Letters April 26th

Dredging sand to deepen the basin and navigation channel for the Great Yarmouth Outer Harbour could well have assisted the recent severe sand depletion of nearby beaches, the amount of material so removed pales to near insignificance when compared to that stripped offshore by marine aggregate dredging.

Working daily at a distance of between four to 14 miles offshore from Hemsby to Lowestoft for the past 13 years, seven 2,000 to 8,000 ton hold capacity aggregate dredgers have been “open cast mining” over ten million metric tonnes of sand and gravel from the offshore sea bed each year, a volume of over 13 million cubic metres per annum.

The deepened offshore sea will promote larger and more erosive waves at the shoreline and also steepen the slope of the beach by gravitational sand run down to the vacated pits.

Under opportunist storm conditions such as recently experienced, the loss of beaches, undermined dune and defences will greatly magnify, as beach sand is highly mobile under such conditions.

Whilst last minute defences will produce short term abatement, only addressing the fundamental cause of the problem will stop the loss in the long term. Most countries, such as Japan, have banned offshore aggregate dredging, whilst others such as Holland have severely restricted it and import that taken off our coastline.

A comprehensive treatise on the topic can be seen by visiting the MARINET website under http://www.marinet.org.uk/campaigns/marine-aggregate-dredging

PAT GOWEN

Pat Gowen,

Heath Crescent,

Hellesdon

Flowers are a lovely welcome

I, too, think the crocus displays on Caister Road, Fullers Hill and Pasteur Road look wonderful and a lovely welcome to our town.

I would like to say though it is not the borough council but Great Yarmouth and Gorleston in Bloom who are responsible for them being there, as we are for the hanging baskets in the Market Place, Regent Road, King Street throughout the summer and the tubs and baskets at the Town Hall all year round.

True, GYBC do give us a grant but we determine how to enhance the borough with it. Many communities, villages and schools have benefited from small donations we are able to give for them to purchase flowers, trees or vegetable plants.

The rose beds at St Nicholas Minster were really old and not giving a good display and so we replaced them last year.

Our entries into Anglia in Bloom and Britain in Bloom have been very rewarding and last year resulted in Great Yarmouth receiving the Royal Horticultural Society Tourism Award. We also rely on sponsorship in order to continue our work, should any businesses or organisations like to make a contribution they would be gratefully received.

Should anyone wish to know more about what Great Yarmouth and Gorleston in Bloom are involved with then please contact me, Sue Hacon, Wycke Farm, Bradwell NR31 9DY on 01493 650924 or email sue_hacon@hotmail.co.uk.

SUE HACON

Email

What is going on with the diary?

What`s been happening with the mayor’s diary? I have always been able to find it on the borough council website until the change of power at the town hall. It is very hit and miss nowadays.

As a taxpayer of the borough I like to see where my money is being spent as only half of the events are being seen in the papers. Yes it’s nice to have all the pomp and ceremony but how much did it cost us all for the second trip down to Portsmouth in a year for the mayor, consort, plus others to visit HMS Dauntless. I don’t suppose they used public transport or budget hotels.

I only found this out because someone at the town hall has just put the mayor’s diary week commencing April 15 instead of week commencing April 22. What hope have we got when the money is being wasted like this.

SUE ALLEN

email

Congratulations Councillor Tate

Well done, congratulations borough councillor James Tate on how to alienate the electorate in one easy step.

Councillor Tate claims that after looking he could not find anything worthwhile to spend his money on in Bradwell. I suggest that Councillor Tate did not look close enough.

I am a parish councillor. I am also the chairman of Bradwell Community Centre, which has charitable status. The centre is used every day by local groups of all ages and abilities for various activities. Neither I, nor any of the trustees were approached by Cllr Tate to see if we needed anything – which we do, and as far as I am aware, none of the groups were offered any help either.

Which is it councillor, did you not look, or are we not worthy? Maybe if you attended a few parish council meetings you would have a better idea of what happens in Bradwell and find something worthwhile to assist with.

If Great Yarmouth Borough Council decides to run the scheme this year, I will look forward to hearing from you, otherwise come election time you will find that many of the electorate will find you not worthy of their vote.

STEPHANIE BECKETT-MOORE

Chairman,

Bradwell Community Centre

Think again over prom cycling

Along with other readers of this newspaper, I too have reservations about cycling being permitted on Gorleston Promenade. My main concern is the safety of people strolling along the promenade, especially the young and elderly, who might not be agile enough to avoid speeding cyclists.

It has been known for cyclists to kill pedestrians. So GYBC, please look again at your decision and put the safety of pedestrians at the top of your considerations.

NIGEL WILLIAMSON

Parkland Drive,

Bradwell

Have a count of the litter bins

I see that Mr James Tate could not find anything to spend his £2,000 on in Bradwell. Well maybe he walks about with his eyes shut.

