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Kessingland
Parish
Council
THE LINK
April
2015—
Issue 2
Inside this
issue:
Tribute to
John
Goldsmith
Page
Gardening
Club
celebrate
10th
anniversary
Page
1
2
Meetings
Page
with Anglian
3
Water
Kessinglands
Colourful
Page
Migrant
4
Allotment
News
Page
4
John Goldsmith “ topping out” at Marram Green with a
bottle of Adnams - May 2009.
It was with great sadness that we were informed that John Goldsmith ,
affectionately known as “Wiggy” died on the 6th March 2015. John, who
lived in Southwold, was our County Councillor from 1997 to 2013 when
he retired.
John was one of life’s characters always remembered as a well
respected member of the community, he was a great individual with a
dry sense of humour, his expertise and knowledge was second to none
particularly when it came to coastal issues.
He had a great knowledge of Kessingland and the community he
served, there are a number of residents who benefited from John’s
help .
He was a good friend to the Parish Council and supported them with
his advice and knowledge, he could speak on many topics.
As can be seen in the above picture when invited to the “topping out”
ceremony at Marram Green in 2009 he insisted on using a bottle of
Adnams beer, rather than the traditional champagne he wanted to
maintain the local connection,
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Kessingland Gardeners Club celebrates its
10th anniversary!!
After the “village plan” was published in 2004 it was found that many
villagers wanted a gardening club.
The Parish Council donated a
small amount to get started and it went from there. Judy Lawson who
was a Parish Councillor at the time, contacted Ivy Tibbenham and
together they formed a small committee with Sheila Woodcock Treasurer and Pat Wernham – Secretary.
Chairwoman.
The
first
committee
Ivy was elected as
meetings
were
held
in
“Livingstones” at lunch time with prawn cocktails being the snack of
choice! It was at those early meetings that the idea of a gardening /
social club was formed.
Members of the committee have, without
exception given their all – being hardworking and dedicated to the
club with the original “four” – Ivy Tibbenham, Shelia Woodcock, Pat
Wernham and Judy Lawson still there.
The first meeting took place in the Methodist Church on the 10 th
January 2005. The 2nd meeting was attended by 75 villagers – and a
great success. The late Bo Catchpole, was a great help producing
brightly coloured eye catching posters for every meeting, he will be
sorely missed.
Bob Coutts who was then Head Gardener at
Somerleyton was the first speaker and has become a firm favourite
with the clubs members.
The coach trips are eagerly looked forward to and have over the past
years included Hyde Hall, Hampton Court Flower show, the Old
Vicarage at East Rushton and Beth Chatto’s garden – just some of the
beautiful and interesting trips taken.
The club is thriving with 100 members, a coach trip is planned for
2015 , speakers are being engaged, tea or coffee are being made and
biscuits eaten………..all to the sound of happy chattering members!
Meetings take place at the Church Centre on the second Monday of
the month at 19.30hrs
T H E
L I N K
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Meetings with Anglian Water.
Over the years Kessingland has suffered with with surface and foul
water flooding, due to the inability of the current sewerage system,
operated by Anglian Water, to cope at times of sustained bad
weather.
Because of this and because the Parish Council were being
informed by Anglian Water that there were no problems, in
December 2013 it was decided by the Council to take some form of
action. This was done by way of a formal complaint to the
Consumer Council for Water and to the local MP, Peter Aldous, about the lack of action in dealing
with flood issues in the village.
Since then there have been 3 meetings with Anglian Water - January, September 2014 and January
2015, the next meeting is due in April subject to everyone being available.
Through these meetings we have been able to communicate the concerns of the Community over the
inadequate sewerage system.
We were told in September 2014 that there were 14 properties on Anglian Water’s at risk register .
The proposed work of providing offline storage and a new server pumping station have been
dismissed by AW on the grounds of the cost of £2.4m and it was not seen as a priority. AW advised
that the money is targeted to internal flooding schemes only for work planned 2015-2020. There was
some discussion on the subject of internal flooding and since the last survey carried out by AW was
in 2005/2006 , they should think about updating it , this they agreed to do stating that they will draft
a report about the survey and ensure through the media that the residents get to know the results,
they also agreed to provide a 5 year management plan to the Parish Council - (to date this has not
been received)
In January 2015 the meeting was told by AW that having carried out the survey of the 21 properties
ALL have been classified as internal flooding, there was no response from 4. When asked by Peter
Aldous - does that mean those people with foul water sewage in their garden would have to put up
with AW said yes as the businesss plan only looks at internal flooding, there is no capital
improvement budget, but they do meet the Environmental Health target of cleaning up gardens
within 5 days After a short discussion AW stated there is no capital funding available for external
flooding issues.
It was agreed by those present that the reason why there are more flooding problems is that there are
more properties, more extreme weather changes and climate change, conservatories and blocked
pave driveways and concrete gardens with no drainage so when it rains there is nowhere for the
water to go but down into the already overloaded drainage system.
AW stated that they will summarise what action they had done and explain the AW funding
situation and send a copy to the Clerk and Peter Aldous . They will also contact Defra and ask for
their advice on funding available to address this concern. This information will hopefully be available
at the next meeting.
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Kessinglands Colourful Migrant
On Friday 13th March one of Kessinglands most colourful
migrants returned to its usual location. An adult male Black
Redstart setup its territory around the Badger Builders
compound at Heritage Green. Within days it had started
singing from its favoured viewpoints awaiting its mate to arrive.
In Britain the Black Redstart has the highest protection status
and is generally a passage migrant with only 20–50 pairs
remaining in the UK to breed. On migration passage it is
generally found on the east and south coasts, with a few also at inland sites. Migrant Black
Redstarts arrive in Britain in October or November and move on to Southern Europe with a
few remaining to over winter. The migrants return to the UK in
March.
The species originally inhabited stony ground in mountains, but
since about 1900 has expanded to include similar urban habitats
including bombed areas during and after World War 2. In Great
Britain, most of the small breeding population nests in industrial
areas. It will catch passing insects in flight and also on the ground.
It has Robin like movements and its orange red tail is often flicked.
The male has a rattling song and a tick call.
( Contributed by David Borderick)
Allotment News
Spring is here and so are the monthly inspections - starting with
Church Road on Sunday 26th April and St. Edmunds on Sunday 3rd
May, both at about 11 am. The inspections will carry on throughout
the year until October. Church Road will be on the last Sunday in the
month and St Edmunds will be the first Sunday in the month.
Kessingland is to have a “Food Bank” so any surplus vegetables can be donated - if you are
interested please telephone Mick Sims on 740187
(Contributed by Pat Wernham)