Latest news with #RutlandCountyCouncil
BBC News
25-05-2025
- BBC News
Rutland county council chairman visits Rutland in Vermont
Most people would assume the tiny county of Rutland might not have too much in common with the part of New England which shares its name. But Andrew Brown, chairman of Rutland County Council, says there are a number of surprising similarities between the place he represents as a politician and Rutland in recently returned from a self-funded visit to the Rutland's US namesake where he met the local mayor, chief of police and took part in a Loyalty Day parade in the pouring rain. And he said he was given a truly warm welcome by his North American counterparts, who put in place a packed itinerary to allow him to see as much of the place as possible. He said: "It was amazing. They treated us very well. "They have Rutland County, Rutland Town and a Rutland City, where there are about 16,000 in the city and 61,000 in the county, so it's also quite sparsely populated. "And they have a railway that runs rights through the main city - a bit like Oakham."Brown added a visit to Rutland in Vermont was on his wish list since he was elected chairman of Rutland County Council. "Because I get elected yearly and am in my second term, I wanted to go in case I don't get another chance, so I sent an email, they got back to me and we had a few meetings online to arrange my visit," he said. 'Minibus with wings' Rutland in Vermont sits about 100 miles (160.9km) south of the border with Canada and is thought to have been named after John Manners, the third Duke of it is so remote that Brown, who was travelling with his wife and son, had to catch a connecting flight to get to their destination."We flew into Boston from the UK and had to get a connecting flight to Rutland, but it was on a really small aircraft with nine seats," Brown said. "It was like a minibus with wings!"And it turned out it was overweight with the number of people travelling on it, so my wife and son elected to get off and travel there by car."I was left on the plane on my own to make sure I got there on time - they had a full itinerary worked out for me in Rutland. "The noise of the plane was quite loud and so I couldn't talk to anyone and because we were flying through cloud, I couldn't see anything either - and then my wife and son arrived in Rutland only an hour later than I did." A proclamation was read out to herald Brown's arrival in Vermont and he also took part in the Loyalty Day parade, to honour all past and present service personnel and included representative of the police and firefighters as well as marching bands. "The police over there work really differently," Brown said. "There's the state police, the township police and the sheriff, I struggled a bit to work out who does what."He also had lunch with the police chief and addressed the board of aldermen at a meeting, where he handed over a Rutland was also interviewed for television and even performed his own stand-up routine at an evening of singing and entertainment to round off his visit. He said: "I thought the interview would only go out to a few people, but it went out on state TV and when I got back to the hotel, a bloke in the bar said to me 'aren't you that guy from Rutland in England who I saw on the TV?' "It was great fun and part of the reason for me wanting to go is that I wanted to meet and get to know real American people and I did that - and they were great, and really down to earth."Brown arranged his visit with Mike Doenges, Mayor of Rutland City in Vermont, who told the BBC he would like to visit Rutland in the UK himself some day. He added: "We were very excited to have Andrew and his family visit us here in Rutland Vermont!"When Andrew first contacted us, I was surprised and impressed that he wanted to take his personal vacation to the United States and come and visit us here in Rutland City."It was an absolute pleasure to share time showing Andrew and his family around our community and discussing the strong similarities and slight differences between our two 'Rutlands'."I look forward to making the visit to Rutland County UK myself someday in the future, to visit and see our namesake for myself."