I would suggest he has a count up of litter bins we have around Bradwell, that would be money well spent. Mill Lane, Wren Drive, Beccles Road,m are just a few of the roads where litter bins could be placed. Maybe this should have been a priority. I will spend your £2,000 Mr Tate.

C A BALLS

Bradwell

Thank you all for your stamps!

I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has sent me used postage stamps in the past year.

Thanks to your generosity I raised over £1,000 in 2012 which I have donated to the Guide Dogs for the Blind charity. I would, therefore, like to take this opportunity to remind you of my continuing appeal.

I am always in need of all types of postage stamps, including foreign and Christmas, and would be grateful if you could pass this message on to your friends and contacts at home and abroad so that I can continue to raise funds to help support The Guide Dogs for the Blind in forthcoming years.

If you are able to help I would be grateful if you could cut the stamps from their envelopes (leaving a 1cm margin around the stamp) and send them to: Myrna Chave, PO Box 91, Virginia Water, Surrey GU25 9AR.

If you would like to contact me my email address is stamps4gdftb@live.co.uk

MYRNA CHAVE

email

Do not dismiss apostles witness

I noticed with sadness Derek Brown’s letter of 12 April. He so easily dismissed the witness of the apostles who gave their lives for their testimonies of Jesus Christ. Their lives were completely changed because of their knowledge of the risen Lord.

They became bold in declaring their witness and were willing to die for it. Paul, who wrote most of the epistles, or letters, in the New Testament, was an enemy to the church and only made a complete turnaround after he saw the resurrected Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. All his epistles testify of Jesus Christ and his resurrection. For example Romans 1:1-4. Peter, the chief apostle, also wrote epistles (1 & 2 Peter), as did John another apostle (1, 2 & 3 John). They all were eyewitnesses as they saw firsthand the resurrection and testified of its truthfulness. These epistles themselves are witnesses to the truth of the four Gospels.

There is mentioned in Acts of Paul seeing Jesus on the road to Damascus, but the book also contains the record of Stephen’s martyrdom where he saw the Father, and Jesus Christ on his right hand. For declaring this Stephen was stoned to death (Acts 7:55-56).

The Gospel of Jesus Christ was from the very beginning – from Adam and Eve. This knowledge was corrupted over the years and can be found in traces all over the world in various peoples beliefs; so that is why the story is such a common one. The ministry of Jesus Christ was foretold by prophets in the Old Testament. Isaiah, who lived many hundreds of years before Christ prophesied that Christ would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), and would be “wounded for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53:5). Ezekiel saw the valley of bones in chapter 37 where the Lord said “I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live” (Ezekiel 37:5) indicating a physical resurrection. The sacrifice of the lamb at Passover was symbolic of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Paul in Galatians 3:24 says that the Law of Moses was a “schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ”. Abraham who was told to sacrifice his son Isaac prefigured the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, as God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son (John 3:16). Baptism is symbolic of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ was actually resurrected. We all, through Christ’s atonement will be resurrected as well (1 Cor. 15:19-22). In Christ shall all be made alive.

DENNIS COOPER

Cedar Close,

Bradwell

Theatre group

deserve praise

I would like to endorse every word of praise from your correspondent last week who wrote regarding the lovely performance of Babe the Sheep Pig given recently by this talented group, praising the young people involved, all the helpers and the direction of the excellent and multi-talented Mary Carter.

The NODA award for their production of Bugsy Malone was very well-deserved and much appreciated by all of us who were in the audience when it was announced. One member of that audience was a founder member of Dusmagrik, Dusty Miller, who together with her co-founder and late partner, Mags, ran this wonderful group for many years, laying the foundations on which all this excellence was built.

MARGARET HIGGS

Fastolff Avenue,

Gorleston

Cliffs are shown

on official maps

Regarding Mike King’s letter, raising the question about Corton Cliffs etc.

I have lived in Hopton-on-sea for nearly 60 years and it was common knowledge within the old local community that the cliffs are shown on official OS maps as Corton.

Hopton-on-sea is officially known as such only after a lengthy campaign by the local council, to differentiate it from the other Hopton (both being in Suffolk at the time), and to reduce mail being wrongly delivered.

Finally regarding the comment of beach at Hopton-on-sea. This was never a beach being officially designated as a foreshore and as such owned by the Crown. I well remember two brothers Ron and Ken Culley (a local family) having a license issued by the Crown agents to trade from a specific position a speed boat trip business. Note the holiday camps, Speedwell, Constitutional, Golden Sands, and Potters all wrongly claiming each had a private beach, when none existed. Importantly unless the Crown has relinquished/ceded control to another party it is still a foreshore.

It will be interesting to see the responses to the above.

