QUICK TOUR QUICK TOUR NORDELPH COMMUNITY WEBSITE: October 2007
Although the church development proposals have been rejected by the Borough Council Planning Committee, the church is still our major story this month -- but we've tried to leaven the mix with some other 'feelgood' items!
Find our below what we have to say about beetroot, beer, birds and boys in khaki (sorry, the alliteration was too tempting!)
Church development
The planning application to demolish Nordelph church and erect five four-bedroomed houses on the site was formally rejected last month. You can download the eight-page Planning Officer Report
that gives the reasons for the rejection from this Nordelph website. There were four principal reasons for the rejection: the lack of harmony of the proposed development which would "detract from the character and appearance of the Conservation Area"; the loss of "an historical and attractive church building without clear evidence of irresistible structural defectiveness"; insufficient evidence that the bats would not be harmed, and the lack of consideration for the existing trees.
The report also covers the responses from 12 official bodies, including Nordelph Parish Council: five of these bodies registered objections. The report also notes and summarises the 17 letters of objection, probably exclusively from residents of Nordelph.
Regular readers of the website will know that we invited the church, in the shape of the Diocese of Ely, to put their point of view to villagers via this website. We have received the following from Archdeacon Hugh McCurdy in response:
Nordelph Church site
"On returning from holiday I discovered that I had been contacted by a number of people from Nordelph.
As the comments were of a similar nature I thought I would write a general statement rather than reply individually to each person. By doing this I hope to clarify matters fully and avoid any further misunderstanding.
While as Archdeacon it is my duty by law to protect the assets of the Church of England, I do, of course, want to consult fully and reflect the wishes of the local community as far as I possibly can.
Therefore, when [two named residents of Nordelph] asked whether I would be prepared to hold a public meeting to discuss the future for the church at Nordelph I readily agreed. I asked the land agent who has responsibility for Nordelph to stop all work until after my meeting(s) with the community.
As you will recall, the decision to close Nordelph church had already been taken by the time I became Archdeacon of Huntingdon and Wisbech in February 2005, and indeed the contractors who were demolishing the church had started work and subsequently reported finding evidence of bats.
The purpose of the open meeting on 30 th October 2006 was to meet the community and to hear their concerns. I also felt that once I had met with the community I could reflect on what was said, review the paperwork, and hold a further meeting.
At the second meeting on 19 th February 2007 I produced a report based upon my own reflection and the paperwork passed on to me by my predecessors.
This report contained a number of options which were then discussed at the 19 th February meeting, namely:-
I left that meeting with the clear impression that the best way forward for all concerned was to try and find a way of releasing money from the sale of the existing site so that the church could work in partnership with the parish council and improve the existing community facilities. The worshipping community would then continue to meet in the Village Hall.
The land agents were told the outcome of those meetings and instructed to re-commence the work of developing the church site.
At the end of July they submitted an application for planning permission. I do not have a copy of those drawings but have been told that they are dated before the public meeting. I do not know when the plans were drawn up but during the time of the public meetings and the report writing I came to the process with an open mind.
If the review and public meeting had taken me in a different direction to the final outcome I would have accordingly taken the case to the relevant diocesan committees and to our land agent. As the outcome of the second meeting was to seek to sell the site and invest some of the money raised by the sale of the property, I am assuming the land agents felt they had the go-ahead to start work again from where they left off. It would appear to me that they have submitted the drawings already prepared for planning permission.
As you may appreciate, under charity law the Church of England has to try and maximise its return on property it sells. As a result the land agents have submitted an application for five houses to be built on the Church Site. This is the next stage of consultation with the community and is part of the formal process of planning application.
I hope that this statement clarifies events as I have seen them since coming into office in February 2005. If you have any other queries about Nordelph please do not hesitate to contact me."
This statement arrived in September, but holiday absence meant that we couldn't update the website until now. We did however circulate the statement to some of those known to us as being most affected by the development, and received the following comment:
Sadly he has got his facts wrong again! No contractors ever started demolishing the church as no Conservation Area consent was granted. An application to demolish was submitted and withdrawn.
A contractor was appointed, but it was villagers who told them about the bats.
