King’s Lynn Town Fund, Queens' Coronation, right to demo and poverty in Lynn News readers' letters Friday, June 3, 2022

By giving the council the money, this embarrassment is at least avoided. But even so, it seems all is not well in cloud cuckoo land.

For, on June 6, the R&D panel will receive a presentation on the progress made by the Town Board.

Last time this happened, the contents, although published on the internet, were deemed commercially sensitive and the public was denied access (in spite of what I believe to be a legal requirement that matters relating to planning applications for borough-owned assets must be presented in the public domain).

What surprised me, as the honorary outsider to these shenanigans is that the briefing paper for the panel can be summarised as follows:

The intended town centre repurposing has been binned (this was the plan to repurpose the first floors of business premises in the town centre and build a night-time economy with new experiences);

The Town Fund contribution for Riverfront Regeneration and for Active and Clean Connectivity have both been slashed by £2.2 million and £2.5 million respectively;

The cost of the Guildhall has mushroomed to £12.2 million from £8.1 million;

The multi-user hub is now a £12.4m project from £8.5 million.

It then ends with a pretty picture of some balloons and the text “Any Questions?”

One hopes that these radical changes reflect the much heralded programmes of public consultation when the youth of the town apparently suggested wholesale demolition and replacement with an environmentally conscious themed giant skateboard park.

If you have any interest in the Town Board, and the rejuvenation of King’s Lynn please get in touch with your borough councillor and ask them to brief you as I am afraid that with a handful of exceptions your councillors are asleep on the job. Again.

The real question is how much more money is this council going to squander on vanity projects before the tax payer realises what is going on and votes to make a meaningful change in the elections to be held in May 2023, and get a council that actually takes responsibility for the fact that it is spending other people’s money.

Tom Ryves,

Independent borough councillor for Methwold

PROTEST

Right to demo under threat

James Wild, North West Norfolk MP, writes his usual weekly column which, in general, goes unchallenged.

This week’s missive was regarding the innocuously named Public Order Act.

Trying to portray this act as one which “restores the balance between the fundamental right to protest peacefully with the rights of the public to go about their lives without serious disruption or harm” isn’t quite accurate. This Act actually opens the door for ordinary people, like those of us who are outside the QEH every week, to be criminalised for our actions. I take my bike to the demo, in my basket I have a bike lock.

This Act means I now face being convicted of a new offence of “going equipped for locking on” because the offensive equipment could be a bicycle lock or a tube of superglue.

The proposed maximum penalty is an unlimited fine. This Act is an unnecessary clampdown on political life. It’s been dressed up as a way to stop “dangerous” disruption, but who gets to determine what is dangerous or serious? I consider energy poverty to be dangerous to lives. So do Insulate Britain.

I consider climate change to be dangerous to lives and our whole planet, so do XR.

Sometimes serious dangers to our lives warrant serious actions to draw attention to them. Women would never have got the vote if they hadn’t caused significant disruption - for Emily Davison this led to her death when she was knocked down by the King’s horse, Anmer.

This Act would see her criminalised if she hadn’t died. Although the new forms of protest such as those carried out by the two aforementioned groups, can cause the police challenges, they’re not particularly new and in the past the police have used existing powers to deal with them.

At a time when public confidence in the police is the lowest it’s been for a decade, is it the right time to hand them more powers with less safeguards?

At our public meeting for the QEH last week, we discussed the idea of having a sit in to raise awareness of the Government’s continued failure to announce which hospitals have made it onto the funding shortlist.

This new Act will mean we become criminals. Really? For trying to save our hospital? As for hoarding and harbouring equipment which the MP refers to, don’t look in my shed as the number of placards I have make me a serious contender for arrest.

Things are not always as he presents them. Look deeper and you can very easily see the much darker nature of this Act.

Jo Rust,

King’s Lynn and District Trades Council

POVERTY

No sympathy was shown

I cannot believe the letter I’ve just read by David Fleming.

I’ve become used to the fact that nothing seems to make him happy and more than once I’ve been tempted to write in but considered that he may enjoy the attention so have stopped myself.

But this week I just can’t. A letter complaining that poor people aren’t really poor because they have televisions and phones. Surely he cannot be this ignorant.

This man has no sympathy for anybody unless they fit into his mould of deserving. Suffering shouldn’t be a competition!

Kristen Finch,

by Facebook

JUBILEE

Memories of Coronation

Yesterday (June 2) I no doubt had fond remembrances of what I was doing on that day 70 years ago.

I was smartly attired in the full dress uniform of the Royal Marines and, for the passage of the procession going to Westminster Abbey, I was a member of a squad forming part of the street lining party on The Embankment.

Behind us were children from many parts of the United Kingdom and between them and us were, mainly, WPC’s of the Metropolitan Police.

The children kept us well supplied with sweets which were surrepticiously placed in our gloved hands by the WPC’s when we were ‘standing easy’ between sections of the procession.

When the ingoing procession was completed we were marched round into Whitehall ready for the procession leaving the Abbey. Many points stick in my mind, the first was getting soaking wet in the rain and our unit officer getting the back of his uniform streaked white with the blanco running down from his pith helmet; and this was after we had been warned not to over-blanco our helmets to prevent this happening (I’ll bet his batman was subsequently ‘spoken to’).

The passage of the marching bands was very impressive and your eyes could not fail to follow them even when we were standing to attention - a strange effect of this was that whenever there was a gap in the procession the crowds of people on the stands on the opposite side of the road appeared to be moving in the opposite direction (a strange optical illusion). Of course, to me, the band of the Royal Marines and, although I am a North Yorkshireman, the pipes and drums of the Scottish regiments with their impressive highland dress really stood out.

Another memorable moment was seeing the joyful Queen Salote of Tonga, obviously enjoying every moment in her open carriage, in spite of getting wet.

When all of the procession had passed we were to be marched back to The Embankment where coaches were waiting to return us to our ‘accommodation’ at the Clapham Deep Shelters.

As we marched along Whitehall towards Derby Gate we were all feeling rather damp and despondent and then, suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted ‘three cheers for the Royal Marines’, a resounding cheer rang out and suddenly we were marching smartly with shoulders back and enjoying the experience again.

We boarded the coaches and were taken back to Clapham where, being part of the Royal Navy contingent, the order was given to ‘Splice the Mainbrace’. This went down well and was very much appreciated.

It was then a matter of grabbing an iron to dry out and press your uniform ready for a ‘run ashore’ for a memorable evening in the West End, but that is another story.

I would have loved to have been personally part of the excitement in London next Thursday but, unfortunately, due to my age (88) and problems with travelling, I am unable but I know where my thoughts will be.

I wonder if there are any of my old comrades of that time still alive. My only regret is that I never got a Coronation Medal.

I have the greatest respect for our Queen, Prince Charles and Prince William and their families and hope that they can all enjoy this momentous day.

Derek Bradley,

Ex-Royal Marine,

King’s Lynn