news archive
15 May 2012
PC minutes
Minutes of the 8 March Parish Council meeting.
Click here to read the minutes of the
last-but-one Parish Council meeting
Highlights
- none really – most items came up again at the Parish Annual Meeting.
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 15 May 2012
14 May 2012
May film
The Help is screening in Stanhoe on 23 May.
The film adaptation of Kathryn Stockett’s best-selling 2009 book about American attitudes to race in the 1960s gained an Oscar for supporting actress Octavia Spencer.
The Help tells of the relationship between a young white woman, Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan (Emma Stone) and two black maids (played by Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer) in Jackson, Mississippi, during the Civil Rights era.
Tickets: £5 on the door to include a complimentary drink.
Date: Wednesday 23 May
Time: 7.30pm
Next film: The Artist, 22 June.
More info: Jane and Peter Coates (tel 01485 518191).
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 14 May 2012
11 May 2012
Battle of the mugs
Stanhoe residents will be able to toast the Queen from two different Jubilee mugs.
Whatever your taste in tableware, Stanhoe will soon have a Diamond Jubilee mug to suit.
In her studio at Stanhoe Pottery on Docking Road, Geraldine Clark was mulling over her design last week. The tough stoneware mug will be decorated in relief with a crown and lettering, Geraldine says. One for the blokes, perhaps?
photos: Charles Butcher
Geraldine plans to use plaster moulds like this crown to decorate her hand-thrown stoneware mug
It’s a busy time for Geraldine and her husband Michael as they gear up for Norfolk & Norwich Open Studios (26 May–10 June). Visitors will be welcome at Stanhoe Pottery, Geraldine says, though don’t ask to see the wonderful pot shown on the website (or on page 63 of the Open Studios booklet) – it’s already sold.
There’s no danger of running out of Jubilee mugs, however. For one past commission Geraldine produced 800 hand-made mugs.
In the Reading Room on Wednesday evening, meanwhile, a very different yet equally attractive mug was on show.
Jubilee planner-in-chief John Seedhouse (right)
shows off a mock-up of the PCC Jubilee mug
at the meeting on 9 May
This fine china mug decorated in royal purple and gold is being launched by the Parochial Church Council.
Bill Husselby, backed by his team of professional designers, have produced a handsome mug with perhaps a more feminine look. “Stanhoe and Barwick” appears on the side of the mug opposite the royal cipher, and the inside of the rim is lettered too.
At the final Jubilee planning meeting before the big day on 4 June, planning committee chair John Seedhouse said the PCC mugs would be available for £5 each.
Although plenty of last-minute preparations remain, everything is under control for Stanhoe’s day of celebrations. There will be a treasure hunt with a real diamond prize, teas, a barbecue with licenced bar and a lively skiffle band.
Tickets are available in advance at the cinema evening on 23 May and on Tuesday mornings at the Reading Room Library.
Ordering mugs
10 young people from Stanhoe have registered to receive a free PCC mug each. Everyone else is welcome to buy as many as they would like of either type of mug, either on the day or by post.
The PCC mugs cost £5 plus postage and packing. Geraldine Clark will be setting the price of her Stanhoe Pottery mugs soon.
We’ll be publishing more mug details in due course, but don’t be afraid to pre-register your interest by emailing . Don’t forget to say whether you would like the Stanhoe Pottery or the PCC mugs, and how many of each.
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 11 May 2012
10 May 2012
Wind decision this month
28 May is the new forecast date for the wind farms planning appeal decision.
The planning inspector’s decision on the future of the Jack’s Lane and Chiplow wind farm proposals has been held up for over a month because of new national planning rules.
Following a public inquiry in February, Robert Mellor of the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) was expected to give his ruling on 20 April. PINS now says the likely decision date is 28 May.
The delay is because on 27 March new national planning guidelines known as the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) came into effect. As a result, PINS asked all the parties who had taken part in the inquiry how they thought the NPPF should affect the inspector’s decision.
What the NPPF says
The 59-page NPPF document is shorter than the planning guidance it replaces, and it is written in clear language. Whether that will simplify wind farm planning decisions is another matter.
The NPPF stresses the need for sustainable development, which Planning Minister Greg Clark says is growth that improves our lives without making matters worse for future generations. That sounds like good news for renewable energy, especially since one of the NPPF’s 12 “core planning principles” sets out the need for renewable energy to cut carbon emissions in response to man-made climate change.
