After the government announcement on 22^nd February and the roadmap to ease out of lockdown we have been working with our bus operators on re-building our local bus services.  Several changes will come into effect from 8^th March 2021 including the reinstatement of the Centrebus Service 47/R47 to aid travel to access education.  This timetable will be made available at relevant bus stops as soon as possible but can also be found on the Centrebus website www.centrebus.info

The timetable for Centrebus service 12 will also be amended from 8^th March to include stops at Uppingham Community and Stamford College once again.  A copy of this timetable is attached for your information and is being put out at relevant bus stops during the course of today.

Social distancing measures should still be adhered to and the wearing of face masks is still mandatory unless exempt.  Hopefully if everyone is careful we will be able to build back up to full services everywhere in due course. 

At a Rutland County Council Planning Meeting on the 15th December representations objecting to the retrospective planning application for the lorries to remain were made by residents and parish councillors from North Luffenham and Edith Weston along with our ward councillors. The application was rejected unaminously with the result that the site could no longer be used as a lorry park resulting in less heavy lorries on the surrounding roads.

It is heartening that the hard work that went into our valid objections to this application were heeded.

A challenging and interesting opportunity has arisen for a suitably experienced, enthusiastic and competent individual to be appointed as Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer to North Luffenham Parish Council. The successful candidate will be required to work from home and will be provided with a laptop, software and printer.

The salary is in accordance with nationally based terms and conditions and is currently £10.62 per hour. Hours of work:  11 hours per week.

Responsibilities of the post include:

• Advising Parish Council of policy issues and proper procedure.
• All Parish Council administration and correspondence.
• Arranging meetings, compiling agendas and producing the minutes of meetings.
• Managing financial records, monitoring and reconciling the accounts, preparing accounts for audit.

The Parish Council is sole Trustee of the North Luffenham Field Gardens and Recreation Ground Charity and the Clerk would be responsible for dealing with all administration in connection with this.

You will need to be able to work flexibly, and attendance at evening meetings is essential. Some knowledge of council procedure is an advantage but essential training will be provided. In addition, support can be provided for further training towards the Certificate of Local Council Administration.

Applicants must have:

• Experience of administration and financial management with sound word processing and spreadsheet management skills.
• Ability to work to own initiative and to work with volunteers to achieve the Council’s objectives.
• Good numeracy, oral and written communication skills

Please call Parish Council Chairman: Tim Smith on 01780 360083 or email timsmith@nortluffenham.org.uk for job description, person specification and further details.

Applications in the form of a CV and covering letter are invited by Friday 26^th March 2021 and should be sent to:

Tim Smith, Chair NLPC, The Old Poor Barn, 6a Church Street, North Luffenham, LE15 8JR

Closing date for applications: 26^th March 2021

Interview dates: w/c 11^th April 2021

Clerk commencement date: 3^rd May 2021

Blank Firing and training on the airfield

The airfield will be out of bounds from:

Mon 15th Mar 21 – Fri 19th Mar 21.

0700 – 1800

There will be blank firing taking place and the use of practise grenades, so the adherence to these timings is of the utmost importance.

Thank you to all who are continuing to donate to the collection point in the village telephone box. It is emptied regularly with a delivery to Oakham every 7-10 days.

Please click on the link below see the list of present shortages.

The presentation by Cllr Alan Walters, who is a Rutland County Councillor and has a responsiblity for health commissioning and public health, gave a talk on the future of health care in Rutland to North and South Luffenham on Tuesday 2nd February and his presentation is available to download:

Cllr Walters would welcome your comments and he can be emailed: AWalters@rutland.gov.uk

Many thanks to all those who attended the talk and discussion on Tuesday.

As we get to the start of lambing season locally, it is now more important than ever to keep your dog on a lead as you walk your dog across or near fields that have sheep and their new born lambs in.

Dogs that are not on leads can worry, injure, savage and kill sheep, they can also cause ewes to abort or carry still born lambs. Once the lambs are born and if separated from their mothers by dogs (or people) they can be rejected and subsequently die from starvation.
It is essential that all dogs are kept on leads and under control and that owners (and all walkers without dogs) stick to the designated footpath routes.

