On this week in 1990 and 1995: Work starts on new £3m retail park and festive goodwill at group’s first-ever public show

In our weekly On This Week feature, we look back through the pages of old editions of the Lynn News dating back to 1990 and 1995…On This Week: December 8-14, 1990Increasing unemployment in Lynn will be stemmed when work starts on a new £3m-plus retail and industrial park next month. Over a period of three years, 450 jobs will be created at the Hardwick Road site. Do-it-yourself and garden centre giant B&Q is building a 35,000 sq ft store and American fast food chain McDonalds is to open a “drive-thru” restaurant where customers can collect food by car. Significant highway improvements to Hardwick Road are proposed to ease traffic flow into and out of the town centre, and a pedestrian and cycle route will run through the site.

Villagers have turned out in force to see details of the proposed £20 million A47 by-pass from Walpole Highway to Tilney Fen End. Representatives from the Department of Transport and architectural consultants who were on hand to answer questions in Terrington St John church hall were pleased with the response. Residents heard that pedestrian safety would be improved in Church Road at Terrington St John and so too would access to the Rollerdrome at Walpole Highway.Naturally Norfolk is the name of a new scheme to boost tourism in the Lynn area. The concept involves packaging tours to two or three local attractions for visiting groups and coach parties. A visit to the Sea Life Centre at Hunstanton is combined with a tour of Pensthorpe Waterfowl Park, Orchid World and/or the African Violet Centre at Terrington St Clement, Holkham Hall and the Butterfly Park at Long Sutton. Adult prices range from £3.50 to £6.45 and tickets are now available.The police Christmas drink-drive campaign has got off to an excellent start in West Norfolk this week, when the first day went by without one failed breath test. Officers from the western traffic team tested 41 motorists on the day and were happy to report that no-one was over the limit. Police say they will have more officers out on the roads as they were determined to stamp the problem out. Since 1979 the number of fatal road accidents as a result of drink-driving had decreased by 40 per cent, showing the success of the campaigns. Lynn should have a second fire station within the next three years, according to Bryan Smith, Norfolk’s chief fire officer. In a report to the county’s fire and consumer services committee, he has warned that if the project doesn’t go ahead he cannot guarantee that local fire cover will meet the necessary standards in the future. Land to the south of the town has already been identified for a second station and Mr Smith has advised councillors that the land in question could be available for sale soon.Security problems at the Saddlebow gypsy site in Lynn have forced West Norfolk Council to agree to spend £5,000 on crime prevention equipment. Theft and vandalism have been hampering the building work so the contractor involved has asked the council to help pay for better security measures. Councillors were told that unless help was given to the contractor there could be problems in completing the work on schedule. The council will be seeking to get the £5,000 reimbursed from the county council. After three years of waiting and planning, work has started on a £500,000 new doctors’ surgery at Grimston. Doctors Michael Archer, Paul Whyman, Margaret Willox and their staff, currently working in cramped surroundings at Back Lane, Pott Row, hope to move into the new health centre next summer. The purpose-built new surgery in Congham Road would have facilities for four doctors and plenty of space throughout; at the present surgery three doctors were working in accommodation designed for two.Downham and District branch of the Pre-School Playgroup Association has been officially launched with the cutting of a cake specially designed and made for the occasion by Downham High School student Alexander Atkin. It was decorated with the PPA logo. About 60 guests and playgroup workers attended the launch at Downham Youth and Community Centre, which was decorated with examples of playgroup equipment and the work of some local groups.Brrrr… Bobbing about in a boat in the middle of Lynn’s tidal River Ouse on a wintry day in December is surely one of the loneliest and coldest jobs in Wes Norfolk. But that’s what Barry Ketteringham is doing as safety officer for Carter Hire and Scaffolding at Austin Fields, Lynn, as their men help with maintenance work at the Cut Bridge. Barry’s role is necessary because it is a legal requirement to have a stand-by boat ready when men are working over water.