Great Limber Parish Council were awarded the title of West Lindsey Parish Council of the year in 2020.
The council won the award because of their “proactive” projects, according to the Leader of West Lindsey District Council, Cllr Owen Bierley.
Cllr Neil Hunton, Vice Chairman of Great Limber Parish Council, said that Gt Limber – the furthest North of all the Parishes in the ward area of Caistor and Yarborough – has since seen a number of projects continuing, despite the global pandemic.
He said: “As a small, older community, we prioritise projects that will make the most impact on what our residents are looking for. For instance, the revamp of the big pond in our village was something that over 70% of our residents had deemed our most important priority. The pond sits at the centre of our village and was deemed of huge importance by our locals. This became a priority and we were proud to see it completely resurrected, with a whole new drainage system put in place. Many ponds around the country are left due to ignorance and we wanted to make sure our very old pond came back strong. We also had a Wood Carver create a Newt-shape beside the pond too, out of an old tree that had sunk into the water; this is a really strong piece of work for people to enjoy.
“Our main focuses at the moment are looking at the bus routes through our village and the nearby Humberside airport, and on removing the speed limit through our village from 40-to-30mph. As we have a community that is one of the highest age groups in the country, we always look to prioritise and be proactive on issues that are of most help to our communities.”
This proactive approach was demonstrated further during last summer, when 100s of visitors flocked to the village for a day-out, as lockdown restrictions eased during the summer of 2020. The local woods needed to be closed off as a result of some damage but, according to Cllr Hunton, this led to the proactive creation of a future heritage trail.
He said: “We recognised from last summer that there was plenty of interest in our village, and we wanted to take inspiration from that. As such, we are beginning to create noticeboards about our village, so people can follow a detailed environmental walk path, which we hope in time will include our local woods and also feature an interactive electronic device as a guide as well. It’s about taking the opportunity to help and develop the town to prosper and thrive where we can, and in the process, allow visitors to enjoy and respect the local environment.”
“As a whole, our village operates very, very well here. Everybody knows everybody, and everything gets round on word of mouth rather than through other means of communication. As a Council, things soon get round to us and we are usually aware of problems pretty quickly, that is a big help in terms of looking after our communities.”
Cllr Owen Bierley, one of the Ward Councillors for Caistor and Yarborough, said: “I am inspired by the work that our local Parish Councils have done, particularly over the past year, to keep our communities safe and well. Putting the needs of others first is a selfless act we can all follow, and I thank all local Parish Councillors for their help and support.”
Cllr Angela Lawrence, also a ward Councillor for Caistor and Yarborough, said: “Local Parish and town councils have a huge responsibility to look after their local communities as much as they can, and I am delighted that Great Limber – as well as all the Parish Councils in the district – continues to work hard to achieve what residents really want and need to support their lifestyles.”
