Across the region, I noted three
things:
- the first significant changes
arising from the welfare reform programme come into force this week. Although
the programme will be beneficial in the long term many will be affected in the
short term and I know from my Citizens Advice work that this worries people;
- the Search and Rescue service
from Boulmer will finally close from 2016, with a new nationwide service starting from then;
- the Labour manifesto for the
County has been published.
Locally:
- there were three areas where
local activism is making or wanting to make a difference: the farcical attempt
by the Council to issue parking tickets to residents parking on their own land
off Harbour Rd in Seahouses has been defeated; a planning inspector has upheld
the decision to have rights of way across the coastal sites in Beadnell where
contested housing applications are underway; and an action group has been
formed to question the proposed development of houses next to Kingsfield in
Seahouses, fearing another “ghost development” of second homes.
All these highlight the need for
Neighbourhood plans to set a framework for what happens in our area; a
framework we set rather than one which is handed down. And interestingly I was
pleased that Belford parish council discussed the possibility of such a plan.
Also in Belford rate relief was given to the pigeon fanciers’ (the Belford
Homing Society) shed five years after a similar battle when it made headlines
because pigeon racing was not then a sport and eligible for rate relief.
Lastly, the beaches mostly
maintained their top-rating in the annual good beach guide published by the
Marine Conservation Society.
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