Cllr Roy Gerstner – Community Activist

Our very good friend Bob Stincombe died last week aged 89 – I had known Bob for over 45 years, he was an exceptional Chief Engineer and mentor. It is so unfortunate that Connie & I can not attend the funeral tomorrow (Thursday), wife Margaret is also not very well at this time.
Our thoughts will be with Bob’s family tomorrow.

(l-r) Bob S, Gwyn H, Margaret S & RG     (l-r) Gwyn H, CG & Margart S

As with all my good seafaring friends (shipmates) I always arrange in consultation with the family an Anchor Wreath (similar to the one below)

LOF News Wreath

Although the link provided did not work (for me) or for many others – Just put Fenland Council in search box…. I got in because I have a YouTube account (sign in) and then subscribe to the meeting and I got in… There was over 21 people viewing when I looked.
Later it went to 30+ and by the conclusion at 14:12 there were 42 viewers.

Tomorrow at 1pm there will be another Planning Meeting at FDC on the same platform – YouTube.

The future has arrived.

There has been reports of thefts from garden sheds and allotment sheds.
Lock It or it may disappear.

Social distancing measures will remain in place across the sites and people are being urged to only visit if the waste or recycling cannot be stored at home “without causing risk of injury to health or harm”.

Anyone who is showing COVID-19 symptoms, has been diagnosed with the virus or has someone in their household exhibiting signs of the virus should continue to stay at home.

New Road Recycling Centre©RG

Message from Lakeside – New Queen Street Surgery.

On Bank Holiday Friday (May 08th) any patient requiring a GP appointment should contact the surgery on the usual number 01733 568569 (Stanground)
01733 204611 (New Queen Street).
As is now ‘normal’ due to coronavirus procedures our GP’s will look to complete any consultation over the telephone.

Should any patient need to be seen face-to-face, For the Bank Holiday only
Our GP’s will be able to see patients at Lakeside Yaxley Health Centre, Lansdowne Rd,
Yaxley PE7 3JL

If you require a same day face-to-face appointment, but are unable to travel to  Yaxley, we will arrange a home visit from a New Queen Street GP

Thank you for your understanding and help during this challenging period.

Local authorities are usually required to hold public meetings in person, but the Government has granted new powers to allow them to be held remotely using video conferencing.
Internal meetings between Fenland’s officers and councillors are already being held remotely in light of social distancing requirements, but now virtual public meetings that are compliant with national legislation.

The Planning Committee will be the first council committee to meet virtually, using the video conferencing app Zoom – which will also allow members of the public to make representations where necessary.
The meeting will be at 1pm on Wednesday, May 6, and will also be cast to the viewing public via the Council’s YouTube channel
(www.youtube.com/user/FenlandCouncil). 

Anyone wishing to speak on a planning application must register by emailing memberservices@fenland.gov.uk by 12noon the day before the meeting. However, speakers are encouraged to register as soon as possible so the Council can test their ability to access the meeting in advance.

To keep the length of virtual Planning Committee meetings manageable, meetings will contain a reduced number of agenda items and the Council will be holding three additional virtual Planning Committee meetings in quick succession – at 1pm on May 7, 13 and 20. There will also be a virtual Cabinet meeting at 2pm on Tuesday, May 12.

Leader of Fenland District Council, Cllr Chris Boden, said: “The ongoing coronavirus crisis has led to a great deal of change for all of us in the way we live and work. As a Council we have been keen to resume public meetings to ensure we, as elected members, can continue to represent our residents as best we can.

“Embracing digital technology will help us to maintain local democracy and allow key decisions to be made while remaining open, transparent and accessible to the public.”

Cllr Dee Laws, the Council’s Portfolio Holder for Planning, added: “The Council has still been receiving a number of planning applications in recent weeks. In order to process these as effectively and efficiently as possible, we needed to ensure that the online meeting platform we used could be accessed by the public, show presentations and planning documents, enable councillors to declare interests and record votes and meets the national legal requirements for public meetings. It has been a challenge but we’re ready for the first in series of virtual Planning Committee meetings to begin next week.”

The Council plans to run further virtual meetings over the coming weeks.
Further information on these will be published in due course online at www.fenland.gov.uk/localgov

Below Planning Agenda @ Fenland District Council for Wednesday May 6th.
Further details on individual applications can be found by downloading the pdf @
Click Here

Along with several other organisations, individuals and neighbours – we are doing our little bit.
Most of the Prescription/Medicine deliveries has become nice and slow which is good news for us.

Today I only delivered two prescritions
(I only go out once a week to do this) – Another run will be done on Friday by a different NHW coordinator.

At 11:30 this morning I was very pleased to see that the town centre was very quiet – this is the first time I have witnessed this. Those at the Co-Op were queing as per the rules.

Of course you could take Cllr Eamonn Dorling’s lead as to self protection!!!

Fraudsters use Covid lockdown to scam motorhome buyers
The Guardian, 04/05/2020
Fraudsters are flooding online auction sites with thousands of fake listings for campervans and motorhomes, using the lockdown to trick people into handing over cash for vehicles they have not seen. An investigator behind an anti-fraud group set up to try to stop the criminal gangs that target vehicle buyers told the Guardian he has never seen so many fraudulent vehicle listings appear on eBay and other sites in such a short space of time. Fraudsters use fake listings copied from legitimate adverts to attract buyers, then tell them that they will deliver the vehicle if they put the money into a holding account.

Pensioner ‘scammed into leaving bank card on doorstep’
BBC News, 04/05/2020
Fraudsters stole from a pensioner’s bank account after persuading him to leave a card and PIN on his doorstep due to the lockdown, a court has heard. Police claimed he was targeted along with another 70 elderly people in a scam involving callers posing as detectives probing bogus crimes. John Ward from Belfast, appeared in court on charges connected to the investigation. He is charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and blackmail. It is alleged that, along with others, Mr Ward pretended to be from the police fraud squad when contacting an 82-year-old man in south Belfast last month. The court heard that within an hour of the pensioner being contacted, he had left bank cards and details on his doorstep, to comply with social distancing because of the Covid-19 crisis.

Mr Nigel Sutton 8517
Cyber Protect Officer
Serious & Organised Crime (Intelligence and Specialist Crime Department)