Blaby District News
This issue covers key topics, including the upcoming Lottery Super Draw, the rejection of the Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange, the latest food hygiene ratings, and the local government reorganisation plans. With May elections approaching, make sure you're registered to vote. Plus, don't miss out on a new Skills Bootcamp, a veterans fundraiser, flood support drop-ins, a school wellbeing event, and the launch of the Tourism Growth Plan to boost the local economy.
In this issue:
🎉 Lottery Super Draw is here again!
Spring is in the air and the next national Super Draw with the Love Blaby Lottery is nearly here! The Super Draw will take place on Saturday 29 March when one lucky supporter will win a Home Robot bundle or £1,000 cash alternative.
Buy your ticket by midnight on Friday 28 March to be in with a chance to win this great prize, a robot lawnmower and a robot vacuum, along with our usual weekly jackpot of £25,000 and other prizes.
From every £1 ticket purchased, 60p goes to local good causes around the District so you are supporting your community every time you play. To choose which cause you will support and buy tickets use the link below to visit our Love Blaby Lottery website page. Here you will also find full terms and conditions of the promotion.
Players must be aged 18+ years and resident in the UK. Please gamble responsibly. If you need advice or support visit www.gambleaware.org
🚉 Rail freight hub rejected
The 662-acre Hinckley National Freight Interchange proposals from Tritax Symmetery have been rejected by the Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander MP. The rail hub and warehousing scheme would have destroyed vast swathes of countryside in the southwest of the District.
For more information use the link below:
Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange
🥘 Latest hygiene ratings
Here are the latest food hygiene ratings in the District:
Rated 5 - Hygiene standards are very good
- Taste Of Thai, private address, Sapcote
- Zizzy Bakes, private address
- Sweet Love Pic N Mix, private address
- Gynsills Farm, The Gynsills, Leicester Road, Glenfield
- Willow House, private address
- The Bees Knees, Meridian Way, Braunstone Town
- Taco Bell, motorway services and premises, M1 Northbound service area, Baines Lane
- Welcome Break forecourt south, petrol filling station, M1 Southbound service area, Baines Lane
- Pizza Hut Restaurants - Dine In, Unit H, Meridian Leisure Park, Braunstone Town
- Nando's, Unit 3, Meridian Leisure Park, Braunstone Town
Rated 4 - Hygiene standards are good
- The Cafe at Stoney Stanton, 1 St Michaels Court, Stoney Stanton
Rated 3 - Hygiene standards are generally satisfactory
- The Red Lion, Main Street, Huncote
- Eurest c/o Royal Mail staff canteen, Leicester East Delivery Office, Meridian East, Meridian Business Park
We complete many food inspections every year and the frequency of our visits depends on the potential risk to public health.
The time between inspections can be as short as six months for the highest risk businesses, to two years for lower risk businesses.
To find out more about hygiene ratings and to report any concerns about a business that prepares or sells food, please visit the Food Standards Agency website using the link below:
👉 Council reorganisation - proposals submitted
We recently ran a survey to collect people's thoughts on their local Councils and find out what is most important to them before we submitted our initial proposal to Government for the reorganisation of local government in Leicestershire and Rutland.
More than 4,600 local people shared their views and the feedback we received helped to shape our proposal. This feedback told us the top three things most people prioritise when thinking about their local council are:
- How local services are provided
- How decisions are made
- How communities are represented
You can read our proposal in full, and a shorter summary of the proposal, here: www.blaby.gov.uk/northcitysouth
The North-City-South Partnership
The proposal for three well-balanced unitary Councils covering Leicestershire and Rutland sitting under a large Strategic Authority covering the same area is a joint submission between the seven District and Borough Councils in Leicestershire and Rutland County Council.
Collectively the Councils in the North-City-South Partnership represent more than 750,000 people and have experience across both tiers of local government, so we feel we have a good understanding of what local people want and need. The recent feedback we received has furthered this understanding.
We are committed to working together and with all businesses, organisations and local people, to create the best solution for our area.
The North-City-South proposal
As promised, our proposal puts collaboration, evidence and communities front and centre and you will see we have explored a number of possible options in the short time since the publication of the White Paper in December.
We have gathered a huge amount of evidence and feedback from stakeholders, with large numbers of businesses, organisations and local people supporting our approach; creating Councils that are large enough to deliver devolution but close enough to respond to the needs of our communities.
Thank you for engaging with this process. This will be the biggest change in local government for 50 years and will have a profound effect on how public services are delivered for many years to come.
