC want to replace their existing timber billboard - which publicises future home games - with something slicker.
The replacement, which would sit above the fence line, would measure three metres in width and two metres in height.
The screen would display illuminated digital images and would change to provide a different static image for at least 20-30 seconds per image.
When the proposal goes before North East Lincolnshire Council's planning committee next week, case officer Bethany Loring will recommend approval.
She acknowledges the possibility of distraction to passing traffic, but states:
"Due to the orientation of the sign to both directions of traffic, in addition to the frequency of change of the advert, it is not considered that this would cause a detrimental effect in relation to the distraction of drivers."
She continues: "The council's highways officer has no objections to the proposal subject to conditions to secure the specific details.
"This would include limiting the content of the adverts, luminance, display time and interval time which have all been agreed with the applicant."
The location is within the Sidney Sussex ward, one of whose representatives, Cllr Edward Kaczmarek, is seeking further reassurances.
The proposal will be determined at the planning meeting next Wednesday morning.
The sign is an eyecatcher on Grimsby Road
Wednesday, 2 July 2025
Queen Camilla loves 'wonderful' libraries - but does NELC's cabinet share the same enthusiasm?
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| Queen Camilla - sad that so many public libraries have closed (official photo of Camilla via Wikimedia Commons) |
CAMPAIGNERS battling to save North East Lincolnshire Council's libraries from being downgraded - or even closed - will have been buoyed by comments made earlier this week by Queen Camilla.
In Edinburgh to open a new public library - one of no fewer than 28 in Scotland's capital city - she enthused: "They are wonderful places - from toddlers to pensioners, they inspire a love of reading.
"I wish other authorities would follow Edinburgh's example and open more libraries all over the country, because I think, sadly, a lot of them have been closing down."
Over the past nine years, more than 180 council-run libraries in the UK are understood either to have closed, been handed over to volunteer groups or diminished.
In North East Lincolnshire, the library in Immingham is flourishing, but, as NELC seeks to make savings, a dark cloud looms over the future of its counterparts in Grimsby (the central library is 'temporarily' closed), Cleethorpes and Waltham.
Queen Camilla's enthusiasm for libraries seems not to be shared by members of NELC's cabinet.
During the latest discussion about those locally, five members chose to stay silent - possibly through not wanting to jeopardise a consultation process and partly perhaps because they are not particularly interested. Or possibly both.
Portfolio holder for leisure services, Cllr Hayden Dawkins said the intention was to remove potentially dangerous asbestos from Grimsby Central Library as quickly as possibly, but he offered no guarantee that the building would reopen as a library.
The stock is currently in a warehouse, but he said the authority was looking for premises where the books and other material could again become accessible to the public.
Asked why Whitehall funding earmarked for reopening of the upper floors of the library had been diverted to the Freshney Place development project, he said there has been scant interest from any organisation in occupying this part of the premises.
Council leader Cllr Philip Jackson's commented: "The authority is legally obliged to provide a library service."
The Grimsby News says: For those who love and value libraries, Queen Camilla's observations will have been very refreshing. Alas, her influence probably does not extend to North East Lincolnshire where members ofthe council cabinet had scarcely a kind word to say about the precious role they have long played in the life of the community. In the cabinet's latest deliberations, there was scarcely a note of support - let alone enthusiasm. It seems that the current administration does not particularly want to run a library service - certainly not one that is that is first-in-class. It does so only because it is under "legal obligation" to do so. What could be more begrudging than that?
It's hats off to Freshney Place revamp firm for its commitment to community involvement!
A shout-out for GMI Construction Group has come from North East Lincolnshire Council which has this week posted these photographs of the company's demolition activities in Freshney Place, Grimsby. As well as its direct involvement on the £50-million leisure development project, the company has been busy launching a number of outreach initiatives, including providing apprenticeships, hiring local labour, offering work experience opportunities and hosting visits from schools and colleges. Says Brendan Tannam of GMI: "It is so important to allow local people the opportunity to play a part in the generation of Grimsby."
Monday, 30 June 2025
Three truly memorable days! Cleethorpes basks in splendour of one of most successful weekends ever
Huge congratulations to all involved with the highly successful Armed Forces Event at the weekend! It involved a prodigious amount of planning and organisation, and it all came right over the three days thanks to superb liaison by many agencies and services whether in the public or private sectors. Up to 300,000 adults and children are thought to have attended over the three days, with possibly more people in Cleethorpes on Saturday than at any time in its history. Roll on 2026!
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