Occasional Newsletter number 5, Feb 2009


"For people who know the meaning of resilience"
Major changes in the Friars


Many people live in the Friars because of the quality of life it offers us. A rural setting in an urban landscape; the rural setting is provided by Harding's Pits, the open river frontage, the lack of high density housing and the absence of busy roads. The Friars' Community Group has been warning for some time that this is under threat, and that threat is approaching. The County Council have made a bid for funds from the "Community Infrastructure Fund" to construct a road beside Harding's Pits and across the sluice joining the bottom of Millfleet. This road is being presented as a route for bus vehicles only, relieving London Road of 22 buses an hour. As we know, the Borough Council however have their own ideas regarding this part of town. These ideas are still in the melting pot and you can safely assume that when the time is appropriate we will bring you news.

Come to
Whitefriars School 7pm on Wednesday March 25th
when Norfolk County Council will give a presentation concerning their plans for a road from Wisbech Rd across Harding's Pits to Millfleet.


Notes from the "What if the Worst Should Happen" meeting

This is a brief resume of notes taken at the meeting.The Chairman Martin Swain welcomed Alison Haines from the Borough Council in charge of Emergency Planning for the Council, Tim Edwards from the Fire & Rescue Service, Dave Buckley from the Police, and Nigel Woonton from the Environment Agency, and they each in turn briefly introduced their role.Councils were required to set in place plans to deal with emergency situations following the 2006 Civil Contingencies Act. The Environment Agency produces the forecast and warning service essential for setting into motion the plans for flood emergencies. High tide prediction is now so accurate they can prepare 24 hours in advance and people are urged to sign up to the advance telephone warning system whereby people elect telephone numbers they wish to receive warnings on, details are included in the annual issue of the Flood Leaflet distributed to each household.
Flood Watch means observers are sent out to monitor the tides and low lying land, a Flood Warning means that some properties are expected to be flooded, and a Severe Flood Warning describes the likelihood of extensive flooding being possible. Evacuation is always the last resort, however, if the police require an evacuation you are urged to recognise that it is urgent and very real and to cooperate, however, nobody will be forcibly removed from their property. It was important also to bear in mind that lack of cooperation could so easily put at risk the welfare and lives of those in the emergency services.

1. One family regularly experience surface water flooding due to their property being below road level and the run off is beyond their control; it was explained that central government had as yet to allocate responsibility of surface water to a single body. This was under review but at present each householder has to make do with their lot and protect their property as best they can. The council is able to supply potential sources of commercially available products suitable for householders to defend their property against flooding.


2. Plans are still being drawn up for the various evacuation points, but there are 30,000 people at risk in the area concerned and 10 rest centres had been so far identified as potential sites including Lynnsport and Springwood school.


3. Regarding the risk of water rising up inside properties, no resources were available from government to reach every household, but concerned individuals would be wise to instruct surveyors to assess the risk and give advice. Properties undergoing major structural work to include drainage, should take the opportunity to insert butterfly valves in relevant pipes to minimise risk of floodwater flowing back into properties.


4. A question was asked how the Civil emergency team communicated their message to immigrant families where English is still a foreign language. It was stated that multi-lingual leaflets are being considered, but the practical problem is how to accurately distribute these to individuals as their location isn't always known, and migrant families are not always as forthcoming as the agencies would like as to where they live, and also another problem they face is that often these families are reluctant to communicate openly with the endogenous population.


5. The question of sirens was raised again, and it was explained that these were a legacy from the Second World War and were retained because of the threat from Russia in the 1960's. In 1992 they were sounded because of a present risk and it led to congestion as people flocked to the waterfront from outside the area to view the spectacle; if this had been an evacuation situation the extra influx would have hindered matters. Dave Buckley remarked that a) many people don't know what to do, b) not everyone can hear them over domestic noise and through insulated housing, and c) experience has shown that many people ignore them, perhaps because it wasn't clear what people had to do when they go off.


The meeting ended with appropriate thanks and the wish from the panel that the Friars' Community Group engage with the initiative to create a Civic Contingencies Plan for the Friars. A member has been approached to take the lead on this and any help offered to this end would be welcome.


