Pre-fab build was only supposed to have 10-year lifespan

A post-war build whose previous owner resisted changing it for more than 30 years could be bulldozed under City of Lincoln Council plans.

The authority has applied to its own planning departments to check whether it needs approval to demolish the two-bed detached bungalow built in 1946 on Outer Circle Drive.

At the time of its construction, the home was made from pre-fabricated steel – a method used nationwide to address the UK’s post-Second World War housing shortage.

Around 157,000 such homes were constructed in the UK. At the time they had a planned life of up to 10 years.

In the 1980s, the council carried out external wrapping works to the structure.

The documents outline how the previous tenant lived there for 30 years, adding: “during this time minimal modernisation and upgrading has been undertaken at the property.

The previous tenant was asked to carry out improvements over their 30 year tenancy, but resisted the demands. | Image: City of Lincoln Council

“The tenant refused improvement works on several occasions,” said the application, which describes it as “unfit for habitation”.

The home is now declared void following a survey carried out in March 2020.

The forms state that demolition will include the removal of the foundations and that once filled will be levelled and turfed.

A mature tree located in the rear garden will be kept.

The property was not modernised in over three decades.

Untouched and unrepaired for a very long time.

Councillor Donald Nannestad, Portfolio Holder for Quality Housing at City of Lincoln Council, said: “The property is in a sub-standard condition and is uneconomical to repair. As such, we have taken the decision to remove it.

“Although there are currently no plans to rebuild on the plot of land the option remains open for us to do so at a later time.

“The council remains committed to the increase of quality, affordable homes across the city and has delivered more than 350 in the past four years.”

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Over £5,000 of items were stolen

A judge has issued an arrest warrant for a former Spalding man who failed to attend court after he admitted handling property stolen from a Boston garage.

Luke Stubbings, 24, was due to be sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to handling tools and other equipment which were stolen during a burglary at the Boston MOT Centre in December last year.

The court heard tools and a BMW car were taken from the premises in Nelson Way, Boston, on 19 December.

Phil Howes, prosecuting, said the break-in was discovered when the owner of the business attended work and found entry had been gained by smashing a front window.

The value of the stolen items was estimated at over £5,300.

Mr Howes said the burglary had a considerable impact on the business which was just recovering after two years bad years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The theft of specialist tools meant some work could not be carried out by the garage or took much longer to complete.

Stubbings was arrested just a short time after the burglary at a property in South End, Boston, along with a second man, Jake Boyton, 32.

Judge John Pini QC told the hearing that although it could not be proved that either man was involved in the burglary, they were found with items stolen from the garage just a short time later.

Boyton, of Cranesgate North, Whaplode, St Catherine, has already received a two year jail sentence after he pleaded guilty to the handling offence and three unrelated charges.

The court heard Stubbings, who now lives in Derby, was granted bail and interviewed by the Probation Service after entering his guilty plea.

Nicholas Bleaney, defending Stubbings, said he could offer no explanation for why he failed to attend court to be sentenced.

Mr Bleaney told the court: “I have made repeated attempts to contact him by telephone.

“The best I can offer is that even if he had answered it may have been difficult to travel from Derby given the current train strike.”

Judge Pini issued an arrest warrant for Stubbings, not backed for bail.

| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones has defended a decision to deploy fewer officers to the East Coast despite higher violent crime rates.

According to a report before the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Panel on Friday, 54 of the 117 new officers who started training in 2021 were allocated to the East of the county while 63 were posted to the West.

However, another document showed that Skegness, Ingoldmells and Chapel was the area with the highest rate of violent crimes in the county with a figure of 278 per 1,000 population, it was also the home address of most offenders.

In response, East Lindsey District Councillor for Alford Graham Marsh asked: “How can the deployment of new officers be justified… are you assured as PCC that this allocation is effectively tackling crime?”

Mr Jones said the deployment of officers was a matter for the Chief Constable, but said a lot of assessment went into where staff were sent.

He said factors included whether specialisms were needed, the number of mentor officers to train new members and, in particular, how statistics were read.

PCC Jones said: “We all know the Lincolnshire population ebbs and flows significantly, especially on the East Coast.

“So when we’re talking about the community that may be for 11 months of the year residing Skegness, but then don’t pay council tax because they’re not permanent residents, they’re not counted as part of that figure.

“Equally, the people who are coming there for their leisure over the summer are not counted as part of that figure.

“So it’s reasonable to suggest that you might have a disproportionate level of violent incidents occurring through night-time economy, particularly in summer because of the influx of people, but that set against the settled community as being the baseline of per 100,000.”

He explained this was “difficult” to resolve accurately, but said there would be “little point” in bolstering East Coast staff for 12 months of the year when the specific need might be for just three or four months of the year.

Other teams, such as the new Roads Policing Unit based out of Grantham and Louth, could also be used to back up officers, he added.

He said teams elsewhere, such as drugs officers were also guarding the borders in a bid to stop some criminals from accessing the area.

The data presented to councillors showed that Gainsborough and Lincoln were in second and third highest in the county for violent crimes and offender addresses.