Your letters on the rebuild of Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King’s Lynn, litter in Bawsey Country Park, housing, politics and Three Dads Walking
Here are the letters from this Friday’s Lynn News…
Let us not be deceived about the site of the new hospital
As a resident of West Norfolk since 2004, I have been following with trepidation, interspersed with occasional bursts of hopefulness, the progress towards our getting a new hospital which is fit for purpose.
In particular, I have been following the correspondence from Cllr Tom Ryves, regarding the siting of the proposed new hospital.
His letter to Lynn News on Friday, May 3 said it all.
If I had the time, money and resources to print out his letter and put it through every letterbox of every Queen Elizabeth Hospital user, I would. Sadly, this is not possible.
He has clearly researched the facts and set them out very eloquently.
It seems that we (residents) are being fobbed off and told, for reasons I do not know, that rebuilding on the existing site is the ‘only’ option. This is not so. Let us not be deceived.
Has anybody even considered the ensuing traffic chaos, with HGVs adding to the existing cloggage between the hospital and A148/A149 bypass, plus the extra time/labour costs incurred by builders trying to create the new hospital, while keeping patients and staff safe and the hospital able to function?
If a new site were selected, quickly, I hope, and, importantly, local landowners seem to be amenable, building could start at once, a multi-storey car park would not be needed on the existing site (thus saving us squillions) and we could have a new hospital much sooner. Note to all: Sooner means cheaper. Geddit?
As a predominantly rural community, we have the privilege of adopting a greenfield site, an option not available to urban communities.
Let’s all celebrate this opportunity and grasp it with both hands.
I appreciate the efforts of James Wild, MP for North West Norfolk, in traipsing round the present crumbling structure with a succession of health secretaries, none of whom was in post long enough to make a difference.
However, we did get on to the New Build programme, at last. Phew!
The unconscionable delay in even getting on to this programme has increased costs massively, but, hey-ho, that’s history now.
Then there was the worry that, because we now have a new Emerson Unit (gynaecology) and a new eye clinic unit, plus a new colposcopy unit, we (residents) might have our services broken up and be ‘told’ that we had enough peripheral services locally so that we didn’t need a local hospital!
What?
We DO need a new local hospital – and soon.
I have had brilliant treatment at Emerson Unit and Eye Clinic.
These units are housed in temporary buildings which I believe could easily be re-sited with all existing equipment.
I suggest we all get behind Tom Ryves and support his endeavours.
Caroline Dudley
Terrington St Clement
These morons don’t even use litter bins
This photo shows what greeted me on my daily walk at Bawsey Country Park on Monday morning.
I fail to comprehend the mentality of people that show total disregard of their environment.
They go there because it's such a beautiful place but if no one cleared up their human flotsam they would stop going because it would become a rubbish tip.
The owner of Bawsey has done his very best to improve the area and there are receptacles for rubbish all around the park but it's totally pointless if these mindless morons don't use them.
I would like to think that if these idiots saw this in the Lynn News they might feel a little guilty but I doubt they can even read.
Ed Brownbill
Pott Row
Should some legislation address this crucial issue?
There are 2,800 empty properties in South West Norfolk - the majority of which are residential.
If this is at all representational of the rest of the country, there must be hundreds of thousands of such properties nationally.
With our current housing crisis, and, in particular, the very real problems faced by our young people in buying their first property, is there an argument to be made for some sort of national legislation to address this issue?
For example: if a residential property has been empty for a substantial length of time (say five years or more?), should local authorities be given statutory powers to compulsorily purchase these houses and return them to the housing stock for onward purchase, or to use them as social housing?
I am sure that readers may have other ideas of how such empty properties can be repurposed for the benefit of the wider community at large. But however it might be done, I believe there could be real benefits in stopping houses going to waste, and potential rack and ruin, while thousands of hard-working families struggle to find somewhere to live.
Edith Reeves
Lynn
Give them all equal coverage
As all your readers will know by now there will be a general election later this year and I am very disappointed that the Lynn News seems to have become a mouthpiece for Liz Truss.
Day after day we are made to suffer her smiling face accompanied by some manicured news to suggest that her high levels of activity equate to suitability to be our MP.
On behalf of many can I ask that the Lynn News shows impartiality and gives equal prominence to the activities of our other candidates.
Two have now declared and they are James Bagge who is standing as an Independent and Terry Jermy, the candidate for the Labour Party.
I am lucky to have met with all three.
Both Mr Bagge and Mr Jermy offer genuine interest in our communities with solid track records of leadership and we are most fortunate to have candidates of that calibre.
I sincerely hope that the Lynn News will reach out to their campaigns as at this early stage the professionalism of the Truss back office makes up for the glaring inadequacies of their candidate.
With Liz Truss, I was amazed that my big brother gene kicked in when I met her - I felt a need to protect her from her many detractors. I am pleased to say this passed.
As an MP, she started well and was vocal in the campaign to prevent RAF Marham closing. But thereafter she has demonstrated that power can corrupt. Since those happy days she has done nothing for her constituents here in SW Norfolk.
Two failures are noticeable. Firstly in her brief tenure as Prime Minister, she did NOT include the QEH on the hospital rebuild list.
Secondly, and more locally, she has not supported the communities of Methwold/Northwold and Feltwell as they are confronted by the opportunistic plan by food processor Cranswick PLC to build Europe’s largest megafarm.
So a plea from me. Please make sure your reporting is balanced and impartial, and give equal space to other candidates. Messrs Bagge and Jermy are working hard to meet their constituents and to listen to our views and our concerns.
Ms Truss just wafts in, gets the photos, waves her book at us and is then whisked away in her Range Rover.
Cllr Tom Ryves
Methwold Ward
EDITOR: The Lynn News has always been, and will continue to be, impartial over political matters.
They deserve knighthoods
The Three Dads Walking of Tim, Mike and Andy have done over 500 miles together to raise money after losmg their children to suicide.
The money they have raised to help families in the same sad situation is outstanding.
I would love to see these three wonderful men knighted.
Mary Urry
Lynn