BOB FISHER

via email

Lessons need to

be fully learnt

During all my years as an HSE manager two truisms seem to recur with monotonous regularity, “There is nothing new under the sun” and “If it can happen it will happen” .This July marks 25 years since the Piper Alpha claimed 169 lives when the unthinkable became reality, government stung by public and media outrage as to understanding why and preventing reoccurrence, crucially moved the responsibly for regulating safety away from the Department of Energy to the independence of the Health & Safety Executive.

Others were also paying a heavy cost in lives to learn lessons in managing the safety of offshore oil exploration, just nine years previous to Alpha, the Norwegians also made regulatory changes after the semi submersible rig Alexander Kielland capsized whilst working in the Ekofisk oil field, killing 123 people.

It is morally wrong and in some cases criminal that these lessons are not fully learnt and implemented to prevent any more fathers and sons being added to the list of “failure to learn”. The loss of eleven men on the Deep Water Horizon in 2010 was another “can’t happen” event that was played out both live on television from the scene and in the subsequent court room hearings. Failures of how to regulate learnt in UK waters was not similarly applied to the Gulf of Mexico operations

It is often said that major industrial disasters happen every 30 years as the reasons are lost when people move on and another generation fails to see the implications of the past, in the projects of the present. A story that didn’t make more headlines was the huge explosion in the AZF fertiliser factory in Toulouse, France in 2001 as the media interest was still rightly buzzing with post 9/11 stories.

Three hundred tonnes of ammonium nitrate was stored when the whole factory was destroyed leaving a crater depth 65 to 100 ft, with a diameter 650 ft. Steel girders were found 3 km away from the explosion and the blast measured 3.4 on the Richter scale with an estimated power equivalent to 20-40 tons of TNT. The disaster caused 29 deaths (28 from the factory, 1 secondary school pupil from a neighbouring school), 2,500 seriously wounded, and 8,000 light casualties. Two thirds of the city’s windows were shattered, causing 70 eye wounds and several thousand wounds which had to be sutured.

One of the learning’s from events such as this is segregation by distance of industry and people, most other similar global catastrophes have their origins in bad planning allowing the town to then encroach up to the plant fence lines, negating this physical control. COMAH is a UK regulation that requires major accident hazard sites to prepare a safety case as to their operation and assess its impacts and plans for emergency response, overseen by the HSE.

Given that Toulouse involved 300 tonnes of ammonium nitrate and fertiliser companies regulated by COMAH are allowed to store up to 5000 tonnes. I would welcome a proactive response from the companies and the council planning authorities that the recent explosion in West in Texas that was “fortunate” to have not cost more lives only down to the time of day it happened, could tell us why it could not happen to their business on the Eastport peninsular.

STEVE TAYLOR

Clarence Road,

Gorleston

Worries over

future tensions

Does the council have any enforcement powers to limit the extensions which can be made to a house, particularly where the views and privacy of a neighbour is concerned?

Take a stroll down Yallop Avenue to see what can happen. An enormous garage extension overpowers the neighbouring residence, blocking its views and leaving it with a brick wall outlook. As this goes well forward of the building line and seems to violate the site covenant I wonder how this was ever allowed.

With the Government proposing even less control over house extensions I foresee much anxiety and tension between neighbours in the future - hardly what Mr Cameron’s ‘social vision’ implies.

Name and address supplied

Care of elderly

at ‘lower end’

For many years I worked in the NHS servicing medical equipment. This entailed having to visit nearly all the hospitals, clinics and ambulances/ambulance stations throughout Norfolk, and some in Suffolk.

Visiting every ward, department and hospital on a regular basis, gave me an insight to the standard of care to be found within the NHS. I found that the highest levels of care were constantly to be found in the “specialist units” such as that found in “Theatre and Recovery” as too “Maternity”, “ITU” and “A&E”. Unfortunately I found the care of the elderly in some hospitals to be at the lower end of expectations.

I often read with interest the eulogies in the press in support of wonderful treatment received in hospital by various authors. No doubt this is true, but this does not detract from the fact that for every nine supporting letters there will always be one that reflects a different story, mostly from families of the elderly, but not all.

I recently visited an elderly relation of mine who has just been admitted to a local hospital with a suspected stroke where I was first directed to the wrong patient! Because of her advanced Alzheimer’s communication with her is a problem. Visiting shortly after I arrived, her family arrived and proceeded to tell me of the catalogue of errors.

Visiting for the first time they were told that she had had a massive stroke and had been placed on NBM (nil by mouth) and “it was only a matter of time” and that no drip could be fitted (but they did manage to take blood). They found that she had been fitted with the identification wrist band of another patient and an ID band showing that she has an adverse reaction to penicillin was missing. (This ID band had caused another family much distress, they having discovered it on a wrist of a person they had been directed too as being their mother).

