Letters, August 24, 2012

to donated tools?

I HAVE just been shown the article in the Mercury of August 3, regarding the sale of the exhibits from the Sutton Broads Museum collection.

Many years ago I donated some of my late father’s carpentry tools and magazines to the Museum and at the time was assured by Chris Nunn that the collection would always stay together, I cannot remember exactly what the arrangement was, but I think that it was insured or a Heritage collection or something? Now I read that the collection is to be split up and sold at auction, presumably to the highest bidder.

If I had known that this would be allowed to happen I would not have donated to the Museum, I would also very much like the items returned to me. My father lived in Sutton as a boy and it was important to me that my donations stayed there.

I wonder if any more local people think the same way as me. It seems a terrible shame to split up such an important and large collection. Can anything be done to stop this sale?

DAVID CHETTLEBURGH

Catfield

We profess to be a family resort?

I WAS interested, but not surprised, to see that the licensing authorities have approved another all night venue over the bank holiday until 6am in Great Yarmouth, and also yet another shop able to sell alcohol to all hours.

This is a town which professes to be a family resort and yet we have numerous bars and clubs that open until 6am? I suggest the licensing authorities get up at, say 4am and go down to the seafront and I’m sure they will be delighted in what they see and hear.

We recently visited the excellent circus and visited a seafront pub after the show and that was an experience in itself, and well before midnight!

Name and Address withheld

Olympics made me feel so proud

I NOTE the usual moans and groans in the letters page , some of them justified, but after a great 17 days of the Olympics I don’t see much praise for the event. From the building of the site on contaminated land, coming in on time; the transport which did not end in chaos, the fantastic effort of the thousands of volunteers, and finally the best medal result we have ever had.

It makes my chest bulge with pride in fact it is bulging so much that I am in danger of looking like Dolly Parton.

GERRY JARVIS

Email

Bus station loos

in a scary place

I HAVE just been made aware with horror that the toilet near Great Yarmouth bus station is to be unmanned.

This is a real disgrace. Have any of the councillors been down to these toilets? You either go down steps or up slope to the toilets - in what I would consider to be an alleyway.

Whatever way you approach you pass several archways in the old Town Wall.

Can they not see they will make this a muggers’ paradise. There are far too many places to hide and once it’s known the toilets are unmanned I dread to think what may happen. At least you stand a bit of a chance if there is an attendant there.

I, for one, would not enter that area if I know I am on my own. So come on, Yarmouth councillors, it’s not only money you have to consider it’s health and safety too.

Please visit and check out what I mean, there are already too many muggings now without making it easy for them!

GILLIAN AKERMAN

Email

Other roads have cars parked

IN response to the article regarding the adoption of Jenner Road and the rest of the estate by county highways, I am somewhat bemused by the comments regarding how “dangerous” this road is.

How is this road any more dangerous than any of the many other roads in the borough that are used as through roads and that have cars parked either side of the road? At least on Jenner Road it is a 20mph speed limit and the design of the estate means that on the whole cars are not able to drive at a higher speed.

My wife and I have parked on the road in order to drop off or collect items at the hospital and have not seen any instances of driveways being blocked which would cause obvious problems.

I appreciate there may be instances of inconsiderate parking at times but this happens everywhere and is not isolated to this estate.

There will be some people on the estate that will say I do not have to live with the situation but I used to live on a road that had parking on either side of the road and was used by “boy racers” as a short cut so I am well aware accidents can, and do, occasionally happen but again this is no different to any other road in the country.

I know this issue has been on going since the estate was opened but putting down double yellow lines will only cause more problems on the surrounding areas as the drivers will try and find somewhere else to park. As far as I am aware the majority of houses on the estate have off road parking so what is the problem with the road being used by other car drivers?

The cost of parking in the hospital car park is prohibitively high for people working at, or regularly visiting patients, in the hospital. If you visit the hospital twice a day it will cost you over �5 per day or over �40 per week which in these tough economic times most people can ill afford this additional cost.

The hospital was built long before the estate so it is not as if any of the residents were not aware of the potential issues prior to moving in? To me this seems to be a prime example of nimbyism by a few residents that feel their estate should not be subject to the same traffic issues that affect many others day in day out throughout the borough.

Name and Address withheld

How will store

boost economy?

DEVELOPERS hope rates relief offered as part of the Enterprise Zone to boost local economy.