If you were unlucky enough not to be able to attend this meeting and would have liked to, we are happily open to suggestions, not only from people regarding future subjects of concern, but of ways we can time meetings or communicate with people so everyone can benefit


Does it offend the eye?

Some while ago The Friars' Community Group conducted an environmental survey and the results of this have in some part resulted in improvements in the Friars. We now have additional routes of influence and lobbying and we propose to conduct another Environmental Audit of the Friars as there are still improvements that could be made. An Environmental Audit is simply an exercise resulting in a list being made of things to be improved and attempting to engage with those who have responsibility for those improvements.As part of this audit we hope to identify alleys that might benefit from having a gate in place to act as a crime deterrent. If your property is included in this survey we may write to you later to recommend such a gate and see if we can assist in any way. We have no money ourselves, but we might have access to others who could help with fitting a gate, if each party involved wish a gate erected to deter crime.


It will have been noted by the observant reader that the insect and bird life of the Friars have experienced a devastating blow in recent times with the cutting back of trees bushes & shrubs by Elsdens Almshouses. Others may wish to reflect that with the absence of suitable undergrowth cover, those who deposit litter along Friars Street no longer have a refuge for their chip paper. This is because the work of the CCTV camera at the playground has been hindered by these trees and bushes insofar as they have been hitherto unable to peer beyond Mrs Blackbird's nest along the direction of Friars St, and in order to uphold the law, these bushes have been transformed into a panorama unheard of in the Friars enabling the guardians of our liberty to follow malefactors as they process down Friars St with destruction in mind yet no longer able to escape capture. We can only rejoice that Friars St is safer now than before and look forward to reading of prosecutions of the ungodly cretins who smash cars in their wake.


Letters to the Editor

A letter has been received from a Mrs Trellis of North Wales;

Dear Radio Times,
I found a bag containing very expensive cosmetics masquerading as rubbish amongst my bushes the other day; what could this mean?

The Editor replies;
Dear Mrs Trellis,
The system among our local shoplifters is this; 1. nick the goods, 2, transfer to a scruffy plastic bag so it looks like rubbish, 3, head for home and dump the bag in bushes hoping the council won't clear it before dark so if the local police turn up to search they'll find nothing, 4, recover goods when it's all clear.


(If you come across a dodgy looking bag amongst some bushes or elsewhere, feel free to pick it up if you wish and if it contains contraband alert the police or the shop).


Przywitac Za West Norfolk

There can't be many of us who don't have, living nearby, people who come from foreign parts. You may know them personally, or you may just know about them.


Being a stranger in a strange land, (and let's be honest Norfolk IS strange which is why Travel editors in the Broadsheets consider us exotic enough to write about), can't be easy. To this end we learn that someone has compiled a booklet about the fundamentals of living here. Items include how to register at a school, doctor, dentist, how to pay tax, what the rules are regarding traffic laws, insurances etc and etc.
If you feel compassionate enough to help your neighbours these booklets are free of charge and may be obtained through the council front desk. The council Communications Officer is Sharon Clifton on 616711. They are also available in English. The booklets are called, "Welcome to West Norfolk" and are currently being updated and improved


Nunc est bibendum


The Police are to be congratulated for their efforts to redeploy the Hillington Square Society of Inebriates. These local residents of the town, many of them born and bred here, held court for many happy years in the Memorial Gardens Sherry Shelter where they remained out of harms way in a blithe community of their own. With the changes in the Memorial Gardens their usual place of refuge from the elements was unavoidably removed, and needing a venue out of the wind and within easy reach of a ready source whereby they could be refuelled without too much effort they spotted Hillington Square arch and 'saw that it was good'.

Every morning the 'Offie' would open at 10 and by half past the usual crew would be under the arch falling into the arms of Bacchus, remaining as upright as the grain would permit till long after the last shadow had disappeared from the Graveyard. Harmless enough they were, but an intimidating sight to many vulnerable people, the elderly and mothers with children in particular, and over a period of months the Police have encouraged them to find somewhere less intrusive to socialise. The efforts of the Police, and their willing cooperation, are to be thanked.


What is the problem?