Next steps
We will continue to develop our proposals over the summer and into the autumn and will submit a final proposal to Government on 28 November. During that development time we will continue speaking with local people and with local organisations and businesses, to make sure we keep collaboration and communities at the heart of our final proposal.
We may ask for further feedback as this proposal develops and will really appreciate your views throughout the process. To read more use the link below:
Local government reorganisation
❎ May elections - important dates
The Leicestershire County Council elections and a Glen Parva District ward by-election are taking place on Thursday 1 May and we're urging residents to make sure they have their say.
A number of important deadlines are approaching soon as part of the run-up to the elections:
• 12 midnight Friday 11 April - if you are not on the Electoral Register you must sign up by this time. For 18-year-olds born between 5 July 2006 and 1 May 2007 this is especially important as this may be the first election they are eligible to vote in. Registering is quick and easy, visit: www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
• 5pm Monday 14 April - deadline to apply for a postal vote as the first postal votes start to go out. Learn more here: www.gov.uk/apply-postal-vote
The period for candidates to be nominated for the elections begins on Monday 24 March and ends on Wednesday 2 April. You will be able to find out who the nominated candidates are who will be standing for the seven County divisions in Blaby District and Glen Parva District Ward from 4pm on Thursday 3 April.
For all our election information use the link below:
👷 Skills bootcamp opportunity
Our first Job and Skills Fair of 2025 sees the debut of a brand new offering - a Skills Bootcamp. These are fully funded courses for jobseekers aged 19 plus, with this particular option from CTS Construct Training Services.
They will be promoting their highways maintenance and plant programme, run over 10 days, providing training which will help people progress into work within the construction and civil engineering sector.
Our Job and Skills Fair is on Wednesday 26 March from 3pm to 5.30pm at our offices on Desford Road, Narborough. The offices are close to Narborough train station, on regular local bus routes and free parking is also available in our visitors' car park. For more information use the link below:
Fundraising to support our veterans
As a Council we already support our Armed Forces veterans by holding monthly coffee mornings. We also honour those who have served by commemorating Armed Forces Day and Armistice Day but this March, 14 officers and cabinet members are going one step further.
The group are swapping their comfortable beds for sleeping bags on Thursday 27 March as part of The Great Tommy Sleep Out. Organised by the Royal British Legion Industries (RBLI) the venture aims to raise vital funds and awareness for veterans who are experiencing homelessness in the UK right now.
Money raised will go to the RBLI to provide safe, warm housing as well as ensure everyone has a fair opportunity to gain employment, regardless of health conditions or disability.
If you want to help the fundraising efforts please use the link below:
🌦️ Flood support drop-ins
Get valuable advice on flood resilience during drop-in sessions being held at our Council offices in Narborough on Thursday 27 March.
The event, running from 2pm to 6pm, is the first of a series being organised by Leicestershire County Council (LCC) as the Lead Local Flood Authority.
Both residents and business owners are being encouraged to attend and chat about their experiences with organisations including LCC and the Environment Agency as well as getting latest updates on flood related work.
Advice on preparing for and coping with future flooding will be available plus the chance to visit the FloodPod - a trailer packed with real-life property flood resilience (PFR) measures.
Here visitors can see and learn about solutions specifically designed to protect homes and businesses from flooding.
For more information visit:
✅ School wellbeing event
Last week our Children's Support Workers went along to The Winstanley School in Braunstone Town to help with an event to promote self-care.
The event featured a number of agencies and was aimed at students in years 7 and 8. Our offering focused on getting the students to think about improving their mental health based around the NHS five steps to mental wellbeing model.
The steps are:
- Connect with other people
- Be physically active
- Learn new skills
- Give to others
- Pay attention to the present moment (mindfullness)
Students relished the challenge, coming up with some great ideas including volunteering, enjoying nature and learning new languages. They also picked up some free goodies along the way.
Our Children's Support Workers take part in numerous multi-agency events. They can also offer whole class workshops on issues such as healthy relationships and diversity as well as therapeutic one to one/group sessions with children and young people aged five to 18.
For more details of the service please use the link below:
✳️ Tourism ambitions will boost District
A new tourism strategy aimed at boosting the local economy, supporting business and backing jobs has been launched by Blaby District Council. The Tourism Growth Plan 2025-2030 sets out how we will encourage more visitors to enjoy the District's attractions, creating a vibrant and thriving environment for all.
Find out more using the link below:
Posted: Tue, 25 Mar 2025