Spooner Row Message Board

Is there anything that can be done about this 'footpath' ? I walked down there this morning and almost wrung my ankle on the aggregate. Can the Spooner Row Council not insist that a top surface is put on? This is not a path, it's just a bunch of aggregate that has been tamped down. It really is disgraceful that the builders of those new houses think this is an acceptable reward for the village. It shows just how much they don't care. 

Who is responsible for public footpaths? Should the county council be informed?

Well done for sorting this out but who agreed the original path which was b****y awful ?

Many of you in the village have asked me in recent months why I don’t comment on this forum anymore and in truth, I didn’t want to be here today but having been made aware of this thread by a resident yesterday, it is time to speak up for honesty and transparency.

The statement put out by District Councillor Halls is misleading.  The fact that District Council Halls and the Clerk of the Community Council are taking plaudits from residents for initiating the footpath tarmac upgrade is wrong.  In addition, we have a District Councillor Halls commenting on a Community Council apparently to circumvent the very rules laid down by the Community Council to stop him from causing mischief on this platform.  Just go back through the Minutes on the Spooner Row Community Council website and you will see Cllr Halls apology to Council and how this apology connects back to this very website.

The tarmacking of the footpath had nothing to do with District Council Halls and it definitely was not brought about by the actions of the Clerk of Spooner Row Community Council.  The decision to tarmac after installation of the TROD was to resolve a communications error; a small change as a consequence of a master plan revision was missed. Once informed of the error the developer moved quickly to schedule the additional work and undertake the improvement.

As to the claim that “holes appeared in the hedge as a result of the recent work”, well anyone who has walked the playing field or this footpath recently might be asking themselves, what holes?  The hedge on the Station Road boundary has significant sections that were thin and full of holes.  I know because I oversaw the hedge cutting with Peter Cullum and I walk close by almost daily. I also know that I met with our Clerk and reviewed the field recently and mentioned to her the thinning of the hedge, only to be told that it was a secondary matter to the planting of trees and that this could take place only once the School Expansion Project was underway but let’s not get embroiled in that project. 

As the Highway Lead for Spooner Row Community Council it might be interesting for residents to know that District Council Halls and the Clerk of the Community Council joined forces to try and frustrate the road closure necessary to bring about highway changes and this new footpath.  Time was spent calling and contacting various officers from Norfolk County Council and even County Councillor Daniel Elmer was called upon to bring about the cancellation of the Traffic Closure Order.  All because of an oversight by Cllr Halls and the Clerk.  Let me explain.  In failing to advise all councillors in a timely fashion that the Council had been informed by Mid Norfolk Railway (MNR) and that MNR would be arriving with a crane and truck to move the signal box on the morning of 18th February 2022 the Clerk had a problem.  When the Clerk did inform all councillors of this action at our Council meeting of 3rd February 2022 it was left to me to ask the question “How are MNR going to do that when the road is closed under a Traffic Order from 14th February?”.  The silence was palpable.  What then followed appears to have been a wild panic on behalf of Cllr Halls and the Clerk to stop the road being closed.  

Many of you might recall the posts on this website from Cllr Halls on this very subject.  One post even informed us that the Traffic Order had been cancelled when the closed signs sat at the bottom of Station Road.  The silly thing is it only took 2 calls to resolve the matter, so as Highway Lead I made them. The first was to the developer and I paraphrase “Hello Mr Developer, can you help me solve a problem and are you happy to speak with Mid Norfolk Railway?” and then to Mid Norfolk Railway “Hello Mr Railway Person, can I please give you the number of the developer and you can resolve this directly?”.  Forty-five minutes later everything was sorted and all agreed, namely that the developer and his contractor would take the necessary steps to accommodate the lift and transfer of the signal box and said signal box was duly delivered to Wymondham.

So back to the footpath.  Residents might be interested to learn that the developer on Station Road communicated to me yesterday that his contractor will grass seed the verge next week, and cut back a small section of overhanging hedge and plant hedging where the drains drop into the ditch but those of you that frequent the Councils website (www.spoonerrow.cc) or use our Nextdoor Community group will already know that.

As a strong believer in free speech it is my hope that the Webmaster of this site, a long standing acquaintance of Cllr Halls, does not delete my post or edit it into oblivion.  If this happens I might just decide to go back to basics and deliver a hard copy through everyone's letterbox instead.  So if anyone wishes to debate any element of the above my address and telephone number are on the Council's website or drop in for a cup of coffee if you fancy a chat.  Withheld numbers will not be answered and I will not engage with Anonymous trolls.   

The tarmacking or lack of it was an error apparently . Whose I wonder?

This is nothing to do with community council , or District it is a county function but I post on here as a district councillor, so it is clear in which capacity I am commenting, and yes I did let our county councillor know so he could help resolve a situation, which was a mess.

Quite why he had not been contacted from the outset I had never understood and I make no apology in acknowledging the work done by the Clerk for resolving this mess. 

The road closure notice was issued by NP Law, then recinded and then re instated. This is in the public record although the re instatement was never communicated to the council. There was no oversight on my part or the Clerk's, the problem was with NP Law.

Subsequently I recieved a threatening letter from NP Law, asking as  to why I was daring to criticise their work. I pointed out that a re instatement of the road closure had never been issued. I heard nothing more.  

It was me who raised the issue of the road closure and the consequent risk to the movement of the Railway hut, not councillor Foster and I did so with the County councillor who is responsible for highway matters.

The holes in the hedge were noted by the highway engineer plus the lack of tarmacadam who has to sign this work off, and I would suggest that the holes that were there, were exacerbated by the drainage pipework and resulted in a dog breaking through and being hit by a car. Something which had not happened previously.

I am sure you are all utterly bored by all of this if you have got this far, so I will not be commenting further even if the totally unjustified  personal attacks continue.

It is good to see that the nonsense tit for tat politics in Westminster is not replicated locally… And then our local councillors wonder why people are apathetic. Frankly the behaviour of both councillors is embarrassing. 

Hang on here a moment. What happened  to free speech? If District Councillor Halls gets free rein and can speak on Community Council matters without being edited or deleted, then why has our Community Councillor been muted?

(Dear Anon,

All Community Councillors and residents are welcome to post on this site.

All posts are considered on their individual content and very few are edited or deleted.

Webstation)

-- Edited by webstation on Thursday 26th of May 2022 11:06:24 PM

Yes, another vote here for free speech. 

From what I see here it’s very easy to understand what’s happening. You have a District Councillor who is also a Wymondham Town Councillor and is also a Community Councillor who appears to have done very little for the villages over the years and seems to have concentrated his efforts on Wymondham. Then we have a resident as a Community Councillor, not a politician, someone who worked to get us the Community Council and who set about getting things done; dog bins and new stuff for children on the playing field. District Councillor starts spouting about community council business, who then gets challenged and doesn’t like it. 

What I don’t understand is why silence the Community Councillor over the District Councillor?  If what is being said is false then challenge it but if it is correct, then don't we have a right to hear both sides?

So how would joining the Community Council make any difference?  .....(edited).......

(Dear Anon,

Thank you for your post. If you have concerns regarding the situation you have mentioned, then this information would be best posted on the Community Council's discussion website where it can be addressed in the correct way.  https://www.spoonerrow.cc/?page_id=1065   The Community Council has a policy not to reply to Anon posts on here. Thank you.

Webstation)

 -- Edited by webstation on Tuesday 7th of June 2022 06:32:39 PM