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Category: Editor’s Musings

Thoughts about North Norfolk life

Utility bills! What Is wrong with us all?

Utility bills! What Is wrong with us all?

I grew up in North Norfolk during the 1950’s when central heating was virtually unknown in ordinary homes. Let me tell you a little bit about the realities of everyday life in those days. I also ask the question, are we becoming soft in the 21st Century?

Listen! Do you want to know a secret?

Listen! Do you want to know a secret?

Between the late 1800’s and the end of the First World War North Norfolk was a holiday playground of the very wealthy. It also attracted great artists, writers and even royalty. The appeal of the area waned after the War and it did not see a major resurgence in popularity until the 1970’s. Today it is one of the most popular areas of the UK for traditional seaside holidays.

Nuclear power station for North Norfolk

Nuclear power station for North Norfolk

The UK government’s Energy Bill is coming back to Parliament this autumn in its draft form. When it is eventually passed into law it will set the country’s energy policy for the foreseeable future. The government is pressing ahead with its policy of moving to renewable energy sources but this is looking increasingly as though it will be just a supplement to nuclear energy. The North Sea’s natural gas supplies are steadily depleting and a complete reliance on supplies from further afield in a world of political and economic uncertainty, is really unthinkable. A way in which to burn coal to generate electricity in an environmentally friendly way has as yet proved impossible to find. These factors combined indicate that building new nuclear power stations is the only option available to us if the UKs increasing energy requirements are to be met. Plans are already in the pipeline for a Sizewell C and another new station at Hinkley Point. Although some countries are at present turning away from nuclear power it is extremely likely that the increasing demand for electricity in the years ahead will force a renaissance in nuclear power generation? Is there a possibility that at some time in the future a nuclear power station will be built on the North Norfolk coast, a location that in the past was deemed suitable?

“What have the Romans ever done for us?”

“What have the Romans ever done for us?”

A few years ago a young man that was born and bred in Wells-next-the-Sea staged a protest. He set up camp on The Buttlands at Wells and erected banners, bemoaning the fact that due to rocketing house prices he could not afford to buy or rent property in his home town.