I want this tree replaced here

WE have just had a tree removed on Western Road due to damage. About a year ago we had some tree surgeons trimming back some of the trees that had overgrown, unfortunately some were not done, including the removed one. This was damaged by a large removal lorry, but although damaged kept blooming and looked lovely as do all the other trees on Western Road.

This tree suffered further damage by branches being wrenched down and the last branch, being quite a large one, forced the tree to be removed.

It is a very sad situation for the residents of Western Road who live close to where the tree was, as it was a different colour to most of the others. There is a three foot stump remaining at the moment which I assume will shortly be removed. What I and other residents would like to know is, is the council intending to replace the tree with another quite substantial one, or is the verge to be left without a tree thus creating another parking place?

With the new council tax payments looming, surely some money could be found to replace this tree and therefore restoring things to as they were. We often see articles in the local papers saying the people who live in Gorleston like it how it is, so can we not spoil it any further?

This may, to some, seem such a small thing to moan about, but if people take a step back and think of all the other “small” things that have been done in Gorleston, they will realise just how much it has changed.

Alan Marsham

Western Road

Gorleston

IT'S getting to the time of year when myself, my five-year-old and my eight month old baby should enjoy our walk to and from school in Bradwell everyday. We walk a lovely route which uses the passageways from the Mill Lane field, past Hillside school and through Bradwell churchyard.

I should be pointing out the signs of spring, stopping and watching the squirrels and robins, looking up at the new shoots on the trees. Instead, we have to stare at the floor, dog muck everywhere; on my pram wheels at the moment, sitting outside waiting for a clean. It's disgusting.

Why do dog owners allow their dogs to do this? It is foul, unhealthy and quite frankly, disgusting, and we don't enjoy our walk to school half as much as we should. Come on dog owners of Bradwell, clean up after your dog or don't have a dog. Simple.

Mrs J KITCHEN

Bradwell

I AM astonished there have been no letters with regards to the closure of the Borough's cashiers department situated in the Gorleston Library. Am I the only person who is bothered by another piece of centralisation of public services? When the facility closes it will mean joining large queues in post office or busy shops, to pay our dues, or go direct debit which does not suit everybody.

What will happen if we have problems, will we have to go to the Town Hall to get answers? Once again there seems to be no consideration by the powers that be for their customers, it just seems to be a money saving exercise.

Name and Address withheld

A DECISION to site Great Yarmouth's large casino anywhere other than next to the Pleasure Beach would be incomprehensible.

Apart from being the only fully-formed scheme on the table, The Edge complex proposed by Albert Jones would have major regeneration benefits for the whole of the seafront. Apart from the hundreds of jobs it would create, this high-profile scheme reflects a confidence in Yarmouth that would almost certainly attract and stimulate other tourism investment in the town.

The Edge would transform the long-neglected former caravan park site to the south of the Pleasure Beach, which should certainly not be set aside for port expansion, as some have suggested, but should be protected for tourism. This is recognised by 1st East, the urban regeneration company charged with revitalising key areas of our town, whose plans show the site as a location for “a possible landmark seafront leisure facility.”

The Edge certainly fits the bill here.

The scheme also features lots of additional seafront parking to ease the pressure on existing car parks, and construction would have minimal impact on other seafront businesses. The Edge has planning permission and key tenants are apparently in place, which means it could be benefiting Great Yarmouth much sooner than any other proposal. It's the right scheme in the right place.

STEVE SCOTT

TMS Media

Great Yarmouth

HOW very kind of the people in this area to allow their cat/cats out to foul my property. As I am a widow in my 80s, I find having to cope with this filth, intolerable. What a pity they cannot be fined for this as dog owners are - the economy would soon flourish.

M BUTLER

Tottenham Street

Great Yarmouth

WE have heard for a long time the expression “it's a bitter pill to swallow” and with the headlines stating our local Primary Care Trust (PCT) had in some ways lost over �7m of capital funding the saying makes it even harder to swallow.

As someone who has been associated with the perspective of patient care within the NHS locally for some years, I am aware the NHS funding system is one of the most complicated ones around and that resource allocation for certain areas cannot be transferred to others, and this is one example of this extremely complicated system.

