CCAG Newsletter - 16 October 2003

Again our apologies, this newsletter is long overdue.

I suppose the most important news this month is that we have been invited to a meeting in Brussels with the European Parliament staff responsible for Coast Protection. Malcolm Kerby will be taking part in that meeting along with our local MP Norman Lamb and a senior North Norfolk District Council officer. Our thanks to Norman Lamb MP for making this possible.

We shall be taking part in that meeting on Monday 20th. October 03 and seeking answers to some questions in connection with funding for coast protection and precisely what is available to us, if anything. We also intend to explore the possibility of subsidised loans from the European Central Bank. Also on our list for discussion will be the EUrosion Project. This is a project which will eventually become policy. Whilst in the early stages of being put together I would like to ascertain how Happisburgh would fit in with their aspirations that "due regard must be paid to coastal settlements and their cultural heritage". Whilst we continue to fight our Government for a solution to Happisburgh's problems there may well be a window of opportunity for us to influence future legislation from Europe.

On the home front North Norfolk District Council's Executive Committee of Members met on Monday of this week to set future policy. We are most pleased to report that they voted unanimously to keep up the pressure for coast defences and continue to do what they can within their own financial limitations. This means we continue to be a totally united community at every level which we feel is most important.

We are still heavily involved in setting up a company limited by guarantee to operate a registered charity as part of our "self help" philosophy. CCAG has set out to acquire Directors of that company from across the full spectrum of our community. Three highly respected members of the community with backgrounds of success in business and agriculture have agreed to be Directors bringing their own expertise and integrity, this coupled with the expertise and integrity of some of our existing group members will, we feel be a formidable force. We shall now push on with formation and charitable status. More on that as and when.

Finally, thank you for sticking with us and your support, so very important to us. One of the problems we have experienced with our website is misuse. We have received some rather obnoxious foul-languaged postings on the petition which forced us to put in place a filter. More recently we have suffered from erroneous postings on the forum. However as the forum exists to promote a free and frank exchange of views we have resisted filtering it as we have with the petition. This will explain why you may have seen some nonsensical postings removed.