Author Archives: Tim Smith

Local Plan Consultation 3rd January

Where: North Luffenham Community Centre.

When: 6pm to 9pm.

There will be two paper copies of the Local Plan available to read, along with a multitude of laptops available to access the online interactive maps and to allow those, who wish, to make a comment on the day using the online portal.

Most importantly both County Councillors (one of which, I am sure you will know, is the leader of the council) will be in attendance to answer questions that you may have in relation to the local plan.

North Luffenham Parish Councillors will be in attendance to help with the online access only. They will not be answering questions about the Parish Councils response. This event is for the public to see the Local Plan and ask questions to the county councillors.

The draft Local Plan and all the supporting documents are available on the Ruland County Council website: https://www.rutland.gov.uk/planning-building-control/local-plan/new-local-plan.

Bin collection days over Christmas and the New Year


People living in Rutland are being reminded to check changes to their bin collection day over the festive season.

Usual collection dayNew collection day
Monday 25 DecemberSaturday 23 December
Tuesday 26 DecemberWednesday 27 December
Wednesday 27 DecemberThursday 28 December
Thursday 28 DecemberFriday 29 December
Friday 29 DecemberSaturday 30 December
Monday 1 JanuaryTuesday 2 January
Tuesday 2 JanuaryWednesday 3 January
Wednesday 3 JanuaryThursday 4 January
Thursday 4 JanuaryFriday 5 January
Friday 5 JanuarySaturday 6 January

For further information please refer to www.rutland.gov.uk/my-services/waste-and-recycling/, your full waste guide can be found under ‘Find your bin collection day’.

Rutland County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Highways, Transport and the Environment, Cllr Christine Wise said:

“Our contractors are going to be working hard this winter to ensure that all bin collections are completed so we would please ask residents to ensure that they take a couple of minutes just to double check when their collection day is over the Christmas period. We would ask residents to please also keep in mind that this time of year can also cause disruptions to collections due to severe winter weather, like snow and ice, as well as delays caused by the sheer volume of seasonal waste. If collections along your street haven’t taken place on the expected day, please leave the bins out and our contractors will return to collect them as soon as possible.”

Rutland County Council is encouraging people to try and reduce the amount they throw away as waste over the busy Christmas period. On average, food waste makes up 50% of the material in Rutland’s black household waste bins. This is costly for households and bad for the environment. Love Food Hate Waste is a national campaign providing handy tips and advice to help everyone waste less food: www.lovefoodhatewaste.com.

Households in Rutland will get an extra blue bag for additional recycling over the Christmas period. Once full, residents are asked to place this bag next to their grey recycling bin on collection day. Collection crews cannot remove any other side waste. For information about what items can and can’t be recycled in Rutland, visit: www.rutland.gov.uk/recyclingaz.

Residents are also advised to check opening times before traveling to use Rutland’s recycling centres at North Luffenham and Cottesmore over Christmas. Operating hours for the two sites can be found online at: www.rutland.gov.uk/recycling.

Free December Bus Travel

Rutland County Council will be offering free one-way and return travel on all its local bus routes in December – including Saturdays – when passengers board in Rutland after 9am.

This means that all bus journeys starting in Rutland after 9am will be free, whether they end inside or outside the County. Tickets for journeys bought anywhere outside the County and finishing in Rutland will be priced as normal.

Free Christmas shopping bus

There will also be free return travel on three city buses to Nottingham, Peterborough and Leicester on the following dates:

• Saturday 9th December – Nottingham

• Saturday 16th December – Peterborough

• Saturday 23rd December – Leicester

Each of the three buses will collect passengers from Langham, Barleythorpe, Oakham, Gunthorpe, Preston and Uppingham, before travelling on to their destination. Dates for these buses are as follows, with specific timetable information to be published on the RCCs website and at bus stops in the near future.

Free parking for Christmas markets and Small Business Saturday

• Saturday 2nd December – Small Business Saturday (all car parks, all day)

• Thursday 7th December – Uppingham Christmas Market (Uppingham car parks only, 3.00pm onwards)

• Monday 11th December – Oakham Late Night Shopping (Oakham car parks only, 3.00pm onwards)

This initiative forms part of Rutland’s Bus Service Improvement Plan, which was approved by the RCC Cabinet in September and has secured national funding specifically intended to encourage greater use of public transport.

Any residents who have questions about these initiative can direct them the Transport Team at RCC by emailing: transport@rutland.gov.uk or for parking parkingmanagement@rutland.gov.uk or by calling: 01572 722 577.

Rutland’s New Local Plan – Planning for Rutland’s Future

Rutland County Council are consulting on the Preferred Options (Regulation 18) stage for the new Local Plan from Monday 13th November until it closes at 4pm Monday 8th January 2024.  This is the second stage of public consultation for the preparation of the new Rutland Local Plan. 

The Local Plan covers the period 2021-2041 and will, when adopted, set out policies and proposals for future development in Rutland.

The easiest way to comment is via the online consultation portal. By using the portal, you will be able to save draft responses and come back to them later. It also enables easy access for future consultations. In addition, comments made by other people can now be viewed on the system once they’ve been made live rather than wait until after consultation has closed and the Consultation Statement has been published.

The new Local Plan web page includes more detailed information on how to submit comments in the Preferred Options consultation www.rutland.gov.uk/localplan

For any further enquiries please email localplan@rutland.gov.uk or call the Council’s customer services team on 01572 722 577 who will arrange for a member of the Local Plan team to contact you to provide you with a response.

The attached Public Notice provides a summary of the Preferred Options stage and how you can get involved

Christmas Shopping trip to Springfields outlet, Spalding

North Luffenham Good Companions have arranged a Christmas shopping to Springfields outlet centre in Spalding on Wednesday 15th November. With over 50 big name brands offering discounts an ideal opportunity to start that Christmas shopping, alternatively enjoy their winter wonderland walk.

There are currently 4 spaces left on the bus if anyone would like to attend. The cost is £10 per person and the mini bus leaves The Fox, Pinfold Lan, North Luffenham at 9.30am returning from Springfields at 2.30pm.

Should anyone be interested in attending please call Jason on 07773396153.

Church St. Clean Up: Thank you to the volunteers.

The main focus of the clear up was the removal of the Ivy on the stone wall of The Oval. The before and after photos demonstrate the improvement. The area around the restored village pump was also cleared up and looks much better. Efforts will be made in the future to prevent regrowth, possible damage to the wall, and keep the village pump an attractive feature.

Before

After