It is a reasonable question to ask, 'What is the problem to which The Friars' Community Group is the answer?' In King's Lynn there is only a limited (and ineffective) route by which the man on the Clapham Omnibus can influence local government regarding the wishes of local people. The Friars' Community Group exists to assist in filling in that gap; we act as a conduit through which we can reach out and help you to become informed of what is happening to the environment in which you live, provide you information with which you can make an informed opinion, and either equip you to influence agencies at your will or act for you.

We aim to make The Friars area a better part of town in which to live by using whatever lawful means available to improve the visual aspects and also the infrastructure of the area. If this means we embarrass agencies into doing, or not doing, something that is deleterious to The Friars then so be it. Often in the past things have happened over which we have had little influence or information; but because we think what you think actually matters and should be listened to, our wish is that agencies consider the quality of life of the people of The Friars and ask us before they go ahead and interfere with it. If at the end of all efforts the agencies refuse to listen to the wishes of local people then it isn't without us trying. If this idea and goal is agreeable to you, then you could do worse than to join us. Details are on the front page.


Improving Neighbourhoods Board

We are surrounded by jargon and besieged on every side by municipal patois and it is the hope of this newsletter that we help you unpeel it and see what it means for you and how it affects you.

The Improving Neighbourhoods Team is a joint initiative between the Borough Council, the police, housing associations and other organisations that have a vested interest in improving five specific areas of King's Lynn.
The Friars' Community Group is a participant and contributor to this body from time to time, as indeed across the town are other voluntary community groups.

The Improving Neighbourhoods Team recently advertised for members of the public to apply for the voluntary unpaid post of representative for the Town Centre, (St. Margaret's and St. Nicholas Wards), residents.
Jane Dearling, (key member of both the Friars' Community Group and the Harding's Pits Community Association), applied and was selected to represent the town centre.The role of an Improving Neighbourhood Board member is to represent the interests and concerns of residents, to act as a liaison between the Board, organisations that have an interest in the Board, and other communities in Lynn represented on the Board, and to disseminate information regarding Board topics to the general public.

(THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU). The bottom line is this. If you have concerns about the Friars, the street in which you live, businesses, other residents or anything at all, there are viable alternatives to just grumbling. Now, in addition to doing something about it yourself, contacting the relevant agency, or contacting the Friars' Community Group, you have another resource to approach. Jane's remit extends from the Southgates to Dodman's Bridge and all ports betwixt.

If you have a concern about the town centre, (anything from Southgates to Dodman's Bridge), contact Jane Dearling via 13 Gladstone Road, (telephone 760513).


Eyes front, hands on heads

" Whitefriars Primary School is keen to play a role in being an active participant in the Friars' Community Group as we meet the challenges and opportunities of development in this area. Since joining the school in April 2008 I have been working with staff, parents, governors, and of course the children themselves to ensure that we work towards achieving the highest standards of learning and achievement. An important element of raising standards will be the extent to which we can reach out and work with the local community and I hope this is a relationship that we can develop and strengthen in the time ahead. I look forward to meeting members of the Friars' Community Group in the not too distant future when I hope the school can provide a welcoming venue for future meetings. Can I also extend an invitation to members of the Friars' Community Group to come and visit the school to see the work in progress and to perhaps discuss your ideas and suggestions about how we can work more closely together. I look forward to meeting you ". Lee Stevens (head teacher)


Employment Problems

Those with long memories will remember that NORA (the Nar Ouse Regeneration Area), was heralded by the announcement that part of it would be devoted to light industry and the promise of many jobs, 'providing an ideal opportunity to promote the work life balance in a new thriving community'. With the recession now fully upon us and the town centre showing very sad signs of a recession hit town, the lack of employment opportunities are more profound than ever.

The predicted long term recession looks especially painful for us, and so it was a brilliant idea therefore to earmark part of the NORA site as being devoted to light industry in the belief it will boost commerce, investment and jobs overall all those years ago.

Since then there has been a series of revised plans and the result has been that our local College will be reborn like a Greek god shining and resplendent in moving from its present location to the NORA site. No problems there then, except there will be NO substantive increase of employment opportunities as a result of the NORA development after all. The College have NO plans to increase student numbers and rumours abound that some popular teaching areas will be significantly smaller or dispensed with altogether. The suggested addition of the Anglia Ruskin will do little to add to the employment growth and with the old College site heading for housing where are the jobs we were promised?

