Re-opening road needs to be priority

This business of the traffic mayhem on the Breydon Bridge last week seems to have focused on the wrong thing. Okay we need a new bridge, (although we still have one more than Lowestoft), but what about the four hours it took before the road was reopened again?

This is what we should be complaining about in the short term.

Some years ago I witnessed a similar incident, (four cars, relatively minor shunt, though admittedly not on a bridge), while driving through France, near Dinard in Brittany. Here the first priority was the same, attending to the injured, but the second was to re-open the road as quickly as possible before dealing with other sundry matters.

Time before the traffic flow was resumed: approximately 40 minutes.

Here the order of priorities seems to be as follows:

1 Attend to the injured.

2 Declare an accident scene/crime scene.

3 Produce tape to rope off area, making sure that nothing is moved.

4 Summon Chalk Outline Man.

5 Notify all relevant agencies, (if there was a dog on the back seat, the RSPCA, and so on).

6 Interview those who were involved in the incident.

7 Interview those who witnessed the incident.

8 Clear the road ready for through traffic.

9 Wait for the Highways Agency to check for spillages and declare the road clear.

10 Re-open the road for through traffic.

Time before the traffic flow was resumed: approximately four hours.

Lessons to be learned here but I wouldn’t hold your breath. I’m only surprised it didn’t take longer.

MIKE SPRAGG

Collingwood Road,

Great Yarmouth

Sadness at play area news

Very, very sad to find out the play area at Fritton lake is closing due to more chalets being built. That’s alright for rich holidaymakers but where’s the fun now for local people to go with children? It’s not fair as it was a lovely place to spend the day in good weather.

Outdoor areas are lacking in Gorleston, Yarmouth and local places.

JENNIFER ELLIOTT

email

Theatre show was a great success

Congratulations to Gorleston Theatre Company who hatched up such an enjoyable musical with their production of Honk! at Gorleston Pavilion last week.

If it was good enough for the West End where this Styles and Drew show is currently being revived a decade after it was first seen at the National Theatre it was certainly good enough for the East coast where this company did it proud thanks to director Jeannie Kinkaid; choreographer Louise Archer and musical director Sorrel Adams.

Some may have thought this modern version of the famous Hans Christian Anderson fable of the Ugly Duckling was only for children but it wasn’t at all; children played their part well as young ducklings but the rest of the cast were polished adults including some highly impressive new faces, particularly Andrea Whiting as the mother duck and Neville Rowell as Ugly, both of them making debuts with superb voices; Chris Whiting also excelled as the scheming French cat.

This was total theatre magic, a story of animals without anyone dressing in feathers and fur but told with acting skill, minimal sets and audience imagination.

Having never seen this show before it was a special treat for me. After their much acclaimed play in January GTC seem to be on a roll and we can all look forward with eager anticipation to that hit musical comedy Me and My Girl in the autumn.

TONY MALLION

Lowestoft Road,

Gorleston

Easter hit by town theatre group

What more can I say than what a fantastic show at Gorleston pavilion this Easter.

It was truly amazing. Well done to everyone who took part in this performance, such a great family within the Gorleston Theatre Company.

Great to see all the help from all involved, I must say superstars all around look forward to the next one.

EMMA FLAXMAN-TAYLOR

Via email

Where have the lights gone?

Why have all the lights gone out at the bus station at Temple Road again?

For a few days it was well lit and there was wide rejoicing among the people of the town.

This idyll did not last for long. It soon came to pass that the townspeople were thrown back into a dark and dingy pit to await their buses and taxis.

Visitors were appalled at such lack of care to greet them and called upon the citizens to get their leaders ‘to pull their fingers out’ but there was not a listening ear

Lo! the people are condemned to walk in a dark, forbidding area until civic pride prevails

BRENDA TAYLOR

Via email

My delight at trough action by team

It is sometimes the little things in life that are really pleasing. As a councillor on the environment committee we work hard at improving the environment surroundings, so I had requested the old horse trough on the Lower Promenade at Gorleston to be planted up instead of just weeds and rubbish in it.

After three/four years of asking I would like a big thank you to Great Yarmouth Services for stepping in and sorting my request. It is always good to give credit when it is due. GYBS very often receives a lot of criticism but in this case a big well done and thank you.

Cllr Sylvia Pratt

Borough’s MP should be praised

Reading the blogs that appeared on line after Brandon Lewis’s announcement to stand in the snap general election on the 8th of June, most are just muck slinging as they have no other nominee to compare him with.

Brandon is in his second term as our MP, he has been working diligently behind the scenes on several long term projects.

The dualling of the Acle Straight, working with the Highways on the numerous trouble spots in and around our borough.

Working with industry in securing part of the wind turbine industry coming to our port. Then there is the young apprentices that are starting with the various companies that are in our borough.

This is no mean effort on Brandon’s part, collectively they are something to shout about, but at each hurdle he is not going to say “hey look at me at what I have done.

There is one thing to bear in mind, under the previous MP our port was given away, our hard earned £20million grant was given away, Brandon Lewis MP on an uneven playing field has done more for the borough by giving nothing away.

JOHN L COOPER

Burnt Lane,

Gorleston

Disgust at villages footpath row

I was reading in the papers of a dispute of a footpath between Winterton Valley Estate and Long Beach Estate, Hemsby.

This footpath has been used by residents and holiday makers alike as a shortcut for years. I first started using the footpath over 50 years ago when I moved to Hemsby in 1962.

According to the article I was reading new owners of an adjoining property are saying it is legally part of their garden. It goes on to say that to get it designated as a right of way planning permission would be needed. I think this it is disgusting when this happens.

P Turner

Fleggburgh