Urgent News Obstruction Blocking The Entrance To Commissioners Cut Moorings

[Meantime]

Just now, Vaughan said:

If you mean the old Whitlingham marsh on the north bank near the Commissioners Cut (part of the gravel pits), that is now a heavily protected bird reserve, also "donated" at the time.

Thou shalt not frighten the birds.

I believe that is now owned by Norfolk Wildlife Trust!!

[Vaughan]

1 minute ago, Meantime said:

I believe that is now owned by Norfolk Wildlife Trust!!

Exactly!  Part of the original gravel extraction by the same "trust" and "donated" afterwards, to make it seem like a nice piece of marshland preservation.  I can assure you, that piece of Broadland water meadow was a lot more beautiful before commercial profit came along.

And before two young local children drowned there, in an abandoned mine working which is still at least 14 ft deep.

[Vaughan]

12 minutes ago, Meantime said:

I still stand by the earlier comment that the land wasn't given to, and then taken back from the BA. They were merely the appointed managing agents for 27 years. It still belongs to the charity and is still available for public use and enjoyment. 

And it still raises the question as to how planning permission was obtained at the time, to desecrate an area of vulnerable wetland in the heart of the Yare Valley and then excuse it all by the charitable donation of a "new broad"?

Can you imagine that being allowed now, on the Halvergate marshes?

[Meantime]

23 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

Exactly!  Part of the original gravel extraction by the same "trust" and "donated" afterwards, to make it seem like a nice piece of marshland preservation.  I can assure you, that piece of Broadland water meadow was a lot more beautiful before commercial profit came along.

And before two young local children drowned there, in an abandoned mine working which is still at least 14 ft deep.

My understanding is that tragic accident happened in Whitlingham Little Broad, not the body of water the other side of the river by Thorpe Marshes which is now owned by The Norfolk Wildlife Trust. The bit that I think Grendel was referring too.

Edited to add: The incident I was thinking of refers to a 15yr old drowning in Whitlingham Little Broad in 2008, not the incident Vaughan is referring to at Thorpe Marshes which occurred in 2015.

Incidentally the area I think Grendel was referring to is known as St Andrews Broad.

[Vaughan]

2 minutes ago, Meantime said:

My understanding is that tragic accident happened in Whitlingham Little Broad, not the body of water the other side of the river by Thorpe Marshes which is now owned by The Norfolk Wildlife Trust. The bit that I think Grendel was referring too.

I think you will find that is the same bit that we all talking about.

The Whitlingham "country park" - aka "Whitlingham Great Broad" or whatever other appellation is suitable "for marketing purposes only" is on the south bank of the river on what used to be called the Crown Point meadows before they dug it up.

The Whitlingham Marshes are (or were) on the north bank, between the Commissioners Cut and Bungalow lane. Also owned by Colmans and mined for gravel before they went on to further extraction at Crown Point.

The "donation" of the abandoned workings as a bird pond and a "Broad" also avoided the expense of filling in the minings and returning the land to its original condition.

Hence that nice NWT bird reserve is actually a steep sided, un-protected, flooded gravel pit which is actually deeper than the river Yare which flows past beside it.

 

[JennyMorgan]

54 minutes ago, Vaughan said:

And it still raises the question as to how planning permission was obtained at the time, to desecrate an area of vulnerable wetland in the heart of the Yare Valley and then excuse it all by the charitable donation of a "new broad"?

However you look at it, it has left a nasty taste in the mouth. Branding the two pits, let me be generous, two lakes, as something that they are not, how history has repeated itself! (Allegedly in the name of marketing, ho ho ho!)

 

[Paul]

I'm afraid this kind of deception and corruption, which is precisely what it is, invariably for the private gain of a small group of individuals either directly concerned to the project or linked to it by a "paper trail" of brown envelopes is common place. 

A large area of land between our village and the next was given consent of open cast coal extraction in the 1980's with the provision in the permission that once extraction was complete the land would be partly returned to it's original condition and where that was not possible "adequately" landscaped and passed to the community as a country park. Midway through the extraction process the site along with permissions and liabilities was sold to a new company of which the main shareholders were the wife and son of the chairman of the original company. You know where this is going don't you, correct. As soon as extraction finished the new company filed for bankruptcy and the site was never restored or landscaped. All that happened was the local authority and county council were left with a massive hole in the ground and 2000 acres of land contaminated by coal dust. 

After several years of trying to work out what to do with the eyesore it was decided to give it to the forestry commission as apparently a number of crop tree species would grow in the contaminated soil. They cleared the detritus left behind by the mining company, installed a few footpaths and a car park to fulfill the country park provision and that was it. Oh sorry, there were two picnic tables now overgrown with spruce trees. After a massed complaint and action by several local communities eventually a toilet block was added, as well as a couple of bird watching shelters.  It's popular with bird watchers and dog walkers, who constantly complain about each other on local social media outlets but nobody else would want to go near. 

To cap it all 600 acres of the site have now been approved for housing as part of an ongoing development which over the next twenty years will close the gaps between the three surrounding villages turning them into a single conurbation with this clump of trees in the middle. 

It's a far cry from what was promised, but those involved got very rich from the project, and some still are. 

 

[Islander]

Just to return to the title of this thread.

 

The cut is still closed but houseboat waiting for a tow to a sympathetic yard. 
 

Colin 

[JennyMorgan]

15 minutes ago, Islander said:

Just to return to the title of this thread.

 

The cut is still closed but houseboat waiting for a tow to a sympathetic yard. 
 

Colin 

That looks good. I just hope that the owner is able to make good whatever caused his home to sink.

[Islander]

There is a through bolted ply pad just below the furthest window but can’t see the other side. The pump is a serious bit of kit.

Colin

[JennyMorgan]

1 hour ago, Islander said:

The pump is a serious bit of kit.

A couple of hundred quid for a week's hire? The owner must think that she's worth saving and doable. The boat is wood thus she's repairable and I can imagine that she'd scrub up very nicely

[YnysMon]

Yes, but why was she left in a sinkable state in the first place? Seems to have caused a lot of unnecessary expense.

[Islander]

9 hours ago, YnysMon said:

Yes, but why was she left in a sinkable state in the first place? Seems to have caused a lot of unnecessary expense.

Any boat could sink for the failure of a simple hose clip or perished hose connected to below waterline skin fitting. 
Not knowing how this happened I can only guess. Close inspection of the photo you can just see three large cleats along the floatation tanks top level. My thoughts are it became hooked up on the quay heading on a high tide then one or other of the now plugged holes let water in. Possibly because of inadequate fendering.

Is she worth repairing. I would think so. A b00dy good clean first, the windows refitted and the roof sag repaired. Going by the piles of stuff on the quay she was nice inside with the kitchen cupboard doors of oak. Going to be a lot of work.

Colin 

[vanessan]

3 hours ago, Islander said:

My thoughts are it became hooked up on the quay heading on a high tide

If this is the structure I think it is, it wasn’t moored against quay heading. It was moored a little way out from the riverbank and trees with planks allowing access. It never looked particularly secure to me being quite a large structure and, with the strong winds lately, I’m not surprised it came to grief.

[NorfolkNog]

From the BA