Parish Council Meeting

I had the pleasure of attending the East Winch Parish Council Meeting this evening.

I think it raises far more questions than were actually answered to any satisfactory degree.

Here are a few highlights.

For Example:

1) Question: Why was half of Min40 offered up by the Parish Council in their response to Norfolk County Council?

"As Silica Sand is a strategic mineral and local policy will undoubtedly be overruled by national policy any reduction that can be gained on the proposed area of the site needs to be negotiated now and definitely at the next stage of consultation when it will be know which sites will be included in the final proposal and ultimately at the Planning Application stage which may not be for many years if the site is included."

Answer: Have you read the Orange Book?

I tell you what, If you have read it, and you understand it, explain to me and the rest of East Winch what it says, instead of guarding it's secrets and implying the knowledge of those secrets make it all so obvious to those "in the know".

I have been too busy doing "a little proper research" on Health and Safety which I believe to be more important, rather than memorising reams of council policy which encourages many acres of Norfolk to be dug up and destroyed with little justification.

I believe in prevention, not mindless compliance.

I was led to believe by the parish clerk this evening and comments by Mr Underwood that half of Min40 is already a done deal, as she drew her finger down the middle of the site plan.

That simply doesn't stack up with the site being a mere proposal, or as Henry Bellingham referred to being on the "wishlist".

Better explanation required please. It simply doesn't make sense.

2) Two Houses for development on A47.
This decision was put on hold as there was some debate as to whether or not the proposed dwellings would be within the "village envelope".

The upshot of this is that as there is only 21 days given to object against the proposals, and the notice was issued on 24th April, the chairman's decision to delay making any decision this evening pending more information(given that the parish council meet only every 2 months) will result in their approval (subject to any other objections of course) by default.

This will clearly help anybody with a commercial interest in the properties being built get what they want.

Was there anybody present this evening, I wonder, who had an interest in those properties being built. I wonder!

There is a further ethical point to consider.

Is it ethical to continue to build houses in an area which could be overrun with quarries within a few years? To do so would mean that any incoming property owner, who is probably coming out to Norfolk to escape to the country and/or retire, will put a substantial part of their life savings into their new property.

Once they have moved into the area, and the news about the quarries gets out, how much of a financial hit will these people have to take if they decide to move out
again?

And if they decide to stay, what about the risks to their health and wellbeing?

Can they expect the full all night floodlighting treatment that people at Leziate get?

Is it right to pull new people into the area, when the quarries don't show up on searches? I don't think so. More victims that someone somewhere is making money out of. It's exploitation. It's shameful.

3) Defraying of expenses. Nell asked the Parish Council if EWAG could get expenses reimbursed for costs incurred in the runup to the objections being delivered to Norfolk County Council.

The Parish Clerk replied that there were rules and regulations that prevent them from doing so, and from being linked with Action Groups.

She did not tell us what these rules were specifically.

I asked why it was the case that the Parish Council could associate with WBB Minerals and not the East Winch Action Group.

I was told that WBB had no such representation on the council.

Although Mr Dennis Underwood (Now Vice Chairman EWPC) did remind us he had declared an interest.

At this point I mentioned about chocolate fireguards and left the room.

I had in fact neglected to mention the not so publicised "Local Liason meetings" with WBB held every 6 months or so, as reported to me by Keith Harrod (WBB) and Rob Cranthorne (NCC).

Does that or does that not count as an association?

Please explain. I'm curious.

4) Mr Keith Harrod from WBB talked about sand blowing around, and dust being generated at some point further down the line, dust and PM10 and so on.

So when could it be dangerous...
When you come and dig it up?

I asked him what he meant in his letter of 24th September 2004 to Leziate Parish Council, when he wrote:

"The wind blown sand was causing concerns within the quarry area and the efforts were made to increase levels of dampening down the quarry with a water bowser, but the force of the wind countered this action and made it useless."

Not a great confidence builder in my book that one.
No nice feeling of being warm and safe after reading that.



Conclusion
Let's examine what a fireguard does for a moment. It is a form of protection that stops you getting burned.

Based on my observations, the parish council is not carrying out it's work in a way that supports the best interests of the village as a whole. This has been demonstrated in the quotation above by offering up half the quarry with adequate vegetation screening which may be acceptable before the proposal stage has even completed.

Even if I was to commend them for the more mundane aspects of their work, ensuring street lights are maintained and dog loos are emptied and deciding how much to spend on bouquets of flowers and so on...

I cannot see how [agreeing to / not objecting to] the land to the West of Grandcourt Farm being approved for planning permission in September 2007 is not a serious and unforgiveable lapse in the protection of villager's interests.

It was one of the points that wasn't covered at the meeting this evening. The bouquets and the dog loos took precedence after our allotted time was at an end.


DOMINOES
The domino effect is now in full swing, you can see East Winch disappearing under a mountain of grey shading from the encroaching quarrying.

As Mr Underwood mentioned this evening, it is likely to affect property values.

How many of the Parish Council's property values, I wonder will be directly affected?

Surely I don't need to revisit the health and safety issues associated with silica dust again, labelled by Mr Underwood as my "scaremongering".

(I think I now have a pretty good idea who Mr Anonymous is!)

Why do we have to wait until we've got the disease to prove it's real?

MESSAGE TO WBB MINERALS
WBB, Give us proof it's safe. No more wooly talk about the sand grains being too big to breathe in when it's still underground. Don't insult our intelligence.

Why should the onus fall on the villagers to prove we are ill when it's too late and WBB are all in the Bahamas sipping cocktails?

Prove to us what you are doing now is safe. Or stop doing it until you can. Be responsible.

Let's have public access to your safety records.

Tell us about your air quality monitoring.

Tell us about the dust generated on haul routes.

Clean up Bawsey.

Go On, Put your money where your mouth is.

Walk the talk from your article in Voice of the Villages.

Be responsible.

I don't buy the denials from the EDP. They stink.

Tell the truth.

Then we can talk.

Nobody has to be a chocolate fireguard here.

We can all be grown up, and choose to do the right thing.

You know it makes sense.

And I'm confident that if you all carry on with your heads in the sand, in 30 or 40 years time, the crisis you have all created with your complacency and ignorance (and vitiating inaction) will be utterly tragic and utterly self evident for all to see.

So stop it now.

So no more bullshit. OK?

The people of Norfolk deserve your respect and the truth.

AND TO THE PARISH COUNCIL...
Stop playing favourites and hiding behind your aura of self importance and ever so general "rules and regulations" which suit some and not others, your fancy jargon, the "orange book" and the "village envelope" amongst others, and support the health, wellbeing and the views and the interests of your villagers.

Or we will have to find somebody else who will.

And don't forget, any quarry is a secret one if nobody tells you it is there. Especially when it's obscured by banks of earth, screens of trees, restricted notices put in not so obvious places and guarded talk from those "in the know".

Thanks to the chairman Mr Veltzeboer, for admitting that he didn't know about the health risks associated with silica sand.

And thanks to Mr Underwood for bringing along a picture of my Dad -
It's a reminder that some things are definately worth fighting for.
And here's another one.

Keep Smiling.
Anyone fancy a choccie?