www.viewfromonline.co.uk LYME REGIS Wednesday, December 31st 2014 3 A hectic year for the town and its council 2014 was an eventful year for Lyme Regis, starting with new traffic regulations and risk assessments and will Formidable will be marked on January 6th 2015 under the new tourism website, consideration of strategy for a series of unusually severe storms battering the South continue to assist in 2015. Legion chairman David Manners. land use in and around Monmouth Beach car parks, the West. Crowds enjoyed the switch on of the Christmas lights, It has been a hectic and very enjoyable civic year for management of the Monmouth Beach car parks which These caused damage along the coast, but Lyme’s with the dedication of a lantern at the Royal Lion Hotel Mayoress Jane and me, we’ve appreciated the support return to the town council on April 1st 2015, and for the coastal protection works stood up to the pressures to the late Barbara Austin MBE, who as mayor founded of councillors and family members, there’s been a great officers, preparation for elections in May and an incom- well. Before the end of the year, we saw the completion the committee now responsible for funding the best spirit of participation and many dedicated volunteers. ing council. of Phase IV, the East Cliff seawall, without which, even display in the area, a proud moment for her family and Those indomitable volunteers, led by Chris We all know that budget cuts are beginning to bite, in its part-finished state, we’d have been much worse friends and reward for the fundraisers and all who do- Boothroyd, once again manned the Jubilee Pavilion, transport, roads and service provision is being affected, off. Now we have the eastern side of the town sta- nated. providing a welcoming face and valuable information with 60 per cent of local government funding cuts still bilised and protected with the fossil beach accessible The parade and seafront is busy whenever the sun source for thousands of our visitors. Our Tourist Infor- to come. for visitors. Our thanks and admiration to Nick Browing shines, increasingly at weekends all year and during mation Centre won further awards, the museum pur- Your council in Lyme continues to take a business ap- and his West Dorset engineers and to contractors Dean winter school holidays. Carols Around the Tree with the sued funding for its extension, and LymeNet secured a proach and is managing assets which create healthy re- and Dyball. town band and Rotary rounded off 2014 with another grant which means its employment advice and training serves for reinvesting in projects for the town; the The Cobb was tested to its limits, but thanks to assis- record turn-out. In 2015, we look forward to Candles services will continue at least for the coming year. precept is held, with the equivalent income being re- tance from our MP, Oliver Letwin, and our engineers, on the Cobb in August, and a Literary Festival in Feb- The Community Land Trust, founded within LymeFor- turned as grants to community groups and organisa- ward, has identified a site for affordable housing and is emergency funding was awarded and repairs finally ruary. tions. Councillors and officers are well aware that moving towards a planning application. LymeForward undertaken. We are almost back to normal, with the Our football club celebrated wins across their teams prioritisation of services and community support is in- continues to bring community groups together and is Cobb to receive structural attention as Phase V begins following their most successful season (including win- creasingly a challenge as they consider Lyme’s commu- next. An opportunity to express our thanks to Nick falls ning the Dorset Intermediate Cup for the ninth time), currently supporting the move to retain beds at Axmin- ster Hospital. nity as a whole and its medium and longer-term future. on March 5th 2015 when he will lead his final Coastal while local rowers Elliot Dale and Chris Darby com- Our food bank remains well supplied by your gen- Forum meeting at the Marine Theatre. pleted their second Atlantic challenge, this time for Now I will turn to the year for Lyme Regis Town Coun- erosity and well used. St Michael’s Primary School play- A challenging start led onto a successful summer sea- Children’s Hospice South West, an amazing achieve- cil. We have welcomed Keith Wilson who joined us as ground equipment fund, something which will be used son with the fair weather and many attractions bring- ment. finance manager, congratulated Kyle Knight on com- by every child who attends our local school, is my cho- ing visitors to the town well into the autumn. These There were reciprocal visits to our twin towns of St pleting his apprenticeship and joining the works team. included our unique Fossil Festival, Guitars on the George’s and Barfleur, WWI was commemorated by the Elle Shorten has joined the admin staff, you will meet sen charity. We have a very caring community, volun- Beach, Mark Hix’s food festivals, B Sharp’s Busking, the Royal British Legion working with the