Above a snippet from the front page of last week’s Mercury. Now it was only March this year the media was full of Enterprise Zones and Local Development Orders. EZs. and LDOs were advertised as the way forward to bring energy-related companies into the two areas of the borough – the South Denes Peninsular and Beacon Park.

By no stretch of the imagination is Sainsbury energy related.

The article goes on to say “The new store will create hundreds of new local jobs and will provide more choice for shoppers” In a straight line, north to south, we have Asda, Tesco, Rainbow, Morrison, and Somerfield in Hopton. One can see shoppers have 100pc choice in the current situation.

Another quote: “It is hoped it will complement what the town centre already offers and provide for the Beacon Park Enterprise Zone site.” Mr. Wainwright speaks as if Gorleston is not a reality.

A final quote: “A council master-plan for Beacon Park envisages the retail centre so new residents and those already living nearby will not have to rely on cars for shopping.”

A silly statement, if one does just half a weeks shop they will need transport.

Nowhere in any council document on LDOs or EZs do they speak of retail centre master-plan.

This whole article is a repetition of the 2007 outer harbour fiasco. Councillors grabbing at the first thing that comes along, nothing thought through, and definitely no consideration to the existing businesses in Gorleston that employ some of the friendliest staff in the borough.

And how are Asda, Tesco, Rainbow, Morrison, and Somerfield going to take the favouritism of reduced business rates given to Sainsbury.

I think the council wants the present town centre Sainsbury site for a large multi-story car-park as Beach Station is now to be housing, and as usual Gorleston’s needs are overlooked; why not shut down Gorleston High Street for Yarmouth’s pleasure?

JOHN L COOPER

Burnt Lane,

Gorleston

We will provide 10 care beds

JANE Pettit’s letter in last week’s Mercury suggests that her organisation, St Elizabeth Hospice, can meet the need for specialist palliative care beds in Great Yarmouth and Waveney with just two beds on a two-year contract at All Hallows in Ditchingham.

We are raising �4m to provide a permanent hospice with the ten beds that local healthcare professionals acknowledge the area needs; and in a location convenient to the urban centres of Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft where the need is greatest.

Day services of the kind that St Elizabeth is increasingly providing locally are valuable, but frankly there is no substitute for a proper dedicated hospice. Jane knows this because she already has one in Ipswich!

DAVID NETTLESHIP

Chairman of the Trustees

East Coast Hospice

There is plenty

going on here...

WE were disappointed to see two negative reports in the Mercury this week. Mr Eggleton decries the lack of events for visitors to the town and Martin Halliday said: “We were shocked to learn that James Galway is being moved to the Minster which does not have an ideal acoustic for such an event”.

If Mr Halliday had been in St Nicholas Minster for the last two Wednesday recitals he would have found how wrong he is.

Music played by various string and wind instruments and the piano were heard brilliantly and the size of the Minster means many more people will be able to hear and see James Galway and the Orchestra of St John’s than the 300 which St George’s can hold.

As far as Mr Eggleton’s comments are concerned, the Great Yarmouth Arts Festival will be putting on a range of events from September 1 to 22. In addition to SPAN - an open submission art exhibition - in the Minster where we will have art produced by some of the top names in East Anglia and from further afield we will have the Cavick String Quartet, Great Yarmouth Brass, a new composition by Waveney and Blyth Arts “Translated by Reeds” with Colin Mabey, the highly acclaimed nature writer talking about East Anglia, and an organ recital each week.

In addition there will be a Flower Festival, a Preservation Road Show – when visitors can learn how to care for treasured family heirlooms, various illustrated talks, a Dickens evening at Somerleyton Hall and we will be promoting the great heritage we have in Great Yarmouth.

There will also be James Galway and the Orchestra of St John’s and may we invite your readers to come and sing Handel’s Messiah from scratch?

We hope this Festival will be supported by many of your readers and visitors to the town and those visitors might decide to come for a few days rather than just a day so helping the local economy. Further details may be found at www.greatyarmouthartsfestival.co.uk and tickets may be obtained from the Tourist Office, St George’s at the Drill House, York Road and from the Minster from 10-12.30pm during August and from 10-4.30pm (Sundays noon – 4.30pm) during the Festival. Tickets may also be ordered by telephoning 01493 843816.

We hope this letter answers the above negative comments and if this Festival is to become an annual event it needs the support of your readers.

JANE FREEMAN and HUGH STURZAKER

What? Another

supermarket?