Thank you for your co-operation.

The links below relate to sheep worrying by dogs:
https://www.yourdog.co.uk/the-your-dog-blog/knowing-the-consequences-of-your-dog-chasing-animals
https://www.nationalsheep.org.uk/dog-owners/sheep-worrying/

Tonight; 7 pm. Join by clicking on this link: https://zoom.us/j/99700524593?pwd=OTBENUZtWng4L0JDNU5RV1ppcHVNZz09

Meeting ID 997 0052 4593. Passcode 103006

Cllr Alan Walters, who is a Rutland County Councillor and has a responsiblity for health commissioning and public health, will inform on the future of health care in Rutland and is keen to hear your views. There are planned major changes to the hospital services in Leicester, and this will affect Rutland, but there will also be developments to GP services in Rutland.

People may not be aware, but in order to protect sheep from diseases such as you need to pick up your dog mess when walking in the fields local to North Luffenham

Local Farmers have lost several sheep to dog faeces transmitted disease

Dog waste on grazing land can pass worms and parasites to sheep, so it is vital that dog owners pick up their dogs’ droppings when walking pets on farm land. The eggs of worms and parasites can survive on the ground for a long time, so dog mess must even be cleared from fields that do not currently have livestock grazing in them. It is also important to keep your dog thoroughly wormed all year round.

For more information see the link below

Worm control | National Sheep Association

North Luffenham Parish Council has yet again had a complaint about dog mess on paths within the village.

The majority of dog owners are responsible but for those who think it doesn’t matter dog mess is offensive and a health hazard, especailly for children.

Your views matter: and you are invited to a Zoom Meeting on the future of health care in Rutland:

When: Tuesday 2nd February at 7pm.

How can I take part?; please click on this link a minute or two before the meeting is due to begin: https://zoom.us/j/99700524593?pwd=OTBENUZtWng4L0JDNU5RV1ppcHVNZz09

(Meeting ID 997 0052 4593. Passcode 103006)

Cllr Alan Walters, who is a Rutland County Councillor and has a responsiblity for health commissioning and public health, will inform on the future of health care in Rutland and is keen to hear your views. There are planned major changes to the hospital services in Leicester, and this will affect Rutland, but there will also be developments to GP services in Rutland.

Good afternoon all,

The crews are still out collecting and will be until it gets dark. However, its looking like recycling collections in Ketton, Barrowden, North Luffenham, South Luffenham, Morcott, Cottemore, Ashwell and on the Farms and Lodges round will still be outstanding due to ongoing vehicle issues.

No green bins have been collected today either.

We are working closely with Biffa to try and get these issues resolved as I know how much disruption its causing for everyone. We have had a number of vehicle breakdowns over the last couple of weeks and Biffa have struggled with repairs and maintenance as not all supply chains are operating as efficiently as they usually do due to lockdown and to Brexit. This has been exacerbated by ever increasing waste and recycling tonnages due to people working from home. Collection vehicles are filling up quicker and having to travel to tip more often. This two hour round journey to the recycling center takes a lot of time out of the working day and puts additional strain on vehicles that are only designed to travel short distances.

Biffa have additional hire vehicles arriving first thing tomorrow and hope to have all of today’s collections completed by the end of Wednesday. Should you receive any enquiries, please advise residents to leave their bins out until they have been collected.

Please leave your bins out until collected. Biffa, the firm that collects the bins, has had problems with a number of vehicles breaking down.

Biffa have additional hire vehicles arriving first thing tomorrow and hope to have all of today’s collections completed by the end of Wednesday.

Vaccinators needed – help us overcome the virus

Healthcare professionals are being asked to come forward to help administer the Covid-19 vaccines in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

A number of new vaccination centres are being set up, and each one requires dozens of staff to administer the jabs.

Any registered healthcare professional can play a part after appropriate training – most of which they can do online at home. Retired professionals can join a temporary register up to five years after they have left the permanent register.

Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust is recruiting staff on behalf of the local NHS.