However I am also aware that we as taxpayers and patients have the right to know why the people paid to administer this system failed to fulfil their duties in ensuring that services provided are the best possible, as a “World Class Commissioning” body is expected to do. I think we, being on the “sharp end” should have a full explanation as to why these resources were not applied for and used appropriately.

I understand patient care within the past few years has improved beyond recognition, we are living longer, receiving treatment quicker and our own local health service is on the whole positive with its approach to providing the service we want, but there is always a “but.” I am sure there are some that have not received what they hoped for and others that can find fault, well at this particular time it is going to be me.

In the same week on reading articles we see that a GP surgery is fighting to be provided with better facilities promised three years ago and with the re-organisation this never happened, why? The new surgery promised and allocated to Cobholm, where is it?

We see also there are to be two meetings in public where patients can have open and frank discussion with the boards of both the PCT and the JPUH to discuss the provision of services, both in Waveney. Where is the one for Great Yarmouth residents?

So we seem to be on the one hand told the PCT did not get its act together for capital funding and the other hand there were no funds available. Now what is it?

I think this is a prime example of how we as patients are being kept in the dark until it goes wrong somewhere and we learn about when it seems to be too late. “Open and transparent,” I think are the words the NHS use but as a person associated with a statutory body independently charged to work with the health and social care service in monitoring their services we have not been given (until now) the courtesy of involvement as within the rest of Norfolk so have not been aware of this situation (in NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney) and the “open and transparent” nature has been somewhat “closed and opaque.”

Let's see if the pill is any better to swallow when all the questions are answered.

PATRICK THOMPSON

Stuart Close

Gorleston

THE general public in this area are almost certainly unaware of the way “officialdom” has made a decision to scrap the flood warning sirens in Norfolk.

The Environment Agency says they are too old and the local police have said they will not operate them. I feel very strongly that we, the public, affected by the risk of flooding, should at least have a fair chance of making our views known (you may recall my previous letters in your columns). I am quite prepared to take the matter to the European Courts if nothing is done to stop arrogant people intent upon forcing their views on the innocent public. We have a voice, and these people should listen to us.

I spent much of my working life re-winding and repairing electric motors; work done for the Admiralty had to be correctly carried out. The contractors who did the maintenance on the sirens should be truly ashamed, especially when seven were found faulty just after an inspection; I rest my case!

LESLIE COLLETT

The Fairway

Caister

REFERRING to Mr Ron Brown's Letter (February 20), anybody who has studied coastal sea erosion should know that any construction put out at sea will affect the coast tide-down from it, depending on size and distance. You only have to look at a groyne to see the difference between one side and the other; one is scoured away and the other builds up.

Recently in Dubai, whilst building lots of islands and reefs in the sea, they found the coast was affected quite considerably and they are forced to pump in sand on a regular basis. Sand is the thing the coast of East Anglia needs. Sand is like the oil in an engine; it stops the coast from eroding. Dredgers have been getting sand and gravel from the sea for road building. All that should be done is to put that sand and gravel on the beach and let nature take its course.

I find it hard to believe this data is/was not available, or been adhered to by people dealing with coastal erosion!

ROGER PALMER

Formerly Gorleston

I WAS very disappointed the other day at hearing my daughter-in-law getting fined �60 for throwing a cigarette butt out of the car, only to see a notice in James Paget University Hospital that there is a no smoking ban on the area surrounding the hospital and to find hundreds of yes, you've guessed, cigarette butts and still people smoking in the area.

J A FORD

Conifer Close,

Ormesby St Margaret

FIRST Bus has made various changes to their commercial routes in the Belton, Bradwell and Burgh Castle areas in order to generally improve services, or so we are led to believe.

These decisions were taken without any consultation with local council members, the parish councils or local residents who use the services.

Residents of Blue Sky Park and Sunninghill Close in Bradwell many of whom are elderly, will now have to travel on two buses if they wish to travel the short distance to Gorleston, or three different buses if they need to travel to the James Paget Hospital, this is totally unacceptable.

