Crunch decision looms on controversial entertainments zone at Humberston's Thorpe Park

The 'adventure village' at Thorpe Park (photo: Haven Leisure)

                   

A CRUNCH decision is expected tomorrow (Wednesday) on the outdoor activities and entertainments area that has been established at the Thorpe Park holiday centre in  Humberston.

Since opening last year, the attraction has given delight to holidaymakers but generated scores of  objections - mostly related to noise and disturbance - from park residents and Humberston Fitties chalet owners lamenting the loss of tranquillity.

At a planning committee tomorrow, councillors will decide whether to grant retrospective planning permission for what has already been installed, namely:

* Jump tower, jump bag and climbing wall. 

* Low Ropes 

* Storage containers 

* Sweet treats unit 

* High ropes 

* Big play area 

* Refurbishment of multi-use games area

* Refurbishment of archery range 

* Crazy golf 

* Container bar and seating area 

* Stage and giant screen 

* Ranger station 

* Activities hub and toilets 

* Bungee trampolines 

* Lighting 

Despite the extent of opposition - including an objection from Humberston Village Council - the committe is being recommended to approve the application submitted by the park's Hertfordshire-based owners, Haven Leisure.

Says a report from the case officer: "The application relates to investment in a major holiday destination in the area.

"It supports the existing site and the visitor economy. 

"With the appropriate conditions, the proposal is not considered to harm the amenity of the surrounding holiday chalets or character of the area or the neigbouring Humberston Fitties Conservation Area."

                                  

Coming soon? Sneak preview of the proposed Marina Bar (photo: Haven Leisure) 

Crackdown in prospect for jet-skiers who often strike terror into paddleboarders, bathers . . . and birds

 

Cleethorpes bathers look on nervously as a jet-ski zooms past far too close for comfort 

A CRACKDOWN is on the cards for jet-skiers who often strike fear into bathers and paddleboarders - plus wildlife - off Cleethorpes Beach. 

At next week' meeting of North East Lincolnshire Council's cabinet, members will be asked to rubber-stamp proposals for introduction of  an Open Space Protection Order.

Jet-skiing provides an adrenaline-rush for participants and makes an impressive spectacle - but the downsides are thought to be greater.

Paddleboarders and bathers have often reported near-misses, while the noise and speed of the skis causes mayhem to the globally-important roost of shorebirds, including curlews, godwits and plovers, on the south beach.

The proposed prohibition wording is:

"To prohibit the irresponsible use of Personal Water Craft (PWC) (including jet skis) on and around the seafront that causes alarm, distress and harassment to others. 

"This may include but is not limited to the following: 

• The use of craft in a manner that poses a risk to the safety of people

• Risk of disturbance to wildlife

• The use of craft in a manner that has the potential to cause harassment, alarm and distress to any other beach or coast users, or residents (eg in the dedicated swim lanes, clearly marked out by buoys)."

Some 90 per cent of those who responded to a survey would support prohibition.

New signage would be necessary, but, once installed, there would most likely be a zero tolerance approach to offenders - as from May - with on-the-spot penalties of £100.

According to a report seen by the Grimsby News, similar action is on the cards for:

* Lighting of bonfires and barbecues on the beach or council-owned land

* Unauthorised vehicle parking on the pier slipwayand Brighton slipway

* Overnight camping/caravanning on all council land 

* Releasing of Chinese lanterns

* Using council land as at take-off/ landing point for paragliders, paramotors and hang gliders

There could also be some restrictions on where metal detecting, fishing and bait digging can be undertaken.    

The council will debate the proposals next Wednesday. 

                                                              

Unauthorised camping could also lead to on-the-spot £100 fines

Tempers boil over as contractors lay waste to 'pocket nature reserve' on Humberston Fitties chalet park

 

Laid waste - the green and leafy plot on the chalet park (photo: Facebook) 

A ROW has blown up over weekend despoilation of a 'pocket nature reserve' on the Humberston Fitties chalet park.

Residents have expressed outrage that shrubs and trees have been cleared from Plot 105 - apparently without the consent of North East Lincolnshire Council, nor the park's owners, Tingdene, in advance of installation of a new chalet.

Tingdene have taken the brunt of the flak with Facebook posters queuing up to condemn the company for 'presiding' over what has happened.

The felling of a specimen stone pine tree has caused particular outrage.

"This lovely tree was hacked down by four very aggressive men when challenged about planning permission," wrote one Facebook poster.

"I ended up ringing the police after one of them assaulted a neighbour."

In response, Wellingborough-based Tingdene has put out a statement dissociating itself from the clearance works that took place last  Sunday morning.

It reads: "We have been made aware of works that have been undertaken on Plot 105 by its new owners.

"We are aware that there are various  comments on social media indicating that the works have been completed by approved contractors appointed by Tingdene Holiday Parks Ltd.