I CANNOT believe reading last week’s Mercury front page that the borough council can even contemplate, let alone consider, granting planning permission for yet another supermarket/retail park in our town.

To add insult to our intellegence further, they come out with the old adage it will create new jobs, but that one has worn a bit thin. Perhaps if they (the council) concentrated their time and effort into attracting larger corporate manufacturers to build in this area, new jobs could be created.

Unfortunately, this will not happen. It takes a bit of effort and strength to do this, something this council has lacked for as long as I can remember.

If it’s that important to have another supermarket give them permission to build in the centre of the town the pit could do with revamp and you could get it free of charge.

JOHN LEGGETT

Carrel Road,

Gorleston-on-sea

An appeal to the

Buffalo Lodge

I WOULD like to know if there is still a Buffalo Grand Lodge in the Yarmouth area and if so could a member contact me on 01493 309127. My father was a member and was given the Knight of the Order of the Merit in 1962. His name was Herbert, I believe he was also a grand primo. I have a framed certificate belonging to him that might benefit a grand lodge.

M E HOLT,

Stone Road,

Cobholm

Salvation Army will be collecting

NEXT month, local Salvation Army members, friends and volunteers will be out collecting in the community to raise vital funds for the Big Collection, which supports the Salvations Army’s wide and diverse programme of life changing social and community work.

Collectors will be going door to door around the Yarmouth area and all of the donations made to the collection will help people in need. This year the Big Collection will help thousands of people everyday and illustrates the life-changing impact that unconditional Christian love, practical support and professional help can have on people who come in contact with the Salvation Army through any of our 800 social and community centres across the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Please watch out for our official Big Collection collectors who all carry a permit, which can be produced on request, and who will only be asking for cash donations using the Salvation Army donation envelopes. Donations can also be made to the Annual Appeal in our charity shop at 167 King Street, or by visiting www.salvationarmy.org.uk.bigcollection. If you have a few hours spare and would like to support the Big Collection by delivering or collecting envelopes, we’d love to hear from you.

GEORGINA and ROBERT SYMONS

Yarmouth Salvation Army

Please stop this bad behaviour

I HAVE been asked by various residents to write to you regarding the behaviour of some of the community that live generally around the King Street area.

This affects anyone on roads leading from it to the seafront at all times of the day.

Would anyone who knows these people, and who reads this, please ask them to stop, or point out to the individuals that the noise, drinking, vandalism, intimidating behaviour is only alienating themselves and breeding resentment towards themselves.

I for one cannot sleep at nights and am sick of paying for new door mirrors.

TONY LINCOLN

Great Yarmouth

Beach huts are �1,200 a season

MY friend and I noticed this week that beach huts were being offered for next summer on the prime piece of Gorleston prom, where council beach huts were for years. How come the land wasn’t offered to local people to put up their own beach huts?

My friend and I had a beach hut first on the beach, then on the promenade for 33 years. Then we hired the brick ones for 12 years, before being pushed out. They were inspected and condemned, so after 45 years of having a beach hut, we were told they were coming down.

I asked how much it would cost to have one of these new beach hut next year for the season and I was told �1,200! They certainly are not wanting local people with those prices.

Other seaside resorts charge a nominal rent, even Southwold, where most people own their own beach huts.

This is another case of Gorleston residents missing out. The council should have replaced their beach huts if they didn’t want individuals to have their own. We have waited years for them to make up their minds, and this decision is not fair.

The majority of council tax comes from this side of the river. But the borough council don’t want to know - give the amenities to private individuals and let them make money at our expense. Disgusted rate payer.

MRS E HORTON

Burgh Road,

Gorleston

No vote for the ward councillor

HAVING attended the borough council development committee meeting on August 14 to hear the planning application for development at Riverside Road, Gorleston, I feel compelled to write to express my concern.

Firstly, both developer and an officer of the council had commented on the “substantial” financial gain for the council of �860,000 should the application go through and, secondly, our ward councillor, Marlene Fairhead, as a member of the committee was told by the chairman that she could not vote because she had already written a letter several months ago objecting to the application on behalf of her constituents.

This one vote would have made a difference. Instead, the chairman, Mick Castle, decided to use his casting vote to approve the development.

Can I thank those councillors who, in my opinion, did the right thing by opposing the application for the many reasons put forward that evening and say that it now appears the concept of residents’ views being taken into account is no longer the case.

Name and Address withheld