September 2006 Newsletter

Last Seething Control Tower Open Day for 2006.

I am a great supporter of the Seething Control Tower, which is open on the first Sunday of the Month from May to October 1am - 5pm.  [Entry Free].  This is a different type of living memorial to the 498 young American were killed or are still missing in action from November 1943 to June 1945 from Seething's 448th Group alone.

And on October 1st an American television documentary about the 448th and the links between the 448th men and the local people is being filmed and those working on it will be over from USA for this last open day.  There are many people still in Seething who remember the American Servicemen and this documentary aims to capture their memories on film.

So, why not come and see the filming and the other wartime memorabilia showing Rodeos at Carrow Road, Children's Parties, Base Dances. Wartime weddings, and the 448th Bombardment Group(H) at work and play.    Read their personal stories and see the many exhibits on display.  For more information contact Pat Everson 01508 550787 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For those that attended the Seething Air Day in July, over £4000 was raised for the Air Ambulance and Local Hospice.  Well done to James Barber, Tony Jeckells and their team.

Register to Vote Online

South Norfolk has one of the highest proportions of people registered to vote of any district in the country because we're fortunate that we have a stable population without a high proportion of houses converted into flats with a high turnover of tenants that you find in the cities.

The new electoral roll canvass is being published and you should have received a letter inviting you to register to vote.  You can return the form if there are changes or renew your entry online using the instructions on the form.  I have renewed my entry online and it only takes a few moments.  It was quick and easy.

If you are a resident in South Norfolk you need to return your completed electoral registration form as soon as possible (no later than 15 November 2006), if you want to vote in the forthcoming District and Parish Council elections, to be held on 3 May 2007.  All households in the District should receive a form by no later than Monday 11 September.

There will be an election on 3rd May next year so take a moment to think about whether you might be away on holiday over the spring bank holiday.  If you might be, it's easy to apply for a postal vote now by clicking the right box when you fill in the form either online or on the paper form.  Your vote is important and you'll only be able to vote if you register!

Parish Council Elections

On 3rd May next year I will be standing for election as your District Councillor for another 4 year term.  But did you know that there will also be elections for your Parish Council if you live in Brooke, Seething, Mundham or Bergh Apton.

Parish Councillors perform a vital function and their Parish Councils meet perhaps six weeks to discuss matters such as local planning permissions, village play areas & amenities and to set the village precept.  Councillors are elected every four years and the work is voluntary.  Councils in this part of the district are strictly non-political.

In one final irony, my own bin is not weighed as my waste is collected on the 'Transit' round by a small refuse van, which cannot fit the monitoring equipment so people in isolated houses are excluded from the spy-in-the-bin surveillance!

John Swindells

It's always difficult to single-out individuals for special recognition when they pass away but over 200 people attended the memorial service for John Swindells of The Street, Brooke, who died in August.  John was a man who had been intimately involved in so many Brooke projects:  The Village Hall, The Church Room, Councillor, The Church Roof [the last time!], Parish Council Chairman & numerous village clubs and societies:  Over 50 years of stout service to our village.   He will be greatly missed and I offer my condolences to Leslie and the family.

Support your Post Office with Car Tax Renewals

Nowadays you can renew your car tax online.  It's quick and convenient but before you do that, take a moment to think about your post office.  Not all Post Offices are able to renew car tax discs [Bergh Apton & Seething post offices included] but Robin Stamp at Brooke Post Office can renew your tax disc.  Every transaction he performs helps assure the survival of his business.

So, before you renew your disc online or travel to the Post Office in Norwich to queue for 30 minutes make a resolution to renew your tax disc in Brooke.  If we don't use our post offices, they'll close and we'd all miss that.

Funding for your Community Project

Have you or any group within your community got an idea about a project they would like to do and from which the community will benefit? Need some funding?  Want to discuss your project?  Florence Ellis, The Council's Community Funding Officer is available on 01508 533642.

How Green is your Suit?

Before 31 October 2006 all existing dry cleaners operating in South Norfolk must have applied to Environmental Services for a Pollution Prevention and Control permit to operate to control the solvents used by dry cleaners which react to form ground-level ozone.  In fact most cleaners in South Norfolk have already registered but this is a small step to ensuring that the irritating ozone emissions are reduced, particularly in the summer, when strong sunlight reacts with the chemicals to produce a brown smog.

Bergh Apton Landfill Site

The Bergh Apton Parish Council has leased the reclaimed part of the landfill site from Norfolk County Council for use as a public open space.  I welcome this initiative and look forward to the day when the ribbon will be cut and it can be used as a footpath and quiet conservation area.

The New Local Plan

Did you know that 11,000 houses must be built in South Norfolk between 2001 and 2021.  I'll say that number again:  11,000.  Yes, that's 25% more houses in the district.  Now, thousands of new houses have already been given planning permission in Costessey, Hethersett, Wymondham, Poringland & Cringleford so it's not quite as bad as the headline figure suggests.

Nevertheless, the district must find space for about 4-5,000 new planning permissions in the next 15 years.  What a Liberty!  If The Government helped to provide the infrastructure it might not be so bad but Mr Prescott passed bad laws that forces developers to build cramped estates with nowhere to play and nowhere to park.  It's just wrong.

The new local plan attempts to work-out where to put these new houses, most of which will be in the "Norwich Policy Area", which forms a do-nut around the City, which includes Poringland but excludes Brooke.

The plan has been delayed again until next year but I am campaigning to ensure that Brooke and surrounding villages are NOT absorbed into the Norwich Policy Area.  The buffer between Brooke & Poringland is important and should not be built upon with these new estates containing at least 14 houses/acre.  We must protect the rural character of villages like Brooke with only modest infill developments not massive numbers of new houses.

The Political Bit: Labour's Great Garden Grab

As always, I'll finish with a little Political Rant!

Britain’s gardens are under increasing threat of being grabbed and covered in concrete. In neighbourhoods across the country, planning rules drawn up by John Prescott are forcing the demolition of homes with gardens, to be replaced with ‘highdensity’ buildings. Gardens are not protected as ‘green space’, but are treated as ‘brownfield land’ – just like an old industrial site.

We've seen this on the Norwich Road in Poringland where land owners applied for a second home in their garden and then immediately put the house for sale on the market at an inflated price.  And local residents and councillors are increasingly powerless to prevent the over-development of neighbourhoods, and infill of green spaces.

Did you know that a new ‘land use’ database is being developed of every garden in the country, by making extensive use of aerial and satellite photography. Taxpayers are footing the bill for these ‘spies in the sky’, which will help town hall or Whitehall bureaucrats pick out the gardens to grab.  In South Norfolk our own "Urban Capacity Study" even included Council Car Parks in places like Loddon in the list as sites for potential development.  This is wrong.

It seems to me that we should

1    protect gardens, by changing planning rules to give stronger protection to green spaces and maintain the character of local neighbourhoods.

2    Ensure that new homes are made more eco-friendly, and remove Whitehall rules that are stopping new homes being built with sufficient parking and garden space.

3    And to abolish unelected regional assemblies which tell us we have to build 11,000 new houses in South Norfolk

I'd be pleased to discuss these issues with anyone who contacts me.