"This information is not correct.

"As Humberston Fitties Holiday Park is within a conservation area, consent should be sought from both Tingdene Holiday Parks Ltd (Landlord) and North East Lincolnshire Council (planning authority) prior to any works being undertaken." 

The statement concludes: "We will continue to work with the owners of the plot in relation to the approval that is  required prior to any further works being undertaken." 

Tingdene did previously - early in 2019 -  apply to planners to build a chalet at Plot 105, but, for reasons unknown, it subsequently withdrew the application.

The identity of the leasehold purchaser of the plot has not been revealed, nor whether NELC is investigating.

Contractors on site earlier this week

Serious setback for Pleasure Island consortium as Environment Agency warns of flood hazard

                                                     

Overtopping of Buck Beck could cascade water into the adjacent Pleasure Island site

THERE has been a setback for the Lidl-led consortium which is seeking to redevelop the former Pleasure Island theme park in Cleethorpes.

Probably the most important consultee, the Environment Agency, has announced its opposition to the application because of potentially life-threatening flood hazard.

It states: "The flood risk assessment does not adequately assess the flood risks posed by the development.

"We therefore object to this application and recommend that planning permission is refused."

The site is vulnerable to being swamped either by a North Sea seasonal surge or by overtopping of the adjacent Buck Beck in the wake of prolonged heavy rain.

The consortium’s agent had sought to address these concerns in its application.

However, it seems the EA was unimpressed because it was based on data that was either incomplete, flawed or out of date.

It states: "During pre-application discussions the applicant was advised to avoid locating lodges in areas at risk of fluvial flooding as a seasonal occupancy restriction would not be suitable for managing the risk.

" It appears this has not been possible, and there is a currently identified risk of flooding to two of the lodge areas."

Although warning sirens could be sounded in the event of a flood emergency, the EA is not satisfied that this arrangement would suffice.

It further notes the risk of cars and other vehicles being washed about the site, randomly and dangerously.

And the EA has found another cause for concern. 

The site is close to a landfill site, and construction activity coud lead to the escape of noxious gases - potentially fatal in future years if they seep into the holiday lodges.     

North East Lincolnshire Council could choose to disregard the EA’s objection - and those of other parties -  but many would see knowingly to put lives at risk to be an indefensible course of action for a local authority.

Given the EA’s red light, insuring the site would also be a significant issue.

The consortium has the option of amending its scheme in the hope of persuading the EA to withdraw its objections, but this would hold up the much-delayed project even further

Meanwhile, the planning authority is still awaiting, probably later this week, the expert comments of two other influential parties, both within its own organisation - the highways department and ecology officer Rachel Graham.

SEAQUAKE!: How Mablethorpe, Cleethorpes, Skegness and Ingoldmells were hammered by the calamitous North Sea floods of 1953 eBook : Wright, Jim: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Former Mariners boss: 'Whether I'd been stitched up, I'll never know with absolute certainty'

                                                               

Holloway's book - his time at GTFC was not a success

NOVEMBER 21, 2020: was this Ian Holloway's worst day as Grimsby town boss?

The scoreline: Tranmere Rovers 5 - Grimsby Town 0.

What went wrong?

In his revealing new book, Holloway said he had made the mistake of asking a member of his backroom staff to analyse a video of how the home side played instead of watching it himself.

He writes: "The end result was that he told me that Tranmere played a totally different way from the way they actually played.

"If I'd checked, I would have seen that they had a diamond and, if you play that formation well, they' outnumber you in the wide areas."

Evidently,  Tranmere played the wide areas well - very well.

Continues Holloway: "I tried to change from the touchline, but my lads didn't understand and, within 33 minutes, we were 4-0 down.

"I had picked the wrong team and had the wrong players in the wrong positions."

Holloway acknowledges he should have done his own homework, but he was evidently in unforgiving mood in the days that followed the match.

He confides: "Whether I'd been stitched up or not, I'll never be able to say with absolute certainty, but I made sure that the  staff member who had written that report never worked for Grimsby Town again."

One of the goalscorers for Tranmere that day was attacking midfielder Otis Khan, now with The Mariners.

* How To Be a Football Manager by Ian Holloway is published by Headline Publishing.

Vladimir Putin's most precious possession - a cross given to him by his mother

          

Putin: 'It was meant to be' 

A YEAR and a day after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a Grimsby News reader has submitted a piece of information which offers an unexpected insight into Putin's personality.

Apparently, he has his own private chapel, and his most precious personal possession is a cross, given to him by his mother, which he had blessed in Jerusalem.

When his country retreat outside Moscow was badly damaged by fire, his main concern was the fate of that cross.

Imagine his relief and delight, therefore, when a firefighter unfolded his hand to reveal the cross.

The story is told in his book, Decision Points, by George W. Bush  who asked Putin  how he responded.

