This would include a new care home and over 20 bungalows for independent elderly living on land off Kett's Oak and New Road.
The proposals seem strange in as much as the two different parts would be built on two edges, leaving a large green field gap in the middle. I can only assume that this is an effort by the developers to prove that they are not eroding the strategic gap between Hethersett and Wymondham. This really is playing at politics and attempting to "put one over" the village. A strategic gap is a strategic gap and shouldn't be messed with under any circumstances. Rules on green fields shouldn't be twisted to suit an organisation or changed to suit them.
When it comes to development and the pressures it is putting on our village, most of us are beginning to feel totally helpless and I'm sure these are feeling shared by villages, towns and cities throughout the UK as development takes place with very little consideration for existing residents and facilities.
I thought one resident summed it up well when he said: "Is anybody going to listen to us. None of us want this because of the additional strain it will put on the village."
The last application for another 200 homes in the village which I have reported on in the past was approved through a highly undemocratic process. Residents were against it, the parish council was against it, our district and county council representatives were against it but it went through on a 3-2 vote of district councillors - with all of those voting for it to go ahead representing areas well away from Hethersett.
I fear the same will happen over the care village idea. To be coarse about it and use inflammatory language I fear once again Hethersett will be liberally shafted.
* * *
There is so much shoddy journalism on the internet. There are literally hundreds of examples of non stories, many of which use Facebook and other Social Media comments as sources. I think this basically works along the lines that in any subject there will be social media posts that are outrageous. All it seems you have to do now is use these outrageous posts and pass them off as the truth.
Here is an example. The Sun had the following story online:
"STRICTLY Come Dancing viewers claim professional dancer Aljaz quit on air after being voted off the show.
His celebrity partner Sara Davies lost out in the dance-off amid rumours the series is "fixed".
There is not a vestige of truth in this nonsense. The professional dancer didn't quit on air and the allegations of a fix have no foundation in truth and have been bigged up by the newspaper from a few disgruntled fans on social media who felt the result this week was wrong and that was just a personal opinion. Nothing to do with a fix.
Sometimes I despair at this kind of nonsense journalism where a story can be made up from little or no facts.
I am not a fan of Strictly. Indeed I try to avoid it as much as possible but even that doesn't need to be subjected to trash journalism, although, of course, the opposite view is that no publicity is bad publicity.