Throughout the months of this saga, we have urged caution and vigilance. We put to Archdeacon McCurdy the widely-held belief that the application was so obviously flawed that it was intended to fail, but he has not responded to this question. The fear is that the energies of the parishoners will have been spent in the Summer of 2007, so that when a more modest and realistic application is submitted (or an appeal is mounted), there will be no appetite among the villagers to resist for a second time.
We think that this is a serious possibility. Our contribution will be to compile all that we have reported over the summer into a single page on the website -- and to hope that you never need to refer to it again! But we shall be watchful, and if the development re-emerges, we will have the record of our resistance to hand. Meanwhile, don't destroy your copy of your letter of objection!
Happier doings in the church
Church issues are not all about buildings, heritage and the environment, so we are (truly) delighted to include the following report of the Nordelph Harvest Festival service:
"On Sunday 30th September, on a bright sunny autumnal day, the Rev. Alan Bennett very kindly brought a service of Harvest Thanksgiving to Nordelph for the first time in many years.
There was a good turnout of villagers in the Village Hall, which looked very festive with fruit, flowers and vegetables grown by those attending.
The Rev. Alan Bennett delivered an amusing but thought-provoking service which was interspersed with joyful hymns of 'Harvest Home'. We were then treated to tea and cakes and a chance to chat to one another.
Many thanks to the Rev. Alan Bennett and his 'fairies' for bringing such a happy occasion to the village."
Nordelph re-united again
Last month, we were able to publish a message from ex-residents of Nordelph, This month, we have two!
Lisa Cook, now living in Lincoln, wrote to say:
"I am maried to Kev Cook, son of Marie (nee Pepper), who's parents Violet and Len lived in Nordelph all of their lives.
Sadly both Violet and Len have recently passed away. It was such a suprise to find so many memories regarding
such a small but truly wonderful place."
And Steven Follen from East Sussex wrote:
"My family and I recognise my Grandfather seated cross legged in the front row, 1st from the left in your picture of the Nordelp Home Guard.
His name was Harry Valentine Pearce. He lived in the Black Bungalow, Barroway Drove."
As you'd expect, we've added this information to our page of photos of old Nordelph people, found in the Nordelph Past section. This is the third such identification we've been pleased to report -- but why does no one recognise a Scout?
As always, we do not publish addresses or e-mails on the website, but we'll be happy to put anyone in touch with these folks -- just e-mail us at info@nordelph.org!
More updating
Those of you interested in our Fen Drink section, and particularly Bull Box Brewery, will be pleased to learn that they have extended their range in a couple of ways:
Firstly, there's a new 4.5% ABV ale available on draught. We speak from experience (it was served in the Crown in Downham Market this week, but we're afraid that it's all gone!) in assessing Bagge's Bitter as exceptionally good -- probably our favourite among Bull Box's brews.
And the long-awaited move of Bull Box into bottle sales is just happening. As the labels above reveal, 500ml bottles of the staples Bull Box Bitter and Mid Life Crisis as well as the new Bagge's Bitter are available. The nearest stockist to Nordelph is 'Beers of Europe' (www.beersofeurope.co.uk) signposted off the A10 at Setchey, just South of Kings Lynn.
And finally ...
Two more additions this month:
our vegetable of the month is beetroot. It's something of a pain when we get a new vegetable early in the alphabet, because we have to remake the whole of the Vegetable Master Page. We're tempted to press for 'zucchini', except that squash is already there! Anyhow, you can discover the amorous superstitions surrounding yet another vegetable so good for you that you wonder why you disliked it so much as a child!
And the delight we take from the Welney WWT Reserve, which always peaks as winter approaches and the migrating swans begin to arrive, is enhanced this year. Seven swans, Whoopers from Iceland, have been fitted with satellite tracking devices, and you can monitor their migration live via the website: www.wwt.org.uk/superwhooper/573/super_whooper.html.
Above, you can see a snapshot taken at the beginning of October, when the only recorded movement had been from the inland breeding grounds to the coast, ready for the take-off. We checked as we updated this website, and the situation at present is still very similar. Although some early Whoopers have already arrived at Welney, the targetted seven are still firmly in Iceland.