New university campus to be built and nursery’s wild west ranch: Memories from 1992 and 2014

In our regular On This Week column, we look back through the pages of the Lynn News from July 7 – 13, 2014 as well as a picture from July 1992…Animal rescue centres in West Norfolk say they are facing a crisis due to an influx of kittens following a cat population explosion. Shelter staff said they had been forced to turn away kittens because all the pens are full. The population problem has been put down to owners failing to have their cats neutered – and recently there have also been three separate cases of three litters dumped in cardboard boxes in different parts of the borough in the last month. The Cats Protection League shelter in Stow Bridge is caring for 25 kittens and says it is getting to crisis point and it is a similar situation at the RSPCA Rehoming Centre in Eau Brink which is caring for 30 kittens.An estimated crowd of 300 attended the re-dedication of Snettisham War Memorial, including many families of the men listed on the memorial. Described by parish council chairman Eric Langford as “an emotional and moving ceremony,” the service included a Tornado flypast and a parade. Three years ago, concerns were raised about the stability of the memorial after some of the carrstones were found to be crumbling, but now the memorial has been returned to its former glory thanks to the efforts of local craftsmen, Frimstone and Snettisham Parish Council.

Festival Too fever spread through the crowd as thousands of music fans filled Lynn’s Tuesday Market Place to watch and listen as the sun shone on headline pop and reggae acts Katrina and Aswad. Organisers were walking on sunshine when the rain held off for the show, which finished with a huge performance by Eurovision winner Katrina, formerly of Katrinas and the Waves. People of all ages were dancing and singing along to the night’s acts, with everything from 70s and 80s classics to Brit-pop hits to keep them entertained.A university campus will be built in Lynn after the College of West Anglia won a £6.5 million Government grant. The Tennyson Avenue campus will be able to accommodate up to 500 more students when the new higher skills science and technology and management centre is built. Construction work will begin next year on the 2,000sq m university building which will include 14 classrooms and a 120-seat multimedia lecture theatre.New volunteer drivers and personal assistants are urgently needed by West Norfolk Community Transport (WNCT) which is based at the St Augustine’s Centre in North Lynn. During the 12 months to the end of March, the group provided almost 85,000 journeys to passengers travelling to destinations as far apart as Fakenham and Ely. And the group ran a further 16,000 trips during April and May, a level of demand which, if maintained until next spring, would see the number of journeys it runs soar by well more than 10 per cent. Founded in 1992, the charity offers connections across West Norfolk and further afield. Additional police patrols may be introduced on West Norfolk’s roads if the borough is found to have more positive drink-driving tests than other parts of the county. During last month’s crackdown, police report that 50 drivers across the county were either found to be behind the wheel while over the limit or had not provided a sample for analysis. Police are now analysing the statistics and say they will target those areas where there has been a spike of positive results.Residents should be evacuated earlier if the tidal surge that hit the West Norfolk coast last year is repeated, a new report into last December’s emergency has claimed. The call is one of 116 separate recommendations contained in a review of the tidal surge which has now been examined by a Norfolk County Council committee. The report said that a total of 16 businesses and eight homes, including a boat, were affected by the surge in West Norfolk; at Lynn the wall of water was the highest ever recorded and arrived a full three hours before the expected high tide. Since the surge, more than £3 million has been allocated to district councils, including West Norfolk, to fund repairs in the wake of the storm.A Ryston Runners club record which has stood for more than 20 years was broken by Thea Howlett when she was competing in the third East Anglian League fixture of the season at Peterborough. She finished the Under 13 Girls 1500m race in 5.22 minutes, which was more than 8 seconds quicker than the previous best mark set by Kelly Marsters.