His reply was telling. "It was as if it was meant to be."  

Over his eight years as president, Bush met Putin more than 40 times, and they were on first name terms.

He writes: "He was sometimes cocky, sometimes charming, always tough.

"My wife, Laura, and I  had wonderful visits with him and his wife, Lyudmila (they divorced in 2013), at our home in Crawford and his dacha outside Moscow where he let me drive his classic 1956 Volga.

Apparently Putin was unimpressed with the Bush family's Scottish terrier, Barney, comparing him unfavourably to his own black labrador, Koni.

Bush continues: "Putin is a proud man who loves his country.

"He wants Russia to have the stature of a great power again and was driven to expand Russia's spheres of influence

"He intimidated democracies on his borders and used energy as an economic weapon by cutting off natural gas to parts of Eastern Europe.

"Putin liked power and the Russian people liked him."

Decision Points was published in the UK by Virgin Books in November 2010.

Survey of birds reveal almost 60 different species - some of them breeding - on site of former theme park

Up to 272 holiday lodges are proposed

SUMMER bird surveys of the former Pleasure Island theme park in  Cleethorpes have revealed  58 species - either on the site or within 50 metres. 

It is understood the research was conducted in 2019, 2020 and 2022 by a Hebden Bridge-based consultancy, OS Ecology.

It contains some surprises.

For instance, who would have thought nuthatches breed there - or that it provided a temporary roosting habitat for great white egret? 

There could also be an inadvertent omission - at least one pair of blackcaps is thought to breed there annually. 

Blackcap - small warbler which probably breeds on the site

The full list of sightings is as follows: 

* Barnacle Goose - a regular flock is present on amenity grassland to the south of the site

* Blackbird - breeding on site

* Black-headed Gull - recorded on site (non-breeding)

* Blue Tit - breeding on site

* Bullfinch -  breeding on site

* Buzzard - overflying

* Carrion Crow - breeding on site

* Chaffinch - breeding on site

* Cetti’s Warbler - a single bird recorded singing within scrub by the Buck Beck 

* Chiffchaff - breeding on site

* Common Gull - overflying

* Coot - probable breeding species on lake

* Cormorant - overflying 

* Cuckoo - single record of female in July (non-breeding)

* Curlew - recorded on saltmarsh and single bird on southern section of the site 

* Goldcrest - breeding on site

* Goldfinch - breeding on site

* Great Spotted Woodpecker - overflying

* Great Tit - breeding on site

* Great White Egret - overflying September 2019 and roosting on site August 2022

* Grey Heron - regularly recorded on lake (non-breeding)

* Grey Lag Goose - part of a regular flock is present on amenity grassland to the south of the site

* Herring Gull - overflying

* House Martin - overflying

* House Sparrow - breeding on site

* Jackdaw - breeding on site

* Kestrel - overflying

* Kingfisher - recorded on pond September 2020 (non-breeding)

                                            

Kingfisher - non-breeding visitor to Pleasure Island lake

* Lesser Whitethroat - likely breeding on site

* Linnet - breeding on site

* Little Egret - regularly recorded on pond and Buck Beck (non-breeding)

* Little Grebe - likely breeding on site

* Magpie - breeding on site

* Mallard - likely breeding on site

* Meadow Pipit - recorded on adjacent saltmarsh

* Moorhen - breeding on site

* Mute Swan - breeding on site

* Nuthatch - breeding on site

* Oystercatcher - recorded on grass to the south (non-breeding)

* Pheasant - likely breeding on site

* Redshank - recorded on the Buck Beck and saltmarsh (non-breeding)

* Reed Bunting - recorded on adjacent saltmarsh

* Reed Warbler - breeding on site

* Robin - breeding on site

* Sedge Warbler - breeding on site

* Skylark - recorded on adjacent saltmarsh

* Song Thrush - breeding on site

* Sparrowhawk - overflying

* Starling - breeding on site

* Swallow - breeding on site

* Swift - overflying

* Twite - recorded on adjacent saltmarsh

* Whitethroat - breeding on site

* Wigeon - recorded on Buck Beck (October 2019)

* Willow Warbler - breeding on site

* Woodpigeon - breeding on site

* Wren - breeding on site

* Yellowhammer - recorded on adjacent saltmarsh

A planning application has been submitted for redevelopment of the site to accommodate a Lidl supermarket, a B&M shop, a drive-thru Costa and up to 272 holiday lodges and two hotels.

If approved, this would lead to the felling of more than a hundred mature trees and shrubs, with the likely loss of many of the birds. 

The application is due to be determined in spring by North East Lincolnshire Council.

A drive-thru Costa and two hotels are included in the project

Many of the mature trees and shrubs are earmarked for the chop

Proposed lay-out of the scheme

Great white egret - individual birds recorded

 overflying and roosting on site