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Criticism of pay rise for West Norfolk councillors, huge price rise for elderly motorists in Hunstanton and praise for The Angel pub in Watlington

By Letters to the Editor
-
letters@thekmgroup.co.uk
Published: 06:00, 28 March 2025

Here are the letters from the Lynn News edition of Friday, March 28, 2025…

I can testify to how good this village pub is

The Lynn News of March 14 reported on the success story of the refurbished Angel pub in Watlington and I can testify to that having given custom there.

The Angel at Watlington
The Angel at Watlington

It is encouraging to read, given the attacks on public houses from a variety of sources.

The owner, Emily Phipps, has a lot to be proud of, and it was good to see she apportioned credit to her team, saying how hard they work.

I would like to say that the customers also play their part by making the pub friendly and convivial.

David Fleming

Downham

Councillors are all quiet at this profligacy

Unless I've missed it, I can't recall seeing a single letter, tweet or media post from any West Norfolk Councillor defending, acknowledging, or attacking their 25% pay rise.

I know they'll have comforted themselves in the hope that this 'daylight robbery' of our precious council tax reserves would be a nine-day-wonder and if they all keep schtum it would pass but I felt this pot needed yet another stir.

Normally, Rob Colwell or Alexandra Kemp or some other 'Independent' would be publicly wringing their hands at such blatant and crass profligacy...but not this time. Wonder why?

Steve Mackinder

Denver

Can anyone beat this price rise?

Further to the article on car parking charges to rise, Hunstanton Seniors annual parking permit will rise by 120% on April 1.

This will help save West Norfolk Council from going bankrupt. Can anyone else beat this percentage rise?

Hunstanton pensioner

Name and address supplied

RAF is in the news for the wrong reasons yet again

Once again the Royal Air Force is in the national news for all the wrong reasons, a pair of young airmen from RAF Odiham on a drunken night out destroying an effigy of Paddington Bear making the news headlines.

The judge rightly tore them off a strip, fined them heavily to pay for the repair costs plus a dose of community service.

They will now have to face disciplinary action from the RAF and might be lucky to have any kind of military career left.

As engineers they must have good educational qualifications to even get into an RAF technical training school and now everything that they have worked towards is on the line because of one act of stupidity which has got them into the national news for all the wrong reasons.

If their lunacy means they face a court martial, their career as engineers in the RAF will most probably be over.

Many of us who once wore the uniform of HM Forces were not plaster saints as young men, pouring alcoholic drink down one's throat was almost a right of passage and part of an esprit de corps or what is known today as bonding and from books written by recently discharged personnel, still is.

So to a degree, what they have done is nothing new, but it's where it's done and in this instance the destruction of an icon of British literature that is the issue, especially today, where CCTV watches every move that we make and as they have found out to their cost.

What happens in military messes stays in the mess, what happens outside is in the public domain and of interest to the media, especially in a case like this.

Recruitment into HM Forces today is bad enough without a pair of young airmen acting in this manner.

The RAF’s motto is Per Ardua ad Astra (Through Difficulties To the Stars), the ad Astra part will need more than Per Ardua for the RAF to come to terms with this incident.

Alan Mudge

Pentney

First rat to desert ship?

Is the surprise resignation of top Norfolk NHS boss, Dame Patricia Hewitt, the first rat to desert Labour's sinking ship?

Known as a "dependable Blairite" when Tony Blair's health secretary , driving through 17,000 NHS job losses, she said Wes Streeting's butchering of the NHS corpse raised “deep concerns” about the NHS.

She criticised his “appalling” treatment of staff and the “brutal” manner in which his cuts are being managed. With her record, she should know.

Philip Wagstaff

Methwold

PICTURE OF THE WEEK

A large glowing spiral which lit up the skies over West Norfolk has been described as the most “unusual and unnatural sight” an astrophotographer had ever seen in the night sky.Understood to have been caused by a SpaceX rocket launched more than 4,000 miles away, the growing swirl was visible for several minutes across British skies and was initially confused with aviation and even extraterrestrial activity by some.It has now been attributed to a launch at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.Billionaire Elon Musk’s company SpaceX held a launch for the US government shortly before 1.50pm local time (5.50pm GMT) and it is understood the Falcon 9 rocket’s frozen exhaust plume caused the display.In Denver, near Downham, part-time astrophotographer Michael James Wilson said he spotted the unusual sight at around 8pm.“At first I thought it was another military jet flying over, but there was no engine noise, then it began to take on a bizarre shape and a cloud started spreading out from it.,” he told the Lynn News.“Then an even more bizarre light blue coloured spiral cloud began to form and expanded in size as it passed over me.“I thought for a second it was some sort of UFO, but soon learnt that it was due to a SpaceX rocket launch.“It was the most unusual and unnatural sight I’ve ever seen in the night sky.’The Met Office said on social media site X: “The rocket’s frozen exhaust plume appears to be spinning in the atmosphere and reflecting the sunlight, causing it to appear as a spiral in the sky.”The twisting celestial display was visible across much of Europe, with hundreds taking to social media to share footage and imagery.
A large glowing spiral which lit up the skies over West Norfolk has been described as the most “unusual and unnatural sight” an astrophotographer had ever seen in the night sky.Understood to have been caused by a SpaceX rocket launched more than 4,000 miles away, the growing swirl was visible for several minutes across British skies and was initially confused with aviation and even extraterrestrial activity by some.It has now been attributed to a launch at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.Billionaire Elon Musk’s company SpaceX held a launch for the US government shortly before 1.50pm local time (5.50pm GMT) and it is understood the Falcon 9 rocket’s frozen exhaust plume caused the display.In Denver, near Downham, part-time astrophotographer Michael James Wilson said he spotted the unusual sight at around 8pm.“At first I thought it was another military jet flying over, but there was no engine noise, then it began to take on a bizarre shape and a cloud started spreading out from it.,” he told the Lynn News.“Then an even more bizarre light blue coloured spiral cloud began to form and expanded in size as it passed over me.“I thought for a second it was some sort of UFO, but soon learnt that it was due to a SpaceX rocket launch.“It was the most unusual and unnatural sight I’ve ever seen in the night sky.’The Met Office said on social media site X: “The rocket’s frozen exhaust plume appears to be spinning in the atmosphere and reflecting the sunlight, causing it to appear as a spiral in the sky.”The twisting celestial display was visible across much of Europe, with hundreds taking to social media to share footage and imagery.

CARTOON

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