Thanks to two who helped me
I would like to thank the young woman and young man who helped me to move my car after it broke down near the roundabout and junctions of Middleton Road and Lowestoft Road, Gorleston. The young woman also gave me a lift in her car to Yarmouth. Once again I thank you very much, from a thankful 80-year-old.
RON RUMSBY
Address withheld
Paying the price of austerity
According to the Unemployment Briefing September 2017, the number of claimants in Great Yarmouth this month was 2505, and we are told “no districts registered a rise in their claimants in September, however Great Yarmouth experienced by far the greatest decline (-10.1pc)
However other figures tell a different story, in Great Yarmouth 6,000 people on Universal Credit, Food Bank users up 87pc since Universal Credit introduced, rent arrears increasing, evictions in the private rented sector increasing, homelessness increasing, the number of people on zero hours contracts increasing.
Jobs under threat throughout the public sector, and now all Community Police Support Officers in Great Yarmouth to be axed.
Austerity is not working, and Great Yarmouth is paying the price.
Cllr Trevor Wainwright
Magdalen Ward.
Leader, Labour Group
Let’s try open surgery system
It has always been difficult to understand why people such as Theresa Whitmore have to wait so long to see a doctor.
One surgery in the north west has an “open surgery” every weekday. Any who arrive before 10am will be seen by a doctor though they will have to wait longer than those who have an appointment.
It should not be too difficult to organise such a system in Great Yarmouth especially if surgeries across the borough co-operate.
By the way, Theresa may be wrong to blame the NHS. Doctors are self-employed.
J F LAMBERT
Elmgrove Road,
Gorlestond
No trains, but a bus service!
I’ve just read the article about the roadworks on the A47 at Acle and wondered if you knew that they are also cancelling rail journeys on Friday, October 27. Abellio are offering an alternative bus route in place of the 35-minute train journey from Great Yarmouth to Norwich which takes one hour five minutes.
What a disaster on the roads for half-term week, they appear to be digging up the whole of Yarmouth.
SHELLY SAUNDERS
Airshow agenda is excellent news
Another bash by the Greater Yarmouth Tourism and Business improvement Area (GYTBIA) cashing in on having an airshow next year in place of the one we were to have this year is excellent news.
The article in the Mercury last week (October 20) struck me and several others as ludicrous. GYBC does not need help in getting a less than poor reputation. The last paragraph states: “Council officers warned if the airshow did not take place again there will be a risk of damage to the council’s reputation by association.”
The council officers cannot be serious, the present councillors worrying about their reputation? It is a little late to worry about that, their reputation went out of the window after drinking champers on South Beach welcoming the non existent ferry to and from Europe. Or the cash down the drain for the failed TV screens in the Market Place.
Wasn’t there something concerning our cash and Iceland? From Nelson’s Monument to the harbour mouth there are plots of council land empty, does the council think the ratepayers are blind to this failure? Does the council put sale or lease boards up? Of course not!
Four years ago I asked about this. It must be difficult putting an advertising board up.
JOHN L COOPER
Burnt Lane,
Gorleston
Men who gave their lives in Korea
I am acting on behalf of the authorities at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery Busan South Korea, where over 800 British Servicemen are buried.
The authorities there wish to obtain photographs of those servicemen interred there, and also of those who died but have no known grave. Copies of the photographs will be placed in the man’s records, and, will also be displayed on the walls of the Cemetery Hall of remembrance, for all time.
The following names are some of the young men from the East Anglia area who gave their lives in Korea:
Capt David L Astley-Cooper, Pte George H Overy, Capt John L Lane, 2nd Lt Jonathan Wormald, Pte Maurice A Bell, Fus Derek T Mack, Spr Ernest H Comer, S/Lt M J Beardsall (RN), Pte Douglas Cason, Spr Richard A Baldwin, L/Cpl Edgar Otley, Capt Leonard P Hicks, Pte Peter S Boatman, Drv David H Lockyer.
Any family, or friend, who lost a loved one in the Korean War 1950-53, and wish to take part can send the photograph to me: Brian Hough, 116 Fields Farm Rd. Hyde SK14 3NP. If more details are required you can call me on, 0161 368 5622 or 07467037742.
You can also email bhough116@gmail.com
BRIAN HOUGH
This event venue recommended
On October 14, I celebrated a significant birthday and instead of the usual hiring a function room or a pub, decided to approach SeaChange Arts for use of The Drill House on York Road.
Nothing was too much trouble with my varying requests and what a superb venue this turned out to be! It was the first time The Drill House has been used for a private function and I highly recommend it for the larger group party.
I was able to arrange to hire some of the quirky Out There décor, there is a licensed bar which I was able to have an extended licence for and more than adequate space for a five-piece band to play and perform. The catering by Quayside Plaza, as ever, was superb.
So, if you are arranging a large get together, for whatever reason, please consider The Drill House, York Road. You won’t be disappointed, a hidden gem of a venue.
GILLIAN STOLWORTHY
I am in total pain and need help
I am waiting for a hip replacement and had my first two assessments and am waiting for my final one. In the meantime the pain is unbearable and increases every day and walking is getting worse.
Now I have to spend most of my day in bed with my legs raised unable to walk. Where do I go for help? Why has it got this bad? Who cares? My family can not get the help we need. It is very upsetting. There is nobody to help us and the pain is horrendous. My GP has been very helpful with pain relief but he can only do so much. It is very difficult to get on top of it. I need help but can not get it.
