Cllr Mark A Kirk

Meeting with Welcome to Yorkshire tourism to show that Northenern Lincolnshire is not in Yorkshire, but is a key player to the Yorkshire and Humber region Might end up giving them some dinner of Yorkshire Pudding with Lincolnshire sausages both go well together

Yesterday I attended the Yorkshire Forward board where our application for funding for The Pods project was to be discussed. As I sit on the Board I gave my declarations and left the meeting while it was discussed. I was delighted to discover the application had been approved and that it is now full steam ahead with the £21-million project.  As part of the project, a further £2m will be invested to reinvigorate the adjoining Central Park.  The building already has full planning permission and so it is hoped work will commence the first week in October.

The building will comprise:

• 25m swimming pool
• Training pool
• State of the art gym
• Dance studio
• Six court sports hall
• Café and crèche. 

We were always confident that Yorkshire Forward would approve our plans to build this fantastic sport and leisure complex.  The project is now a firm reality that will provide much needed construction jobs and a major landmark right on our doorstep.  Together with plans for Central Park, this means the project as a whole will create a centre for the renaissance of Scunthorpe, an icon of national quality, and a focal point for recreation, sport and leisure.  I was disappointed to see such a small write-up in today's Scunthorpe Telegraph - you would think they would want to celebrate the new jobs and investment coming into North Lincs.

Work is expected to finish Spring 2011.

Today the Football Association is due to meet with Hull City football club ahead of their bid to host the 2018 World Cup.  While this doesn't have a direct impact on us here in North Lincolnshire, if the World Cup bid was successful and the KC Stadium went on to host games it could mean hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Hull and Humber region which could have huge knock-on effects for us here on the south bank.  These visitors will need somewhere to stay and spend their money and there is also the chance they will visit our many fantastic tourist attractions.  There's a great chance it could bring in new jobs and investment too, giving us even more reason to keep up the campaign to remove or reduce the Humber Bridge toll.  There's still a long way to go before 2018 but I wish Hull's bid the best of luck.

I am now back from my holidays and straight back into the council business. Last week it was announced that a new £15-million integrated health and social care centre is to be built on West Street in Scunthorpe.  It’s a joint project between NHS North Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire Council and will feature five doctor's surgeries, access to GPs between 8am and 8pm as well as up to 100 health care staff working from the building at any one time along with 43 council workers.   These are all existing jobs.

Work could start as early as the middle of next year subject to planning and building control consent.   Once this has been granted, the new centre could be open to the public by as early as autumn 2011.  This is a key development, not only to regenerate an area of town that desperately needs investment, but also to give better access to health officials in one of the most deprived parts of North Lincolnshire.  It will create much needed construction jobs and bring huge economic benefits to the area.  It is great news.

last night attended an event at Grimsby docks to meet the Clipper crew for team boat Hull and Humber which will start its round the World yacht race next sunday from Hull, the Skipper said that sailing up to Grimsby his crew had to deal with Force 10 gales which in his words is very very very windy or words to that effect