Hoe and Worthing Villages: Norfolk
Extraordinary General Meeting
Draft minutes of meeting held on 25 November 2021
Hoe and Worthing Parish EGM
DRAFT
- Attendance
James Keith (Chairman), Carl and Glenys Watling, John and Jenny Tuckwell, Dick and Sue Malt, Sally Mullins, Celia Daniel, Harry Whitcher, James Sayer, Gerald and Sally Kerry, Chris Monk (Cawston Parish Council), Alison Shaw (Oulton Parish Council), Brenda Snelling, David Williams, Margaret Barrett, Philip and Krystyna Strougler, Simon Brock, Dominic Chessum, Roger Patchett.
- Covid Community Memorial Plaque
James Keith began the meeting by introducing Deputy Lieutenant Han Yang Yap who attended the meeting to present a plaque to the Parish. The plaque had been commissioned for every parish and town council across Norfolk to recognise the work of the communities during the pandemic. The round plaques had been chosen as a visual way to celebrate the communities overcoming such a difficult year.
The Chairman accepted the plaque on behalf of the Parish and said that it would be displayed in the Parish Meeting Room in Hoe. However, as the Parish Meeting covers both Hoe and Worthing, it was agreed that another plaque will be obtained to be displayed in Worthing.
For the next item on the agenda, the Chairman stood down from his position to allay any concerns of personal interest, and Carl Watling deputised.
- Vattenfall Project
The purpose of this item on the agenda was to discuss and understand the implications of the Vattenfall project which will harness wind energy from the North Sea and transmit it via underground cables to sub stations in Norfolk and then on to the rest of the country. Carl Watling had prepared the attached handouts, showing maps and graphs, that were circulated to the Meeting. He then introduced Alison Shaw, councillor at Oulton Parish Council to explain more about the Norfolk Parish Movement.
This is a group of 87 parishes that are opposed to the Vattenfall project. Originally there were 30 members but it has recently risen to 87 as more parishes are becoming concerned about the impact of the project. Alison Shaw made it very clear that the group is completely in support of tackling climate change and, in particular, the benefits of wind energy. However, the movement is promoting the use of an Offshore Transmission Network (OTN) which would have less of an environmental impact on the county. The Parish of Hoe and Worthing will be directly affected if the Vattenfall project goes ahead.
There is no financial impact on Hoe and Worthing joining the movement.
Alison Shaw and Chris Monk then answered questions put to them by the attendees.
- An OTN will be cheaper
- MP’s are in support of an OTN
- Although the Vattenfall project has been agreed, future projects will be via an OTN.
A representative from Vattenfall had been invited to address the meeting to put their case across, but declined to attend.
Alison and Chris were asked to leave the Meeting so that the attendees could vote on whether the Parish Meeting should support the Norfolk Parish Movement:
11 Votes for
6 Votes against
2 Abstained
The motion was carried to support the Norfolk Parish Movement in opposing the Vattenfall project.