The council cannot be blamed for the current economic crisis, but the crisis isn't a component of the College relocation. King's Lynn still needs growth in employment opportunities if it is to A) be able to support the growth in population as a result of increased housing, B) be able to support the growth as a result of local redundancies in the current recession, C) be able to support the growth in available labour as children emerge from school clutching their A Levels, and D) lift itself out from its current economic profile of being a town largely dependant on tourism and low skill jobs.

The announcement that the Marina would provide 300 jobs is deceptive. According to the Council's own report most of these jobs will be for construction workers and if the regeneration of The Walks is evidence to go by, these jobs won't help local people. The remainder will be largely part time or temporary. We will still have a low skills low earning economy and the need for jobs that NORA promised will still be there, unmet.

The reason why this is important to Friars residents is this; NORA and South Lynn are our neighbours and what happens to our neighbours can so easily affect us. Whatever is planned for NORA could so easily "Mission Creep", (to use a military term), and 'bleed' over onto the Friars, and should that be so you, as a resident of the Friars, have an entitlement not only to be informed about it, but also be entitled to develop an informed opinion about it and decide whether it is something you wish to support, accept, or oppose.


Correction: The last newsletter contained a factual error. The planning application on South Lynn Plain that had such an excellent Flood Risk Assessment Report should have had 08/01566/F as its reference. These reports are actually vital to get a planning application through. At least one application made for altering a property in the Friars was turned down by the Development Control Board because the applicant had omitted to include a report on the Flood Risk.


Where the wind doth blow

Unlikely though it is that anyone in the Friars is considering a domestic wind turbine, especially given the studies demonstrating what poor returns industrial ones are providing, I pass on news that research by consultant engineers Encraft has just been published covering a study that examined homes from Cornwall to N.E. Scotland with such domestic turbines.

The study concluded, as if we didn't already know, that in an urban setting like King's Lynn such turbines generate only 214 watt hours each day, which is less than 5% of a household's daily needs.

The residents of Marshland are to be congratulated on seeing off an entirely inappropriate wind farm there, demonstrating just how effective an opposition can be from the ordinary householder in the face of ludicrous ideas generated by businesses, developers, and councils. Again, recent studies support the contention that they are a disproportionate waste of public and private money. America is ahead of the game with wind farms compared to Europe, and the most recent evidence by the Amherst University is that the 10,000 industrial turbines there only generate a "notional capacity" of no more than 19 Gigawatts of electricity - less than 17% of a single large coal fired power station! With such evidence the case against wind energy grows. Maybe one day King's Lynn will be faced with the same question Marshland has faced. It does however beg the question what are the real figures for the QEH turbine. In the meanwhile, let's stick together when the call to arms is made.


Not all Lucky Heather is Lucky; Bogus callers and rogue traders

Avid readers of the local press will have noted there is an alarming rise in incidents of householders falling victim to thieves, rogues, knaves, rascals, rapscallions, scallywags, varlets and vagabonds masquerading as officials on legitimate duty. 'Ho!' saith the reader, 'I'd not be so stupid as to fall for that one'. Readers are reminded that although the vulnerable elderly are ripe targets for these hoaxters, even the younger savvier home owner can be beguiled. Keeping the back door locked with the key removed is a good strategy, as indeed is not opening the door to strangers at all, or if doing so to keep it on a chain, getting proof of identity before admitting, and even ringing a contact number to verify their authenticity. Buying at the door from strangers is also is to allow the possibility of being ripped off and is therefore to be discouraged.

Norfolk County Council Trading Standards are able to supply stickers for doors saying Cold Calling is unwelcome, and the Friars' Community Group has requested information about creating a 'No Cold Calling Zone', but they have been too busy to reply. Perhaps they have been fending off cold callers themselves! Meanwhile anyone wishing such a sticker should ring them direct.


Municipal cannibalism?
This year sees a major town festival celebrating the resurrection of the Hansa alliance, and as part of the festival readers are invited to join an event whereby public buildings are made into cake and then eaten. If you fancy making Greenland Fisheries into a tasty comestible while riding the misery of recession contact the Council Arts Officer Sheena Carmen on 779095 for details.