But the Government denies that the NPPF is a “developers’ charter”, and says it will not change the planning rules for wind power. “Onshore wind is an important part of our national energy security and our low-carbon goals. But the presumption in favour of sustainable development is not a green light for wind turbines everywhere,” says the Government in a list of frequently-asked questions about the NPPF.
What is “sustainable?”
PINS received additional comments about the effect of the NPPF from wind farm developers RES (Jack’s Lane) and E.ON (Chiplow), and from protesters CAPE/ATAC and Reg Thompson.
Both developers imply in their submissions that the NPPF will make little difference to the appeal. They agree that, although there is a presumption in favour of wind power, this does not over-rule any serious harm caused to the landscape, wildlife or local people.
“Every site is different,” said Alison Jones, Community Relations Manager for RES. “Even though the NPPF has this presumption in favour of sustainable development, inevitably these things will be open to interpretation and will need to be tested in practical terms, like any other law.”
“It is inevitable that … all planning applicants … will claim that their project is sustainable,” wrote Reg Thompson in his NPPF submission. “These two appellants are merely the first in the queue.”
“No change in UK policy”
Last month, energy minister Greg Barker was widely quoted as saying that there would be “no more onshore wind farms” after more than 100 Conservative MPs urged the Prime Minister to reconsider Government policy on onshore wind.
But PINS told stanhoe.org: “There has been no change of Government policy on onshore wind.”
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) confirms that it is committed to onshore wind, which it describes as cost-effective and a source of jobs. A DECC spokesperson told the BusinessGreen website recently: “There are enough wind farms built or in the planning system to meet our target of having 13 GW of onshore wind farm capacity by 2020.”
With an average onshore wind turbine size of 2 MW, the planned 13 GW of capacity would need 6,500 turbines.
At a capacity factor of 30 percent, 13 GW of installed onshore wind capacity would generate 34 TWh a year. This is 10 percent of the UK’s annual electricity consumption (around 330 TWh).
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 10 May 2012
3 May 2012
A worthy resolution
WI members support Britain’s midwives.
Nine stalwart members of Stanhoe & Barwick WI turned out on a cold, wet evening in May to debate the 2012 Resolution, explained clearly by Mary Lancefield our vice president, “that the government should increase involvement in the training, employment, and retention of midwives in England and Wales.”
Afterward arrangements were made for a variety of outings. We left for home happily looking forward to running our fundraising cake stall on Saturday, and our birthday lunch next Thursday.
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 3 May 2012
30 April 2012
2011 in review
News from the Parish Council Annual Meeting.
Including councillors and parish clerk, 17 people turned up to Stanhoe Parish Council’s Annual Meeting on 26 April – a big improvement on last year’s meeting, if well below the wind-farm-fuelled attendances of 2009 and 2010.
photos: Pamela Austin
Planning decisions on the Jack’s Lane and Chiplow wind farms, set to have been the highlight of the meeting, have been delayed by the introduction of a new national planning policy framework, said PC chair Terry Austin.
The costs to protest groups CAPE and ATAC of fighting the planning appeal approach £100,000, of which £15,000 remains to be found, Terry said.
The PC continues to object to both developments, as Terry told the Planning Inspector when he addressed the appeal at the beginning of February.
The PC also supports the borough council’s opposition to the proposed incinerator at King’s Lynn.
Village matters
The precept – the amount of Council Tax reserved for parish use – for 2012 is the same as last year, Terry noted. With a small increase in the number of eligible houses, the value of the precept per household has fallen slightly, reversing the trend of last year.
Wheelie bins left on pavements for longer than necessary continue to be a problem, Terry said, as are bins blown over in windy weather. “There’s not much the council can do to remedy this, other than to rely on the pride that residents have in the village," he said.
Overgrown hedges and trees next to pavements also cause problems, though here the Highways Department can take action.
Terry thanked Don Bridge and John Seedhouse for their work in keeping Stanhoe tidy. This includes cleaning the war memorial, improving the area of the Pit, repairing the vandalised fence in the children’s play area and removing litter.
Some residents do not like the scrapyard near the Bircham crossroads on the B1454, Terry noted. Since this is in Docking parish, Stanhoe PC has asked both Docking PC and the Borough Council to get it cleaned up. However, he said, the site has been there for over 70 years and change seems unlikely.
If a proposed reorganisation of polling stations goes ahead, Stanhoe would lose its only polling station and residents would have to go to Bircham to vote. “This flies in the face of democracy,” Terry said, and the PC is opposing the plan.