Anne Scott, director of nursing, allied health professionals and quality said: “We are looking for staff who are registered healthcare professionals, or could easily re-register. This includes a wide range of professions such as physiotherapists, pharmacists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists as well as nurses and doctors.

“We will be offering full and part-time work over the next few months. You will be very welcome.

“Staff who have already been involved in the programme have said it is hugely rewarding to help deliver vaccines which protect life, and will help the country return to normal.”

We are also looking for administrative staff to welcome patients and to help ensure accurate records are kept for members of the public receiving the vaccination.

In addition, this project is looking for volunteers to help patients at the vaccination sites.

For more details and to apply, please visit: www.leicspart.nhs.uk/supportvaccinations

Just to let you know we have now vaccinated 89.6% of the 2753 patients aged over 80. We have finished vaccinating residents of all 11 care homes.

An attempt to contact all the patients over 80 has been made, and there will be more calls made tomorrow. Where we cannot contact patients, we will try their next of kin if recorded in their records. We have not yet started vaccinating housebound patients but hope to do so after this week if we get a vaccine delivery. Any housebound patients who can be brought to the centre will be vaccinated this week (we can vaccinate 600 per day at eth vaccination centre, but only 20/day at home and the vaccine centre is better supported for potential reactions)

We have a larger delivery this week, and we are now able to start offering vaccine to the next cohort, 75-79 year olds. Again there are over 2000 people in this cohort, so they will not all be invited this week. Some patients who are aged 77-79 will receive an invitation to book. We have sufficient vaccine to start this process using the automated booking whilst we are also finishing the over 80 invitations by phone, and we are also offering vaccination to local frontline health and care staff who have contact with multiple older adults. I hope that the  simultaneous booking of 77-79 year old using a rapid process, whilst we also use a slower process to invite the remaining over 80s does not cause confusion, and any help you can give in allaying any concerns is much appreciated. We are making the best use of the vaccine that we receive – most is administered to patients within 48 hours of our receiving it, and we are using the extra doses in the vials whenever possible( all but one vial on Friday!)

Dr Hilary Fox

Clinical Director Rutland Health Primary Care Network

Unfortunately, due to covid related issues, Centrebus have advised that they will have to temporarily amend the service 12 (operating between Stamford and Uppingham via Tinwell, Ketton, Edith Weston, North Luffenham, South Luffenham, Barrowden, Morcott and Glaston)  with effect from Thursday 14^th January 2021.  A copy of the revised timetable is attached for your information.

As before, it is requested that passengers only make essential journeys and to be especially mindful of travelling between different tiers.  It is also advised that passengers contact their bus operator in the first instance to get the very latest information regarding bus journeys and availability:

Centrebus tel: 0844 351 1120

CallConnect tel: 0345 263 8153

Centrebus are also having to temporarily suspend the service 47 from 14^th January until further notice.

We will also be checking the bus stops to make sure current information is being displayed and if anyone has any queries or concerns then please contact transport@rutland.gov.uk or call 01572 758138.

Dear resident,

I had hoped not to have to write another newsletter, let alone so soon after my last!  But coronavirus cases continue to rise and the NHS is very stretched.  Some people have asked me why we can’t simply open more Nightingale hospitals.  We could, of course, but they have to be staffed and NHS staff are like the rest of us; they get ill, they come into contact with coronavirus and have to self-isolate for a period and they have positive tests, albeit with no symptoms, so again have to self-isolate.  This all reduces the number of people available to be deployed and whilst we might be able to put up a new building almost overnight it takes a few years to train medical staff!  Add to that the increased number of people requiring intensive care –and the additional staff levels associated with that—it is not surprising the system is under strain and the Government’s full lockdown response.

I am also being asked about vaccines, and why some people who have had their first vaccine are having their appointments for the second, follow up, vaccination cancelled.  You can find the answer here https://www.rutlandhealth.co.uk/covid-19-vaccination-programme-rutland-patient-update/

I am sure we are all worried about businesses locally.  The Government has recognised the strain on businesses and is introducing additional help.  If you are a business your first port of call is RCC as many of the grants are administered by the Council https://www.rutland.gov.uk/my-services/health-and-family/health-and-nhs/health-and-support-services/coronavirus/covid-business-grants/ . And do support your local pub if it is offering a take-away service.