Burgh Castle residents will lose their evening and Sunday service altogether from the end of April 09, and this just at the time that the four holiday parks in Burgh Castle which attract many people from all over the country start to get busy.

We are all being encouraged to use public transport more, but when the bus companies continue to cut services without any consultation what hope is there.

As your local county councillor you can be assured that I will be doing everything I can to persuade First Bus to re-consider the changes they wish to implement.

TREVOR J WAINWRIGHT

Member of Norfolk County Council for Breydon Division

PEOPLE at Burgh Castle and Blue Sky need to be aware that when First Bus introduces new routes at the end of April they will no longer have a direct link to Gorleston. This means that to get to the JPH they will either have to change buses at Rainbow and again in Gorleston or travel right into Yarmouth for a connection. This could mean waiting at three separate stops, not good in bad weather especially as there is no bus shelter (outward) at Rainbow. Also as the new service 5 for Burgh Castle is hourly anyone with an appointment will need to plan their journey very carefully.

Incidentally, the main aim of these changes is to improve services for Belton and Bradwell, making journeys more direct and better for the public to Gorleston and Great Yarmouth.

I suggest that those concerned should lobby their local councillors, parish, borough and county.

MISS M B GREY

Butt Lane

Burgh Castle

PLEASE do not let Tesco destroy Caister with an expansion of their store. I was born in Great Yarmouth and don't want to see Caister ruined as they have ruined Hertford and Ware, where I now live. At the moment our council has put a hold on expansion in Hertford because of public outcry. It will ruin the local shops. Our High Street in now empty most of the week. We have had seven shops close in the High Street in the last six months.

TREVOR NUDD

Formerly of Great Yarmouth

FOR anyone who doesn't know, the Co-op supermarket, the first in Caister village, was set up and is owned by the villagers, who receive a share in its profits. Any new supermarket developments result in the villagers losing out.

Those villagers who shop at Tesco in the winter know it's not “busy and congested”. Tesco just wants to draw in shoppers from the surrounding villages, the north end of Yarmouth, and monopolise any spending by the tourists. It is just a business after all.

Tesco now controls over 30pc of the grocery market in the UK. In 2008, the supermarket chain announced �2.8bn in profits. Growing evidence indicates Tesco's success is partly based on trading practices that are having serious consequences for suppliers, farmers and workers worldwide, local shops and the environment. Those who would like to know more should take a look at the website www.Tescopoly.org

Surely councillors should be encouraging lower carbon footprints, not more lorries and cars? Does anyone think Tesco would invest in community facilities without wanting to expand?

R BOND

Caister

A LOT of people in Caister have known this planning application has been coming for a long time. We also know it will go ahead, and there will be no consideration for the people who live in the immediate vicinity from our planning department. They will grant permission at the drop of a hat, because Tesco are offering a few incentives.

Consideration for the following should be looked at seriously:

1 Flooding and drainage issues, a lot of areas on Yarmouth Road flooded during the heavy rain of September 06. They did increase road drainage before this happened and again after it happened, but that only flows into the ditches just up from Tesco and these are rarely cleaned out. The sewers are still Victorian and the capacity is not fit for purpose. All around the country we see the affects of the lack of infrastructure when these projects go ahead, flooding is on the increase. Building on area's of natural drainage increase these risks.

2 The traffic along Yarmouth Road, Caister, is already bad enough, especially during the holiday season, we have huge queues of holiday traffic passing through Yarmouth Road and trying to get into Tesco. If the stores size was increased people who presently travel to the larger store in Yarmouth would probably decide to come to Caister, this would obviously add to our already crowded road. However this could probably be eased by moving the entrance into the store, to the bypass.

3 The allotments behind Ambrose Rd, locals have spent years, time and money getting these how they want them, hopefully the council will not forget about these people, by selling them off.

We all know this is a flood plain but obviously that's no consideration when a few incentives are involved, we only have to look at the development on West Road for confirmation of the council's lack of foresight. Only a few years ago the flood plain in Caister was not going to be built on any more, but this is obviously not the case anymore.

