On this week – January 7-13, 2012 - in Fakenham, Hunstanton, King’s Lynn, Sandringham and West Lynn
In our weekly Memory Lane feature, our reporter looks back to the pages of the Lynn News from January 7-13, 2012...
Lynn’s ferry service has had its £25,000 subsidy from Norfolk County Council axed as part of a £500,000 programme of transport spending cuts. But owner Steve Kingston has vowed the service will continue despite the county decision, although he conceded prices would inevitably have to rise. Between 200 and 250 people use the West Lynn to Lynn ferry each day. Currently an adult fare is 80p single and £1.40 return, with children charged 60p single and £1 return. West Norfolk Council, which provides around half of the county council’s funding for the ferry, has confirmed it will still provide its contribution, with the money going directly to the ferry operators.
Detectives investigating the murder of teenager Alisa Dmitrijeva are appealing for the public’s help in the hunt for the killer. The body of the 17-year-old lay hidden for months in isolated woodland on the Sandringham Estate, off King’s Avenue, Amner, until she was discovered by a dog walker on New Year’s Day. She had been reported missing in early September. An anguished wait for her family ended at the weekend when policed announced that they had positively identified the body as Alisa, who was last seen in Friars Street, Lynn, on August 31. Police will also be approaching the Latvian, Lithuanian and Russian community to help with the investigation.
Hundreds of vulnerable people are to be given the opportunity of affordable homes in West Norfolk after a housing charity has won a £400,000 investment. Housing Action hopes that the finance from Big Issue Invest will home around 1,000 households, around 200 of which will be within the King’s Lynn area over the next five years. With 4,500 empty homes in Norfolk, Housing Action aims to put a portion of them to good use by rehousing local people in need.
Want to go up in the world? Then start 2012 on a high as new weekly climbing clubs begin this week at Lynnsport’s The Hangar, climbing centre. Juniors aged between eight and 15 will take to the wall for a three-hour session which will start with an hour of coaching before participants can practice the techniques, supervised by instructors. Following on from the juniors, an adult climbing club will also take place over a three-hour session and anyone aged 16 and over who is registered with The Hangar can join in. Equipment is available to hire.
New uses are set to be found for two closed Lynn pubs after it was revealed one had been sold and talks were ongoing over another. The Queen’s Arms pub in London Road has been sold, subject to planning permission being granted for a change of use. Agents for the sale have remained tight-lipped over the identity of the new owners and the future uses for the site. Talks are also continuing to find a new tenant for the Hogs Head, in High Street. It is understood that the pub, owned by a London investment company, has attracted a lot of interest from potential tenants since it came on the market.
Fakenham racecourse is already gearing up for the economic challenges it faces in 2012. Along with other tracks around the country it will receive less funding from the Levy Board, while the British Horseracing Authority has reduced the number of fixtures because of a declining horse population. Despite these concerns Fakenham officials remain fairly upbeat and report that the track was placed fourth in a recent racecourse league table of those with the best percentage of prize money.
Hunstanton Sea Life Sanctuary is to undergo a £250,000 transformation, with the redevelopment timed to coincide with the arrival of a giant green sea turtle to take centre stage in the attraction’s mighty ocean tank. The turtle is due to arrive just before Easter and the ocean tank will need a walkway across the top of it and improved access to make it easier to lift the new arrival in and out. The Sanctuary’s external appearance will also be altering dramatically with investment in recent years having made its overall scale significant enough to warrant its absorption into the Sea Life network – with 33 attractions worldwide – rather than the smaller sanctuaries chain.
Lynn Stars have already suffered a hammer blow before the start of the new speedway season – losing the popular Kozza Smith through injury. He suffered a broken femur in a crash during the opening round of the Australian Championships at the weekend and is set to be sidelined for up to six months after having a metal rod installed in his thigh bone.