museum, and the her in the offices. teering their time and working for many local and Great Christmas Pudding Race, Regatta and Carnival, Legion also organised a special commemoration of the Your council, with four very competent chairmen of national charities, and I am sure you all join me in hop- Lifeboat Week and ArtsFest. The council’s staff and 70th anniversary of D-Day, when a plaque was un- its main committees, has had a crowded programme ing we will continue in that spirit in 2015. events management initiatives helped organisers meet veiled, and the 100th anniversary of the sinking of HMS of business during 2014. The town clerk gained his Thank you all for your support to me and my May- CiLCA, meaning the council has qualified for the Gen- oress Jane, Deputy Mayor Anita and her escort Stan. eral Power of Competence and is able to take on extra With all best wishes, and Happy New Year! powers. We have consol- Councillor Sally Holman idated our policy and Former resident receives Russian procedures base to guide councillors in decision- making, which includes a Arctic medal at emotional ceremony scheme of delegation, a ■ FROM PAGE ONE Andrew continues: “In 2005 I accompanied Mum comprehensive risk man- rubble when a German landmine destroyed three and Dad on an organised trip to Murmansk in Russia agement policy, offi- streets. All Dad, his Mum and Dad and brother and as part of the VE Day 60th anniversary celebrations. cer/member protocol, a sister were left with were the clothes they were wear- It was an incredible experience and very emotional. new freedom of informa- tion policy, all human re- ing, a damaged brass tea caddy and a dining chair The veterans were treated like heroes by the people lations policies, we have (which I have now). Everything else was lost. of Murmansk. On a visit to a local school all the simplified the financial “It was while serving on HMS Premier that he was pupils lined up each side of every corridor cheering reporting system, have a involved in the Russian Convoys. and applauding the veterans as they walked through new internal auditor, in- “Dad said that while at sea he and fellow to the school hall where a special troduced e-banking, and crew members would have to go out each ❛I know Dad felt it show was put on by the children completely reviewed in their honour. staff pay and conditions WIDEST day in sub zero temperatures to remove the ice that formed on the ship. Not only very strange to be “The veterans were taken aback to bring them in line with treated as a hero. by the welcome they received other local authorities. to allow the aircraft to take off and land CCTV has been in- safely but also because of the risk of the To him he was just from the people of Murmansk. stalled at the shelters, the CHOICE ship capsizing. I still have the Royal Navy There were receptions for them, weather station is opera- ON THE HIGH STREET issue balaclava and mittens he wore when plain old Ron Her- meals in their honour, gifts be- tional as is equipment for he was doing this work. cock, retired bank stowed on them. Our fathers who video recording of coun- “Only once did I hear him talk about an worker, husband, served in WW2 did not and still cil meetings. The church attack on one of his ships, the casualties, don’t look on what they did as railings have been com- and the damage done. He had to stop. It Dad of two and heroic in anyway. I know Dad felt pleted and planning sub- was too distressing for him and he got grandfather it very strange to be treated as a mitted for the skatepark. ❜ The council has been in very emotional as he described seeing the hero. To him he was just plain old discussions with WDDC friend who had been stood next to him Ron Hercock, retired bank officers on the transfer of burning to death in front of him and the smell of the worker, husband, Dad of two and grandfather. assets and their service poor chap’s flesh.” “A fellow veteran contacted Dad a little while be- reviews which will con- After the war, Mr Hercock returned to banking in fore we left for Russia and asked Dad if he would try tinue in 2015 as we seek London but was struck down by TB. This, however, to find three graves of comrades of this chap who had a locality-based ap- BOOK YOURYOUR HHOLIDAYHOLIDAOLIDAAYY turned out to be “a stroke of luck”, according to Andy, died on one of the convoys. Dad promised him he proach. THE BATHBAATTHH TRTRAVELAAVVEL WAWWAYAAYY as it was while spending time in a convalescent hos- would do his best. A third of the council “When in Russia, Dad and I asked our Royal Navy year remains, and look- pital that he met Margaret, his wife-to-be, who was ing to 2015 there will be also suffering from TB. They married in 1953, the guides and the British Embassy staff travelling with a complete review of the same year as they moved to Lyme. our group if they could help us locate the grave yard. accounting and financial After much searching and on our very last day in arrangements, consider- Murmansk we were taken to a small grave yard where ation of the options for a very