At the end of the day a larger Tesco in Caister would not be a major disaster, as long as the views of residents, especially those who will suffer the most, are considered, but our council and planning department do not seem to apply this logic, it is a case of what a few clubs and people are getting from the deal, not the misery it could cause to the immediate community.

D HERBERT

Yarmouth Road

Caister on Sea

I READ in the Mercury that Tesco's are considering expanding the store in Caister and I think this would be a very good idea, especially if they include a petrol station. There is only one thing I have against Tesco's: if you go to do your shopping before 8am, half of the shelves are empty and the deli counter is also not open until 8am.

P JONES

Eastern Avenue

Caister

IT will be interesting to see whether the council backs Tesco's proposed expansion at Caister, given the hypocrisy surrounding the refusal to allow Asda to do the same. Asda supports many local causes and also intended to spend money to improve the area if they had gained planning permission. So, if Tesco gets the green light, and being Tesco I'm sure they will, what's the difference?

PAULINE LYNCH

Mill Lane

Bradwell

RECENTLY there have been numerous letters about cars parking on grass verges, and people objecting to the damage they do. Yet in another breath, there are complaints about lack of parking on roadsides. More and more cars are coming on to our roads and I'm sure it will increase; I wrote a letter to the Mercury years ago about this. I repeat the suggestion that all grass verges should be removed, thus widening the roads, and trees where necessary, thus allowing residents to park their cars outside their houses.

Look at the saving of money for those awful machines which have to cut the verges and make an awful mess with cuttings thrown everywhere. This need not be done at once, but start with the worst cases. I suggest applying for help from county council and government.

LEN FLEETWOOD

Gorleston

NEWS of Archant editorial cuts are a further indication of the recession taking its toll and in my opinion makes the need for the outer harbour's completion and a commencement date for the Edge complex that much more imperative.

Errors of judgement by the council regarding offshore accounts and further displays of having to return unspent funds does not inspire confidence in an already shaken business and financial market, and the lack of a sensible alternative gives additional creditability to Mr Albert Jones and his team.

Even the less astute must realise that Eastport and the Edge complex formulate the spearhead of Great Yarmouth's revitalisation programme inter-linking it with the successful power regeneration and expansion programme which has already produced beneficial results. The new open plan look of the Golden Mile is another project worthy of mention and in keeping with Yarmouth's future.

Past internal bickering saw a rapid decline in the town's growth, no one with any sense wants to see a repeat of that. I would respectfully suggest that the sooner the Edge complex is given the go-ahead the better.

JAMES (SONNY) LINDSAY

Trinity Avenue

Great Yarmouth

I WRITE regarding the letter in your edition of March 13 in which Mr Kirkpatrick goes to great length to denigrate the work practices of the refuse collectors. I too live in Ormesby and share the same team of collectors as does your correspondent. Never have I had occasion to fault their method of working, neither have I, as district councillor for the village, had any complaints regarding the collection of wheeled bins. In respect of his final question, the reason that it is not possible to put glass in the recycling bin is that shards of broken glass could contaminate the paper, which forms a great part of the recyclate, and thus cause it to be rejected and sent to landfill. Also to return to a weekly collection would incur a considerable cost, be counter productive environmentally and inflict a greater burden on those who pay council tax. May I conclude by congratulating our workforce on the good work they do on our behalf.

JIM SHRIMPLIN

Cabinet member for Environmental Matters

Great Yarmouth Borough Council

I HAVE been looking at the proposed plans for the regeneration of St George's Chapel and King Street, Yarmouth, which I think are great, breathing some new life into our wonderful old building and surrounding areas. But I am rather confused, when studying the visualisations of the area one plan shows a very grey barren space and the other shows a row of small trees around the chapel. Where have ouR mature trees gone? Are they to be ripped out? Perhaps they are not quite the right type or in the right place.

They are beautiful mature trees, a haven for wildlife, which help to absorb the noise and pollution from the nearby traffic and enhance the area. It would be wonderful to sit amongst the trees watching an open air performance or to enjoy a quite time with a coffee watching the wildlife. Let's preserve what we have, work with it instead of ripping it out. Soon Yarmouth's “Green Corridor” will start to look very grey.