Terry thanked the volunteers at the Community Information Point, which closed in August for lack of support. The project had not been a failure, he said, because several Stanhoe residents now have their own computers as a result. The new library sessions on Tuesday mornings, on the other hand, are doing well.
Speed Watch has only enough volunteers to operate one shift a week, so more people would be welcome. In the last six months of 2011 the team reported 94 vehicles, Terry said, resulting in police letters to the keepers of 77 vehicles.
Plans for the Jubilee celebration on 4 June are going well, Terry said, under the leadership of John Seedhouse.
Terry thanked parish clerk Elizabeth Thuburn for her efforts over the last year. “She works very hard, mostly behind the scenes," he said.
Thanking Pen and Mark Roche for the refreshments, Terry closed by reminding residents that they are welcome at PC meetings on the second Thursday of every other month. The next meeting is on 10 May at 7.00 pm.
“Not much crime”
PCSO Owen James
Stanhoe has little crime, said PCSO Owen James, a Beat Officer based at Hunstanton, in his entertaining talk on neighbourhood policing. Highlights of the last year include an assault that wasn’t, a drug-related arrest of three people in a car on the Bircham road, none of whom were Stanhoe residents, and occasional thefts. The police crime map shows very few incidents.
Across the local area, thefts of heating oil and metal continue, Owen said, and there has been a phone scam involving vouchers for Budgens supermarkets.
Following a lapse, 24-hour police coverage from Hunstanton has resumed, Owen said. As part of this he does two night shifts a week in his round of half a dozen villages, and these include regular foot patrols in Stanhoe.
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 30 April 2012
26 April 2012
Gardens gear up
Less than three weeks to Stanhoe’s Gardens Open Day on 19 May.
Eight gardens wiil feature in this year’s Gardens Open Day, including Stanhoe Hall, Barwick House, and new this year Ivy Farm and Cloves Cottage.
There will be teas at the Old Rectory, plus cake, bric-a-brac, book, plant and handicraft stalls in the gardens, a raffle and tombola.
The Duck Inn is running a special Gardens Open Ploughmans & Strawberry Lunch from 12 noon. Cost £9.99 per head, booking advised on 01485 518330.
All profits from Stanhoe Gardens Open Day will go to All Saints Church.
Click the poster to dowload a PDF
A ticket costs £5 and allows admission to all the gardens. Children under 12 enter free.
Tickets will be available on the day at the Duck Inn and at all the gardens.
More information from , phone: 01485 518 363, or visit the Gardens Open web page.
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 26 April 2012
22 April 2012
Saints Alive
The May issue of Saints Alive is here.
The latest issue of Stanhoe’s fine printed village newsletter, Saints Alive, is now being distributed.
Click here to read the web version of Saints Alive.
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 22 April 2012
21 April 2012
Golden glow
Rainbow marks the magic of last night’s film show.
photo: Mary-Anne Hallinan
Last evening’s cinema event in the Reading Room brought a good crowd and a wonderful atmosphere. 38 people braved the miserable weather to see Mao’s Last Dancer, according to organisers Jane and Peter Coates, but the buzz they created made it seem like many more.
Perhaps, as our photographer Mary-Anne Hallinan suggests, Stanhoe Village Screen is the gold at the end of the rainbow as far as the Reading Room is concerned. Thanks to everyone who helped, and everyone who attended, for making it such a great evening. See you again on 23 May.
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 21 April 2012
12 April 2012
Kitchen advice
Food hygiene and kitchen hints at the April WI meeting.
“What temperature should your fridge be set at?” “Which is the safest way to dry your hands?” “At what temperature do bacteria thrive best?” These were some of the kitchen and food hygiene questions posed in a quiz by Geraldine Butcher at the April meeting of Stanhoe & Barwick WI. We were baffled and uninformed, we discovered, and we were pleased to reap the benefits of two members attendance at a food hygiene course.
Then we laughed merrily as Sandra Carr showed us how they had been shown the correct way to wash your hands, accompanied by the singing of “Happy Birthday”, twice. A lesson that we shall always remember.
In chatty mood we went on to compile a collection of “helpful hints” such as how to stop the smell of fried onions, or how to rejuvenate solid brown sugar, pooling our years of experience in the kitchen.
As a special occasion our president Pamela Austin was honoured for her expertise in taking photographs by being presented with an engraved silver cup awarded by the Norfolk Federation, for submitting the best photo for the 2013 calendar, under the heading of “Typically Norfolk”.
It was a splendid, happy evening, run by the members for the members.
Posted by: Charles
Posted on: 12 April 2012