emotional Dad was able to make good his Langmoor and Lister Gar- Bridport: 01308 287820 promise and place a small wooden cross on each of dens, the skatepark Dorchester: 01305 555089 the three graves - a moment I will treasure for the rest being developed with of my life.” the help of WDDC, in- bathtravel.co.uk ◆ vestment in the Anning Created by the Allied Powers, the Arctic Con- Road playing fields, the PART OF THE UK’S LARGEST voys sailed through blinding snow storms and dark- Monmouth Beach works, INDEPENDENT TRAVEL AGENT ness under a barrage of attack from German U-boats TTeerms and conditioconditions apply. Ask instore for full details. and fighter planes to deliver vital supplies to the So- viet Union in Northern Russia. More than 3,000 men died during the maritime

MA campaign that Winston Churchill was said to have ER N L L I T O D

B ~ called the “worst journey in the world”, and by May ~ H S E E A T IC I V BOILERMAN 1945, the Arctic route had claimed 104 merchant and N G SER 16 military vessels. LTD 3791 The Foreign Office initially did not allow Russia to honour the veterans as it broke their rules which OIL & GAS do not allow British soldiers to receive a foreign HEATING & BOILER MAINTENANCE medal if the act happened more than five years ago. Breakdown Repairs & Spares Following a concerted campaign in 2013, they al- lowed an exception to the rule and President Putin Telephone: 01308 424861 presented the first medals during his visit to London on June 16 2013. 8 Wednesday, December 31st 2014 LYME REGIS www.viewfromonline.co.uk Lyme joins fight to save hospital beds LYME Regis has joined the battle to retain before making their final decision. Axminster Hospital Action Group in-patient beds at Axminster Hospital. By PHILIP EVANS At the same time, the Save Our Hospital Beds group Reduced from 18 to just ten beds following succes- [email protected] were shocked when a different NHS body, the North- ern Devon Healthcare Trust, decided to close all beds sive cuts, the East Devon town was shocked when an The Axminster Hospital Action Group, led by local in Axminster during the winter months because they NHS body embarked on a consultation process to were concerned about the lack of supervision avail- transfer all beds to Seaton. GPs, argued that Axminster served nine parishes against Seaton’s five and pointed out that in their cal- able. At a packed out public meeting in Axminster Guild- Following strong opposition from campaigners hall angry residents were told by the NEW Devon culations the NEW CCG had not taken into consider- fighting the beds closure, the NHS apologised for not Clinical Commissioning Group, made up primarily of ation that Axminster Hospital also served Lyme Regis seeking the views of the public before making the de- doctors, that Seaton was their preferred choice be- and Charmouth. cision and entered into public consultation with a cause the need for beds in Seaton was greater than The NEW CCG agreed to re-examine their figures, deadline on December 31st. Axminster. taking into consideration the Lyme-Charmouth factor, A consultation document was rushed out but there was a public outcry over the tight deadline. tionnaire before the deadline and to get their friends Lyme Regis was repre- and colleagues to do likewise. sented at the public meet- Another cause of concern has been the decision by ing by town councillor Virgin Care, which runs the Lyme Regis Medical Stan Williams, who told Centre, not to renew their contract with Axminster WE WON’T BE BEATEN the gathering that Lyme Hospital, although the Lyme Bay Practice (Kent House) and Dr Becker’s surgery in Charmouth, have TytherleighBATHROOMS & KITCHENS considered Axminster to ON QUALITY OR PRICE! be their hospital and he done so. www.tytherleighbathrooms.co.uk was sure the town would Councillor Holman told the View from Lyme Regis: get behind the campaign “We are fully behind the campaign to save the in-pa- to save the in-patient beds. tient beds at Axminster Hospital which, since the clo- Mayor Sally Holman sure of our own hospital in the 1980s, has been crucial has been working hard to the healthcare of the people of Lyme. We hope that over the Christmas period, as many Lyme people as possible will make the views BATHROOMS BEDROOMS KITCHENS known in a bid to save the wards from permanent clo- WETROOMS SHOWERS BATHS TAPS MODERN TRADITIONAL SLIDING MODERN TRADITIONAL BESPOKE assisted by Wendy sure.” Davies, chairman of the ◆ Lyme Regis Development There is still time to make your views known by Trust, and Julie Sheppard, going to the website: MAYOR Sally Holman” www.northdevonhealth.nhs.uk/consultation who previously worked “Axminster Hospital is for the NHS, in ensuring crucial to the health- as many local as people care of the people of offered their comments Lyme Regis GOT A STORY? through the consultation document. Call 01297 446154 An urgent email was sent to all LymeForward mem- bers urging them to complete the consultation ques- or email [email protected]

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