Village News Archive

News from the Winterton-on-Sea Parish Council & the village, October 2021

SEAL SEASON: Part of the beach at Winterton is to be fenced off for a second year to keep seal pups and the public separate during the busiest part of the pupping season.

And dog walkers will again be asked to head south towards Hemsby.

The fence was introduced last winter. It is due to make a return later this week and will be extended slightly to the north because some pups managed to get into the dunes at the far end, Cllr Marina Carr told parish council colleagues.

Councillors are gearing up for the winter and organising a rota to be on call to help deal with traffic issues. There are also hopes the borough council’s enforcement officers will make their presence felt on a regular basis.

BEACH UPDATE: A bid is being made for a fence to be installed at the end of Beach Road follow last month’s bout of erosion.

Borough and county councillor James Bensly said he was applying for chestnut paling to tidy up the edge and to stop people using the old gap to get down to the beach.

Members of the parish council  heard the message was that the area was still very much open for business but that the fencing would give visitors some clear guidance.

But councillors were told it probably wouldn’t have been agreed anyway because of insufficient resources.

“It’s incredibly disappointing,” Cllr Marina Carr said at the full council meeting on October 27. “We’d only asked for a little bit extra.”

Cllr Nigel Coe asked if the council could apply for a change in the route next year. “All we are asking for is for a lorry to go about a hundred yards.”

The parish was hoping the gritters could cover down to Kings Corner and Beach Road and made the request because of several incidents last year when residents fell on the icy roads, including someone collecting their prescription from the Church Room.

The borough council has said the route can be assessed next year and in the meantime the parish is looking for volunteers to help spread grit in problem areas when needed. It is to investigate what tools would be needed, including manual gritters, wheelbarrows and shovels.

Anyone willing to volunteer can speak to Cllr Carr at the next councillor open surgery session in the village hall on November 13 between 11am and noon.  

VIRGIN BUILDING DEVELOPMENT: Borough council planning officers have told the parish council they will monitor work to convert the former Virgin Media hub in Low Road into a holiday let.

The parish had expressed concern at access arrangements for contractors to the site, which was given planning permission some weeks ago.

Storm damage at beach

BARRIERS and warning signs have been put up at the end of Beach Road after the North Sea took a chunk out of the dune.

Borough and county councillor James Bensly, who visited the scene with police today said: “It is a shock to the system how much has gone on Friday morning.”

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Friends of Horsey Seals will be providing volunteer wardens on the beach and the car park will be open seven days a week over Christmas and New Year, with some of the parking charge money going to the charity.

For more information on the fence and the reason behind it follow the link here.

WILD WINTERTON: The In Bloomers have been given permission to plant a hedge along the edge of the village hall green to help stop the front wheels camper vans from going up onto the grass.

The 2ft 5ins tall hedge will follow the line of the kerb, bearing catkins in the summer and berries in the winter. Wildflowers, grasses and lavender will be planted in front of it to attract insects.

Members of the village environment group have also identified four areas where it believes  wildflowers can be encouraged to grow.

The group plans to return to the council when it is clear who is responsible for the sites for a formal plan to be agreed.

SEASON’S GRITTINGS: The parish council’s bid to have the gritting route extended in Winterton in time for this winter melted away to nothing because the borough council officer who had been emailed with the request left the authority.

The damage was done by a combination of a change in the wind direction to a north westerly with strong gusts and a Hunter’s Moon leading to high tides.

“The big concern is the landslips,” he said.

There was a sharp drop down to the beach and over the next new days the edge of the dune was likely to settle, leading to slippage. “We don’t want people getting caught in it.”

He praised Norfolk County Council’s highways team and police who had responded quickly to make sure the area was safe.

And he stressed the car park and Edge Airstreams were open for business as usual.

Drivers are no longer able to turn around at the head of the road and should use the car park instead. There is access to the beach through the dunes to the north and south of the car park.

What day is bins?

Waste collection day is due to change later this month.

The borough council has written to householders warning bins will be collected in Winterton on Wednesdays from October 20. The first collection will be green recycling bins followed on October 27 by black general waste bins.

The schedule for garden waste brown bins is not changing.

If a householders’ collection is delayed by the change the council says as a one-off it will collect black sacks tied up and left beside wheelie bins on the first black bin day.