Ivory demands action on faulty water main
Burst water main brings disruption to the coast for the third time this year
North Norfolk's Conservative Spokesman, Trevor Ivory, has written to Anglian Water
demanding action after a water main on the Cromer Road outside of Sheringham burst for the
third time this year causing a loss of trade for Sheringham's shops at the height of the
Christmas season and forcing busses to divert or terminate.
"Accidents happen, but this is the third leak this year in this location and it has
taken over a week to get the road open again. This meant that Sheringham's already
recession-hit traders missed out on business over a busy pre-Christmas weekend as people
could not get into the town," Mr Ivory explained.
"And it is not just Sheringham's traders who have been affected; residents in the
area and those living in The Runtons have had busses diverted and in some cases,
terminated. Whatever the problem is Anglian Water need to deal with it once and for
all."
Mr Ivory has written to the water company asking for an explanation and demanding that
action is taken to make sure that the problem is resolved once and for all.
First London, Then The Netherlands
Lamb Takes Norfolk's Coastal Concerns To The Top Norman Lamb recently took a delegation
from North Norfolk to meet with the new Chairman of the Environment Agency, Lord Smith, to
put the case for local communities at the highest level.
At the meeting were leaders of local Parish Councils, Peter Frew from the District
Council together with Deputy Leader of the Council, Clive Stockton and also coastal
campaigner and head of Coastal Concern Action Group, Malcolm Kerby.
Also attending the meeting was Yarmouth MP, Tony Wright. "This was a really
important opportunity for us to drive home to the new Chairman the importance of treating
local communities fairly, doing everything we can to defend communities from the sea.
Where homes are lost to the sea, there must be a scheme of compensation to help those who
lose everything," said Norman Lamb.
The meeting came in the aftermath of the leaked Natural England
report which caused such controversy earlier in the year. Lord Smith gave an interview to
the Independent newspaper soon after his appointment in which he again raised the
possibility of land being lost to the sea.
He also hinted at support for financial assistance for those who lose their homes.
In the same week Norman Lamb and Malcolm Kerby visited The Netherlands to meet with
policy makers and campaigners to understand better the way the Dutch deal with the massive
challenge of rising sea levels caused by global warming.
"We frequently hear comments about how the Dutch do things. We want to find out
for ourselves exactly what their strategy is. If there are things to learn for the UK then
we should be willing to find out," said Mr Lamb. |
A GREEN NEW YEAR TO HELP BEAT THE ECONOMIC
CRUNCH
Green Councillors across Eastern Region are calling for a package of measures to help
people beat the economic crunch, widely expected to be hitting hard in 2009.
Councils can take steps to help householders and businesses both directly, and
indirectly through better advice on energy saving. Greens are proposing a ten point plan
for 2009.
Cllr. Rupert Read, Prospective Green MEP for Eastern Region said: "The Green New
Deal, which Green Party Leader Caroline Lucas helped to develop, offers a substantial and
realistic way of helping people through hard times whilst at the same time helping to
tackle the big environmental issue of our day - climate change. The incoming new US
President is proposing a similar approach. Yet the UK Government's focus appears to
be a short term spend-now-pay-later policy which will take the UK's finances into even
more dangerous territory. Trying to get people to spend more in the shops on the back of a
VAT cut will result in more imports due to the UK's manufacturing base now being so small.
The Greens want to see real long term investment in our communities, to help local
shops and businesses, lower people's energy bills and make public transport better and
cheaper. These are sound, substantial measures to help build a more sustainable future -
good for the environment and the economy."
The Green 10 point plan for 2009
- Councils to broaden their assistance to households to secure better insultation and to
help generate their own green energy with the aim of curbing fossil fuel emissions and
lowering bills.
- Councils to provide more allotments so that more people can grow their own low cost
healthy local food.
- Councils to use planning powers to help secure more affordable housing and develop
premises for local manufacturing, particularly in redeveloping vacant previously used
sites - this will boost local jobs.
- Transport authorities to work with bus companies to improve services and lower fares,
giving people more choices to using cars - this will lower pollution and cut fuel bills.
- Councils to review their own energy use and invest to save by using timers and sensors
to switch off lights and appliances when not in use - this will help to lower Council Tax.
- Councils to expand recycling facilities to allow more people to recycle more things.
Better recycling will cut landfill tax costs and stave off ill-conceived plans for highly
expensive, polluting waste incinerators.
- Better advice to householders to help them save quickly and simply on electricity bills,
such as by fitting low cost sensors on outside lights so they are only on when needed.
- Highways authorities to invest more in walking and cycling schemes so that people do not
need to use their cars so much on short journeys - this will also help people save on fuel
bills.
- Education authorities to make it much easier for school children and college students to
access public transport, wherever they live. This will cut the school run, curb congestion
and lower fuel costs for motorists.
- Councils to do whatever they can, including working with holding companies, to keep
rentals on local shops, pubs and post offices as low as possible.
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