Turnstone: Hunstanton writer John Maiden discusses animal cruelty and local government reorganisation

In his weekly column, Hunstanton writer John Maiden discusses local government reorganisation and animal cruelty…

On September 24, Your Local Paper included two stories that prompted today's Turnstone.

On page two, there was a report of West Norfolk Council's vision for local government change.

On page nine, there was coverage of the suffering inflicted on innocent animals by cruel blood sports.

West Norfolk council's version of 'unitary' would see Norfolk governed by three local authorities, instead of the current eight, whereas central government and the county council want to see a new single-tier 'unitary' authority created for the whole of Norfolk.

Based on the priority given by Norfolk County Council to expensive and controversial road schemes around Norwich, it is easy to see why councillors representing parishes further away from Norwich fear being left out when it comes to decision-making on where money is to be spent.

However, thinking back to local government reorganisation in 1974, the change from West Norfolk District Council to the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk, in 1981, was more than just a change of name.

How King's Lynn benefits from not having its own town council is easy to see.

Grants from the central government are used exclusively to fund projects in Lynn, as opposed to being spent on improvements anywhere else in West Norfolk.

Being the first name in the current title appears to justify the spending of central government grants on Lynn, as opposed to sharing them with the other two towns and the larger villages in West Norfolk.

This is very short-sighted due to the obvious unfairness. It could also turn out to be a waste of money, because parts of Lynn could easily become submerged if a sufficient number of people are stupid enough to accept President Trump's denial of man-made global warming.

Even before 1974, it was argued by some people, including yours truly, that Hunstanton would be better off if it had been governed by North Norfolk District Council after local government was reorganised in 1974.

Let's face it, the town itself and the surrounding villages are in north Norfolk, and it has far more in common with communities all along the coast than it has with Lynn.

In my humble opinion, if Norfolk is to be governed by two or three local authorities, Hunstanton would be best served by a North Norfolk Coastal Council, as opposed to an east-west divide, which could see my home town going downhill faster than entrants in its highly acclaimed annual soapbox derby...

On a much more serious note, it was very worrying to read that the cruel blood ‘sport' of badger baiting is still flourishing in spite of the best efforts by the RSPCA and other charities.

The really interesting thing about the YLP report, which struck me as a former Education Officer for the RSPCA, was the close ties between the yobs who train their dogs to attack badgers, and the snobs who condone the cruelty, because badgers might pose a threat to game birds which they enjoy killing for fun in the shooting season*.

Critical comments such as these remind me that my grandfather was employed as a huntsman and, later on, as a gamekeeper. His son, my father, used to tell me how he used to be taken to watch fox cubs at play, before they were old enough to give the hunt a good day's 'sport'.

The Labour government seems to be under fire from all sides just now, but I wish it would end the cruel slaughter of badgers while it has the chance, because there is no scientific evidence to prove it is effective as a method of reducing bovine TB in cattle.