If you have children and don’t have access to the resources you need to access your child’s school’s home learning offer contact the school who should help.  Children without IT or a space to learn are entitled to be in school.   If you have any problems regarding your children’s education at this time let me know.

Lockdown is difficult for everyone.  But, as I write, there are almost 300 positive coronavirus cases per 100,000 population in Rutland and the increase is in all age groups, including the over 60s. It is important we all abide by the law to get the case numbers down.  Full details can be found here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/national-lockdown-stay-at-home but in brief:

• Stay at home unless you have absolutely no choice but to go out to work
• Stay at home unless you need to go out for essential shopping such as food and then shop as infrequently as possible and on your own
• Stay at home unless you have to go out for a medical appointment/to collect a prescription
• Stay at home unless you are taking your once a day exercise when you should “stay local” (see below for the Government’s definition of “stay local”)

 “If you do leave home for a permitted reason, you should always stay local – unless it is necessary to go further, for example to go to work. Stay local means stay in the village, town, or part of the city where you live.”

The only people you should be mixing with are the people you live with or the people you have contact with through work.  There are exceptions, the “bubbles” we have all heard about, but these have legal definitions and the definition changed on 2 December 2020.  You can find out the current law here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/making-a-support-bubble-with-another-household#what-a-support-bubble-is

Local advice and sources of help, whether you are an individual or a family, can be found here https://www.rutland.gov.uk/my-services/health-and-family/health-and-nhs/health-and-support-services/coronavirus/

Remember HANDS FACE SPACE!

Gale Waller

County Councillor, Normanton Ward

gwaller@rutland.gov.uk

Dear resident,

First may I wish you all a Happy New Year.  It may not seem, with Rutland moving into tier 3, that it will be happy 2021 but this pandemic will not last forever and with the second vaccine having been approved the end is in sight.  Everyone has done really well to keep Rutland as safe as we are and I’d like to thank all the volunteers who have supported their neighbours, and supported strangers through the likes of Rutland Foodbank, during these strange times.

However, to stop Rutland being moved into tier 4 it is important to stick to the rules to continue to keep our covid levels comparatively low.   The general rules of wearing a face covering, keeping two meters away from others (except in your own home, of course) and washing your hands regularly are still good ways of slowing the spread. In addition, in a tier 3 area:

• No socialising with anyone indoors, in your garden or an outside public venue unless you live with them or they are in your official support bubble (i.e. you ordinarily live on your own and have set up a support bubble according to these rules https://www.gov.uk/guidance/making-a-support-bubble-with-another-household#what-a-support-bubble-is)
• No socialising outside with more than 6 people
• No going on holiday as hotels and holiday lets in tier 3 must close and if you live in a tier 3 area you must stick to tier 3 rules
• Local pubs and restaurants must close except for take-aways –do support your local business where you can as they need your support to survive

There are exceptions, for example weddings and funerals can still go ahead.  Full details can be found here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tier-3-very-high-alert

Travel outside tier 3 is discouraged, even for food shopping.  The Government states “Where possible, you should stay local and avoid travelling outside your local area, meaning your village or town, or part of a city. People should continue to travel for reasons such as work, education, medical attention or if they have caring responsibilities.”  

Local advice and sources of help, whether you are an individual or a family, can be found here https://www.rutland.gov.uk/my-services/health-and-family/health-and-nhs/health-and-support-services/coronavirus/

The current Covid crisis is having a major impact on the NHS.  Everyone is being encouraged to contact NHS111 rather than their GP if there is a medical problem.  Either ‘phone 111 or go online at https://111.nhs.uk/  The NHS locally tell us “Patients contacting NHS 111 will be clinically assessed so that they can be referred to an emergency department, an NHS Urgent Treatment Centre, a Minor Injuries Unit, pharmacy, GP or advised to self-care where appropriate. They will also be provided with a time that they should attend.”  I have been assured that the 111 system will refer Rutland residents to geographically appropriate services and not send us to the other side of Leicester!

Gale Waller

County Councillor, Normanton Ward gwaller@rutland.gov.uk