Your views on circus posters, the King’s Lynn Queen Elizabeth Hospital rebuild, Norfolk devolution and litter
Here are the letters published in the Lynn News on Friday, March 14, 2024…
Putting up these posters is law breaking
I see that a circus is coming to town, and a family ticket for four on a Friday is £45.
Yes they want our money but are not prepared to spend their own.
What do I mean? Well all over the place there are large gaudy posters for the circus and almost every one has been fly posted on empty shop windows, roadside railings and even telegraph poles.
It seems that neither West Norfolk Council or Norfolk County Council care about this law breaking and danger to pedestrians at all.
It’s a bit like The Mart a couple of weeks ago.
David Holmes
North Wootton
I have also been picking up canisters
Like Tim Chapman (Lynn News, February 28) I have been collecting the gas canisters from the roadside and the gutter where they are a danger to road users, particularly motorcyclists.
I have taken them to the local council recycling centre and understand they have to pay to dispose of them.
I think the government should require the suppliers to charge a £10 deposit and set up a collect service.
Lynn resident
Name and address supplied
Optimistic about future after meeting with MP
On Friday, February 28 myself and another member of the Save the QEH (Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Lynn) campaign group and trade union member, met with South West Norfolk MP Terry Jermy.
We’d asked Terry for a meeting to discuss our concerns over the ongoing situation with the replacement of the RAAC hospital with a new building.
I’d actually received a reassuring letter from minister of health Karin Smyth just prior to meeting with Terry, but we were keen to take the opportunity to meet with a local representative and question them directly.
Terry had previously given our campaign group his time when he was first elected so we already knew that he was firmly committed to moving forward with the new build and prepared to use his influence and ear of the minister to try to overcome any delays. Terry listened carefully to what we had to say and our worries over the historical lack of investment in the hospital estate and the subsequent challenges it might cause.
Terry provided reassurance that not only was the government confident about the new build, but the trust exec team were too.
He explained that they had a healthy risk tolerance, which wouldn’t have been there had not they had sufficient assurances that the funding was coming.
In fact, funding for development work needed has already been received, as well as central funding for a fixed period team to run the new hospital programme.
This team, while new, are only there to deliver the new build and the money to pay them comes straight from central government.
While this isn’t the multi-storey car park we’re waiting to see go up, it is a part of the necessary work to prepare for it.
Terry explained that we were third in the line for RAAC replacements, with West Suffolk being six months ahead of us.
At the meeting Terry promised that he would write to Wes Streeting, which he has done and to make sure that any report submitted by the Trust, did not end up gathering dust on the desk of a minister.
We left feeling really optimistic about the future of our hospital and that of the staff who work so hard to deliver services within it.
Jo Rust
Secretary of King’s Lynn and District Trade Unions Council,
Save the QEH campaign group
Do you think our opinions really matter?
Like many of your readers, I was probably not alone in trying to get my head around the very detailed article on the proposed political organisation by Eleanor Storey in last week’s Lynn News.
In covering such a vast area as Norfolk, how much more remote will our elected representatives become if the joining of Norfolk with Suffolk is as proposed?
Put an elected Mayor into the mix and how long before we see similar results/problems/costs to Greater London?
I am also intrigued as to where such a reorganisation will produce the not inconsiderable savings quoted, when any such moves usually produces huge costs to set up.
I think most people would prefer to know the cost to the taxpayer of such a move in whatever guise, before it happens.
One thing is for sure, we will not see a reduction in any of our bills from such an endeavour. More importantly to many will be how our parish councils are to be treated - an explanation of that would be very insightful.
While we are seeing our elections cancelled, it also means the same for democracy despite the fact that there is an online site for your opinion, (gov.uk/norfolk-and-suffolk-devolution), for those who actually know about this and, are able to access a computer. I would suggest this is a faux consultation, a done deal of some sort or another and, who really believes what we say will make the slightest difference to what is already planed?
José O'Ware
Methwold
We’ve been here to many times to start celebrating
Could I inject a little cynicism into the most recent triumphant announcements revealing the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital is now 'on' and we're pretty much convinced we have money and a schedule etc etc.
Clearly, we've been here many times before... an MP does the walk of shame, tea and biscuits with the executives followed by a bold but mealy-mouthed expression of positivity and enthusiasm.
This time its Terry Jermy's turn to climb onto the hospital merry-go-round and making all those routine promises about writing to health secretaries and everyone well-distanced from the crumbling edifice being 'confident' that it'll go ahead. Terry has even asked if construction might begin ahead of schedule... yawn!
While everyone's 'hopeful' and ‘confident' and 'reassured' it all still has that tentative air of 'maybe' about it and while there is definitely plenty of hot air wafting around the hospital corridors it's still very clear to me that the ghastly key to the whole cluttered and cramped site is the monster multi-storey car park... and the money for that seems to still be a very fluffy concept. Forgive my jaundice but in my opinion, we've been here too many times before to start celebrating just yet Terry.
Steve Mackinder
Denver
Think Putin would recruit like that?
The recent horror story about recruiting difficulties in the Royal Air Force evoked memories of a conversation I had with a Marham serving airman in Downham several years ago.
He despaired of the ideological differences between the officer classes and non-commissioned ranks. There was muted opposition to political correctness permeating all areas of operations and it affected the morale.
Being a service veteran I related to some of the PC-inspired policies he divulged with anger, gagged like his colleagues, due to the constraints of the Official Secrets Act. Now the crows have come home to roost!
Not surprisingly the RAF has launched a desperate search for pilots after a secret and unlawful bid to discriminate against white men backfired and left the Air Force with an acute shortage of combat ready planes. Candidates previously overlooked are now being urged to re-apply for training as the Service frantically tries to fill cockpits with pilots. The plea follows a controversial drive by top brass to prioritise the recruitment of women and ethnic minorities, which was found to be unlawful. It backs up what the former airman told me. President Putin wouldn't recruit on grounds of tokenism, nor most countries.
David Fleming
Downham
Picture of the Week
Cartoon