Later, approaching the consultant they found out that she had not had a stroke. The misunderstanding resulted in their mother enduring nearly seven days of NBM. It has also been established that she was eating and drinking when she was first admitted to EADU.

The family insisted that she be transferred back to her residential home. Unfortunately she had to be re-admitted as in trying to move the paper thin skin on her legs was severely ruptured. Further ruptures to her skin also occurred. The family had to request that the open wounds be dressed to prevent infection.

Did family intervention possibly prevent the early demise of their mother? It does help having a medical professional in the family. She has now been removed from the hospital by her family.

I was given the following advice by my then Union, MSF. It was “pray to God that, if you are over 60 and have to go into hospital, you have a supporting family to look after you - just in case.”

DAVID MORRICE

West Caister

Can you help in

hunt for old pics?

I am looking for interior or exterior photographs of the following venues the Garibaldi, the Penrice Arms, the Goodes Hotel and the Floral Hall (Ocean Rooms). Also the Wellington and Britannia pier theatres. This is for BBC Radio Norfolk Voices project which is going to be a film about the groups of Great Yarmouth in the 1960s, the venues, atmosphere etc. Anybody with photos or information can contact me direct on 01493 745636.

DAVID MCDERMOTT

Pollution could

have killed trees

Regarding the trees in South Quay and the comment in the article “Quite why the trees failed is not fully understood although a combination of factors is likely to blame including the high water table, pollution levels at the busy roadside and contamination due to the earlier railway and port activity.”

Apart from the possibilities mentioned above that could be the cause of the trees dying, I think it’s also to do with the same thing that comes through our open windows every day, the black smoke/soot from all the diesel boats that anchor along the quay, the boats that run their engines day and night and release engine fumes into the air and the dust/grit from across the river from the graineries. Every day I get black soot through my windows, small amounts granted, but it builds up, I have to clean the wells in my window frames because they end up black. I live near the quay, not along it, if I get the muck from the ships and maybe the graineries, what must the trees get and the buildings along the river. Nothing much will survive the pollution from there.

Has anyone ever looked into the pollution that comes from the boats that get moored along the residential part of the quay day and night, whether it be from soot/engines or noise from Haven Bridge down towards the Harbour?

P LONG

Great Yarmouth

Clocks changed,

lights haven’t

Last year when everyone was looking for ways of saving money the local council decided the street lights which were on all night could be switched off at midnight. The engineers came round and altered the timing mechanisms and off they went. Being a quiet village it wasn’t a problem, so money was being saved. However when we put the clocks on at the beginning of April, nobody thought about the lights so now they stay on until 1am. If you are going to save money you are defeating the object of the exercise. Okay it’s only an hour but we do have a lot of lights.

G GASS

Station Road South,

Belton

‘Back yard’ build

will spoil views

I was shocked to receive a letter from the planning department of Great Yarmouth Borough Council as I found that plans have been put in for a three storey, four bedroom house and garage to be built in the gardens at the rear of Jary’s the undertakers on Gorleston High Street. If this build goes ahead it will spoil the views of most of the residents close by. We paid a premium for our houses because of the river views, but it seems that this counts for nothing.

Riverside Road is very narrow and often floods so would be impassable at times and look at what happened on Cliff Hill/Beach Road. When homes were built there the steps close to them collapsed. The same thing could happen here. Also there are big electric cables that go underground past there and one about 18ft above ground - that is why we are not allowed to park there. It is another case of “back yard builders” which needs to be stopped or there will be no gardens at all.

I am disabled and spend a lot of time in bed but I can watch the river boats go by. If this goes ahead all I will see is a big brick wall, lovely. Please don’t let this build go ahead.

VERA DYBLE

High Street,

Gorleston

We were ignored

by councillors

On April 17 the annual parish meeting for Bradwell was held. Item five on the agenda was county and borough councillors reports and not one of these turned up. Their task and duty was to tell us the voters and residents of this area what had happened during the past year. To make matters worse not one of them had the courtesy of putting in a written report. I know there were two Bradwell residents at this meeting who had questions for them, but we the voters and general public along with the parish council were totally ignored. Making matters worse other people on the agenda making reports for us the public to hear turned up including the police who were probably far busier looking after our interests than the absantee polticians. With an example like this no wonder the general public stays at home rather than going out to vote with them at elections. Think how much money could be saved each year if we had half the number of politicians in the Lords, commons, county halls and town halls across England.

BRIAN E CALLAN

Bussey’s Loke, Bradwell

Upset after grave

flowers are cut

On visiting our son’s grave today (Wednesday) we found all the tulips had been cut. This has left Shawn’s mum very upset and at odds with why someone would nick flowers from a grave. Maybe the person could not afford a few bulbs to plant.

Maybe they need planting themselves. On speaking to others this is not a one off, it happens frequently from the Gorleston Crematorium.

MRS SEXTON

Parkland Drive, Bradwell