ROSEMARY IFE

Great Yarmouth

I FEEL I must explain and apologise for the missed chance to speak at the end of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra concert on Sunday, March 15. I felt it would have been impolite to stand and possibly interrupt the ovation being given by the large audience and in doing so did not realise there would not be another encore until the rapid exit of the conductor and orchestra, and then it was too late. I intended to congratulate the Berlin Symphony Orchestra on their brilliant concert. They were outstanding. It has given me great pleasure to attend all three of the concerts that Seachange has organised to be held in the wonderful acoustic auditorium of the Hippodrome. It is marvellous that Yarmouth has proved it can host these cultural events with such success and our thanks and congratulations must go to Joe Macintosh and his Seachange team for giving us all the opportunity to experience locally this high quality entertainment.

TERRY EASTER

Mayor of Great Yarmouth

SEVERAL ex-employees of Heatrod Elements of Gorleston, who were employed there from the early 60s to the mid-80s, are planning a staff reunion. The date is Friday, May 15, the venue the Pier Hotel, and it would be lovely if as many people as possible could come along to meet old friends again for a chat and an evening buffet. If anyone employed at Heatrod during this time is interested, would they please ring me on 01493 667370, or e-mail at hugginsrovalyn@tiscali.co.uk for more details or to book. Closing date for numbers is May 1 and the buffet is �12.50 a head.

VAL HUGGINS

I HAVE been collecting my grandson of seven from school in Gorleston at 3.30pm on a Wednesday for the past couple of years. I have, in the past few months, driven back to Yarmouth, picking up my daughter and granddaughter of two on the way so I could take them all swimming at the Marina Centre. Wednesdays and Fridays were the only weekdays possible to go for a general swim at 4pm.

I was therefore dismayed to find last week that the Wednesday session has been stopped and the pool closed to the public until 6.30pm. This meant a trip back to Gorleston to the Phoenix pool and a wait until 5pm for the family swimming session to begin. Unfortunately my granddaughter didn't like it one bit, as the shallow end is a metre deep and she's too small to touch the bottom. The Marina pool is ideal for toddlers as they can sit and play in a few inches of water.

The reason given for the cessation of the Wednesday 4pm to 6.30pm session was that the Swim Academy pays to use the pool and want the whole pool to themselves. Every time I have previously been at the pool for the Wednesday general swim session, a section was always roped off for the Swim Academy, and there was plenty of room left for Joe Public.

The Marina Centre is a public facility which has been subsidised by Yarmouth ratepayers' money. It's disgraceful that from Monday to Thursday after school time there is no facility to take children swimming. Family sessions between 6.30pm and 9pm are too late during school term time.

BARRY AUSTIN

North Quay

Great Yarmouth

THANK you for publishing last week's headline �7.5m pounds lost by the PCT”. When I read this my immediate reaction was “we want some of that, what the hell do they think they are doing”? By we, I mean the charity Yare Hospice Care.

Set up two years ago by local people to provide a much needed local 10 bed end of life hospice facility for the Yarmouth and Waveney area. The area served by the PCT in question. We have two charity shops in Great Yarmouth and Gorleston which are doing well due to the donations and patronage of local people but raising the sum of �2.5m, the amount we need to build and equip the hospice, is very hard work and to see that �7.5m of public money has not been used for the purpose for which it was given is devastating.

V HARDWICK

Friend of Yare Hospice Care

WHEN the Mercury arrived last Friday, I eagerly scanned the letter pages in search of some praise for the two budding journalists Nathan Brown and Ray Lillie, after 11 students at Oriel shared their views on teenagers and local affairs so articulately and succinctly in a few previous issues. As nothing was forthcoming may I then congratulate them on their fair and clear thinking, their initiative and refreshingly positive outlook on life. Teenager monsters? I don't think so. They are happily a credit to Oriel which has come in for much criticism in the recent past. Their attitude is typical of the many youngster who have had the privilege to teach and I wish them the success of which they speak and which they so richly deserve.

MAUREEN MILLER

Gorleston