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Yahoo
Concerns raised over 'lack of safety' at roadworks
Councillors in Rutland are launching an investigation after a contractor was spotted repairing potholes in rush hour with just a bucket and no safety measures. Mark Chatfield and Samantha Harvey said they saw the workman on the B640 Barleythorpe Road in Oakham and relayed details to Rutland County Council's scrutiny meeting on Thursday. Independent member Ms Harvey said the incident was so unusual she "thought she was dreaming", the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said. The council's principal highways engineer said it was not what was expected from contractor Thomas Bow, which has been approached for comment by the LDRS. 'So unprofessional' Describing the scene as shocking, Ms Harvey said she was returning from Leicester one morning when she was "horrified" to see no cones or other safety measures in place around the roadworks. She said she wanted reassurance it had been raised with the contractor "because having workmen in a major highway at rush hour with not even a cone and just a little bucket" was an issue. "[There was] just some chap on his knees in the middle of the road, on an open road, filling in a long stretch," she said. "I did actually think I was dreaming... I was flabbergasted." Mr Chatfield, who represents the Liberal Democrats on Rutland County Council, also saw the workman and said it "looked so unprofessional it was untrue". Andrew Tapp, the authority's principal highways engineer, Thomas Bow, taken over the had contract from Tarmac in May last year. "From a council perspective, that is not what we expect of our contractor," he said. "We have done our own internal investigation, we have made sure our process was okay and fine, therefore we have now left it with the contractor to do their formal investigation. "They are aware of our high-level concerns around that and they are taking it seriously." Follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@ or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210. Related Internet Links
BBC News
29-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Rutland's council chairman to visit county's US namesake
The chairman of Rutland's council is planning to travel to the US to meet the mayor of the county's Brown told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) he was inspired to make the visit after discovering there is a city of Rutland in will be boarding a plane on Thursday armed with a Rutland flag, a book of the county's history and other who is funding the trip himself, said: "I thought it might be nice, because Rutland County Council is not going to exist in its current form in two or three years, it might be nice to do it before its demise." Rutland County Council could be merged with neighbouring authorities under government Vermont, despite being called a city, has a population of only 15, on the Canadian border, it is thought the US namesake was named after John Manners, the third Duke of ahead to his visit, which he will combine with a family holiday, Brown said: "They love history in America, so I am going to do a presentation about who I am and a bit about Rutland and my time as the county's High Sheriff. "That is a role about three times older than their modern country and Americans love that sort of thing, so I am going to talk about that."I will ask Mayor Doenges if he wants to visit. But whether he comes or not is another matter. He ought to come before Rutland disappears, hadn't he?"
BBC News
24-04-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
International cycle race returns to Rutland
Cyclists from across the world will return to Rutland this weekend for an international road than 170 riders will tackle the 177km (109m) Rutland International CiCLE Classic on event, which was cancelled last year due to severe flooding, will start and finish in Oakham town centre for the first time in the competition's 20-year disruption is expected, with the centre of Oakham from the level crossing through to Burley Road, Burley Parkway Island and the Queen Elizabeth II Memorial being closed between 15:00 and 16:00 BST. Teams from the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Ireland and Italy will take part, as well as a Great Britain team comprising current Olympic and World timings of where to watch the race are as follows:Start in Oakham - 11:00Wymondham - 11:00 – 12:15Ashwell - 12:20Oakham - 12:30Cold Overton - 12:45Somerby/Owston/Burrough - 12:50-14:30Stapleford - 14:45Wymondham - 15:00Market Overton - 15:05Cottesmore - 15:10Ashwell - 15:20Burley on the Hill - 15:25Ends in Oakham - 15:35Race director Colin Clews said: "This year the race enters uncharted territory with the finish in Oakham, but a challenge which we feel will be very much worth the effort with Rutland County Council offering strong moral support to the event. "There will inevitably be significant traffic disruption in and around Oakham, particularly between 15:00 and 16:00 when the race finishes. "However, we would ask for anyone who may be potentially inconvenienced by the race to plan their routes and timing of their travel accordingly."
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rutland residents 'favour Lincolnshire merger plan'
A proposal to join Rutland's council with authorities in Lincolnshire was the favourite among residents attending a public meeting, an MP has said. Rutland and Stamford MP Alicia Kearns hosted the event at the Victoria Hall in Oakham on Monday to discuss local government reorganisation. On Friday, Rutland County Council put forward a proposal to the government declaring a merger with councils in North Leicestershire, Charnwood and Melton as the "best option". But a series of straw polls at the meeting, attended by over 180 people, showed "the room was nearly unanimous" on forming a new authority with North Kesteven, South Kesteven and South Holland district councils. A third proposal put forward by Leicester City Council would see Rutland fall into a wider single authority with the rest of Leicestershire. At the meeting on Monday, all but eight attendees voted in favour of the plan, while two preferred the Leicestershire North model. Six were undecided, Kearns said. The Local Democracy Reporting Service said Ashley Baxter, leader of South Kesteven District Council, attended the meeting and was delighted his proposal had been popular with residents. Leicestershire county council's own plan for a single authority excludes Rutland after the smaller county made it clear in January that it did not want to return to arrangements put in place in 1974, when the council became a district within its larger neighbour. An independent Rutland, that reclaimed its status in 1997, looks highly unlikely to survive in this reorganisation process as the government white paper on devolution, issued in December, set a preferred population of "500,000 or more" for new councils. However, it added "there may be exceptions to ensure new structures make sense for an area". Rutland's current population is about 41,000. Councils now have to work towards final proposals on reorganisation that have to be submitted by November. Additional reporting by Sarah Ward, Local Democracy Reporting Service Follow BBC Leicester on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@ or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210. Rival plans emerge to reorganise Leicestershire Mayor proposes expanding city's boundary Mega-council plans leave Rutland's future uncertain Rutland County Council South Kesteven District Council Local Democracy Reporting Service
