STRAIGHT TALKING

Our Grumpy Old man has a few words to say about those people who oppose development simply because it is in their own back yard!

I seem to have started the New Year feeling a bit grumpier. Been moaning about loads of things from bad drivers, that's everyone else and not me, to moaning about why most of our council tax seems to fund Norwich.

I had started to write an article on the latter when I read the Lynn News and read a large advert in there placed by the ATAC group. The advert was for us, the reader, to write to someone or other to register our disgust at the thought of our wonderful Norfolk skyline being ruined for ever by a wind farm. This advert went into great detail about how an electricity company had stated their intention to erect five wind turbines. Furthermore these wind turbines would be 325ft tall, and just in case we couldn't imagine how tall 325ft was they likened it to a five 32 storey blocks of flats. The advert further amazed the readers by saying that these turbines would be visible from 25 miles. I looked on the map for Syderstone and was shocked to find that I lived about 20 miles away, as the crow flies. ATAC then took the time, through this informative advert, to inform me that wind turbines are less that 30% efficient. At this point I was ready to switch my power supplier; from one that was using so called green energy, instead I would specify one that only used coal or nuclear energy. I was 100% with my new found friends at ATAC; at last someone seemed to be speaking sense. In my mind I was already writing my letter the Planning Inspectorate to tell him how disgusted I am that he is considering this planning application and how disgraceful it is to allow our countryside to be blighted by these ugly monstrous structures... and then it happened. I noticed something. ATAC stands for Against Turbines At Chiplow. Chiplow is the name of a hill; the hill looks over several villages, including Syderstone. These people, who I had so nearly come to trust, were nothing but total fraudsters. They were NIMBY's.

NIMBY's are the worst kind of pressure group ever. They have an uncanny habit of bending the truth to fit their purpose. In a NIMBY's case his primary purpose is to protect his own environment. You know the type, happy to eat chicken, but doesn't care what process was employed to hatch, feed, slaughter or transport his chicken as long as he doesn't have to see it.

There are a few individual NIMBY's in Stoke Ferry but now we have our own group. LAG, I believe this stands for Local Action Group. I haven't seen a mission statement from them yet but I understand they are against a home in Oxborough Road. The Parish Council state that the LAG has contacted them about the children's home in Oxborough Road. I didn't even know there was a children's home in the village. Apparently there have been some problems at the home, although it's not clear what the problems are and I have never read anything in the Parish Council minutes about problems in Oxborough Road before. This problem must be serious because the LAG has already tried to get the home shut down by saying it breached planning restrictions. Perhaps LAG could enlighten all of us who don't live in Oxborough Road why the children's home should be closed because at the moment all I see are another group of NIMBY's.

Something I read in the Pump last month was about placing a recycling point in the community centre car park, but this idea was rejected because when the school was closed the gates would be locked. Not much of a community centre if the community don't have access to it. I am hoping that some of the Pump readers can help me out here. Who owns and runs the community centre? I moved to Stoke Ferry whilst they were building the new school and community centre. I remember being told how local residents were given to opportunity to 'buy a brick' to fund the building of the community centre. There used to be a community centre committee but I haven't heard anything from them for over 10 years.

And finally...

Last month I was told I was wrong...again, about the cars parked between the bridge and the bypass at 6.30 in the morning belonging to those in the floating community. The gentleman informs me that they belong to people who are there fishing. It was 6.30 in the morning on a weekday, who on earth fishes at that time of the day during the week? Besides I didn't think fishing was allowed at night and judging by the mist on the windscreen those cars had been there all night.

Grumpy Old Man