A message to Parents

This is not widely known and so I draw your attention to it for you to be informed. There is a government database called 'ContactPoint', and the purpose of this database is to allow agencies such as schools, the police, Social Services, and doctors for example to pool information about your children. This single database will enable all professionals who are accredited and are working with under 18 year olds to find out who else has been in touch with them. The database contains each child's name, date of birth, address, school, GP, Social Worker, Probation Officer, parents' names and addresses. This is a national database accessible to any one of 1 million people.

If you are concerned by the extent of this database and also by the number of people who will have access to it, you may elect to have certain information 'shielded' from view. You cannot exempt your child from being on it, but you can limit what is visible. Your child's name, date of birth and gender will be visible, but all other details would be hidden.

If you are willing for your child's details to be completely visible on this database you need do nothing. If you wish to shield certain information you need to contact the Department for Children, Schools and Families for details.


Victuals for all
Intelligence reaches us that the Crossways Pub is venturing into new territory by offering evening meals. The fare is wholesome, traditional and affordable. The chef isn't sacrificing quality of ingredients to make it affordable, but the popularity of the meals thus far is demonstrating they are a welcome addition to a range of beers already known for wholesomeness. The meals on offer aimed at those wishing for an alternative to cooking at home or those using the pub as a stop gap between work and an evening out or work and an evening meeting.


FIX MY STREET
A member of the Friars' Community Group draws our attention to a web site that actually seems to work! Called FIXMYSTREET.COM it enables people to call up a map of any particular street in the U.K. and stick a flag on the portion of it that is in need of attention. Irrespective of it being a lamppost that doesn't work, a drain cover missing, a pot hole in need of filling, blocked drains, vandalism, graffiti, seemingly anything on the public highway or in the public domain that is the responsibility of a statutory agency, it all seems to be pertinent to this site. The Angels who filter and field these alerts do get results. This editor posted a flag about the tarmac missing from the enlarged drain in Friars Street at the junction of Gladstone Rd and lo and behold it was fixed two days later. I commend it to everyone.


The Pits
Our neighbours at the oasis that is Harding's Pits work silently and quietly behind the scenes making sure that the plant life is maintained in accordance with all the best principles of what was called 'the old fashioned ways' before the Guardian readers came along and named it 'organic'. The whole caboodle from picking up the litter throughout the year to organising work parties to do heavy maintenance is done entirely on a voluntary basis.
The volunteers presently on the front line have been managing Harding's Pits for several years now, and some of them would quite like a break once in a while, (one of the volunteers has a wife who would like it very much indeed). But Harding's Pits is a much needed and highly popular part of the town and its loss would be a loss to the town, and possibly, you, but without volunteers coming forward to give up a little time once in a while a brown field site it may yet return to, and all the potential threat that brings, be it a marina, wind farm, or horror upon horrors, yet another housing estate.
If you would like to support Harding's Pits, get in touch with Roger Turff on 764422, or Jane Dearling on 760513.


Government Neighbourhood Database

A new database has been compiled and there is a very good chance that you are on it. This database is generated by Councils and is designed to assess the "niceness" of a neighbourhood for the purposes of determining how much you will pay in Council Tax. The Friars' Community Group has no knowledge that our own council have been participating in this database, but the fact that the database exists behoves us to bring it to your attention for reasons explained below.

The Government is planning to levy higher council tax bills on households, (i.e. you), that are set in more desirable areas. 'Tax inspectors have divided England into 10,000 "localities" with each neighbourhood ranked on the socio-economic class of its residents, and, (this is where it affects you and where you have an opportunity to influence the tax bill you may end up paying), crime and traffic levels. The database has been prepared to revalue the 22 million properties eligible for council tax. When revaluation is due, the number of complaints you have made to police, the council, the Highways Agency, the Environment Agency etc will all be taken into account. The fewer complaints a population makes to the police, council, Highways Agency, Environment Agency etc. the more tax they pay.

If you were in two minds about taking the trouble to complain about something to the authorities, you may wish to consider that by doing so, not only would you get something done to improve the area, but you may end up with a lower Council Tax bill by doing so.


All Saints' Church. We are told that interior restoration work will take place between April and May this year and work is planned around services so it won't now be closed contrary to what they announced previously. An improvement to the exterior is also planned but no details as yet have been made available. Should more news be forthcoming we will let you know.