K DRAKE
Braddock Road,
Gorleston
Jeremy’s talk was informative
I was very pleased to be in the audience last Saturday at Christchurch, when Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell addressed a packed venue. This was arranged by the local Labour Party and was a very informative and interesting experience. Actually it was quite surreal to see such prominent politicians sitting on the stage but they made it a user friendly experience and everyone gained by this political encounter and Jeremy Corbyn also praised such an attractive Methodist Hall.
They covered a great many subjects including the rationale as to how they did so well in the recent election, confounding many peoples’ expectations and how the youth vote has been transformed.
The Conservative Party are now endeavouring to copy their digital experience but Labour spearheaded the way in this comparatively new form of communication. Yes it was admitted they did not win but have now forged a consummate way forward and are rightly fighting for necessary changes to Universal Credit and its flawed and callous implementation.
We do need a strong and committed opposition in this country where our Government has so many mixed messages, signalling dire consequences or otherwise for the outcome of Brexit.
Mental health issues were also raised and how it is so sadly affecting our young people and more resources need to be directed to helping them through difficult times.
Young Kai Morris spoke up about the closure threat to Alderman Swindell School and was given full marks for his eloquence by John McDonnell, also a young man about the possible merger of Trafalgar College and Great Yarmouth Charter Academy spoke extremely articulately as well. I have great faith in the younger generation who can offer see a bigger and less vested interest picture than more hardened and battle weary adults.
Political life is extremely turbulent these days and there are so many contentious issues but if a Leader of the Labour Party and his Shadow Chancellor can make a cracking case for more inclusivity and a less unequal country, more electoral power to them.
JUDITH A DANIELS
Winifred Road,
Cobholm
Community rallied to help woman
While travelling back home from the school run Thursday afternoon I was part of a group of strangers who all helped each other and especially the poor lady in distress.
Having just pulled out of Decoy Road, Ormesby Saint Margaret, me and my family witnessed a lady walking her dog and in the next minute she had unfortunately fallen over.
We stopped at the side of the road and in no time at all we must have had eight or nine other people on school runs etc stop and help.
I just wanted to thank all of the people for stopping and offering to help, you know who you are! From the residents offering tea to the lady and to the lady on her mobile phone calling the emergency services.
Wonderful community spirit and in a world of negative news at the moment this was a great positive for our borough.
Thank you for stopping. Thank you for helping.
CLLR JAMES BENSLEY
East Flegg Ward,
Hemsby
Only an extra 2.8 miles to go
In response to your recent article on the roadworks on the A47 in the Mercury, why would any sane person wishing to travel from Great Yarmouth to Norwich during the road closure at Acle, travel via Beccles?
Simply diverting through Acle onto South Walsham Road and taking a left turn at Green Lane will return a driver to the A47 beyond the proposed roadworks with an extra distance of approximately 2.8 miles.
FRED SIMEONS
South weather brings the winds
Woe is me! Please do not let us get too complacent over these weather-breeding high pressures coming to us from the south. They will just deliver us stronger winds.
JACK DYE
Gonville Road,
Gorleston
Why move pupils in such haste?
As a local resident living on Jellicoe Road, I am disheartened to hear that Alderman Swindell School is to close. Both schools are unfit for purpose, why hastily move children?
Instead of qualified infant teachers losing their jobs it would have made more sense to move teachers that children already know. Are there any potential building plans in place?
How long to build a new school and when will it be ready? What about disruption to my road, changing the roundabout? What about the impact of the racecourse, especially on racedays?
Where are the parking plans, if any?
The county council has hastily made a decision to close the school, I take it that they have also made building plans but I have not been made aware of any. What will be the cost of this build?
I went to a meeting for local residents to ask questions about our concerns. We were told a merger, rubbish, it was a closure – big difference.
This town has always been it’s not what you know but who you know, is this the answer I wonder? When election time is here it makes me wonder who to vote for.
Answers to my questions would be greatly appreciated as I am very concerned.
Mrs L CKLARK
Closure resulted in nothing new
I do hope, when the Highways Department close the Acle Straight, this time we notice a difference.
I recall when it was closed earlier this year for two weeks for safety measures and new safety signs no-one noticed any difference or new signs. It was all just an inconvenience.
The best thing they could do is put sensor lights at Halvergate. I know this would not be a popular move as it would slow traffic but it would also mean people do not risk their lives at that junction!
To save lives I would be happy for this to happen. If they were sensors they would only change when someone pulled up at that junction.
Just had to say my bit as have travelled down the Acle Straight for 10 years. It is not the road that is bad it’s the impatient drivers who take risks for the sake of dual carriageway eight miles down the road.
FRANCES STOCKLEY
A double whammy of roadworks
My husband and I travel to Cambridge and Hertfordshire from Hemsby weekly for work. I finish in Cambridge at 8.30pm after two consecutive 12.5 hour shifts in the NHS and he is a paramedic so his finish times are unpredictable.
We then drive the two and 2.5 hours home after our set of shifts. I already have to detour on the A11 between Thetford and Norwich due to night roadworks and by the time I hit Acle at 10pm I just want to be home.
This is going to be a nightmare. We work long days in the NHS, for little pay and then fall foul to the “night roadworks” after our shifts. Double whammy.
HANNAH YELDMAN
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