On this week: September 22–30, 2004, in King’s Lynn, Fakenham, Dersingham, Sandringham and Terrington St Clement

In our weekly On This Week column, we look through the pages of the Lynn News from 20 years ago…

Thousands of pounds has been spent transforming a former top ’70s venue into a place of worship. The Regis Rooms in Wellesley Street, Lynn, was bought by King’s Lynn Christian Fellowship in December 2002. Since then, about £30,000 has been spent on renovations, turning the former derelict caretaker’s maisonette into an office suite and putting up a new roof, stage and £8,000 PA system. Another £10,000 needs to be spent on a complete kitchen update, a new bookshop and pulling out the existing kiosk, starting next spring. A grand opening of the re-named King’s Centre is being held this month with borough mayor Paul Brandon cutting the ribbon.

Laws to stop drinking in designated public areas could be introduced in Fakenham if the town council agrees. Such an arrangement has already proved successful in Sheringham where there used to be considerable problems with drinking on the streets, particularly at weekends. With an increase in drink-related incidents in Fakenham, the town council has been contemplating measures to make the town centre a safer and more pleasant environment for the whole community.

West Norfolk Council has backed down over plans to sell off a play area at Pott Row after irate residents objected to the proposal. A planning application to convert the open space on The Grove housing estate had been made by one of the residents keen to buy the land for a garden extension. But when shocked villagers heard of the plan they hit back pointing out it was the only play area at that end of the village and had been used by children for more than 20 years. A council spokesman said that after the situation had been reviewed in light of the objections it had been decided to withdraw the proposal entirely.

A specialist team from the Department of Health has been called in to Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital after it became the worst in the country for dealing with accident and emergency patients within four hours. The hospital should be seeing 96% of patients in the four-hour target – but the QEH figure has plummeted, prompting a visit from the DoH team this week. Last month the hospital had the dubious honour of having the worst figures in the country, with just 81.9% of the patients being seen in the time limit, and last week the figure stood at 88%.

Jody Cundy, formerly of Walpole St Andrew, continued Great Britain’s Paralympic success in the swimming pool by grabbing a bronze medal during the second day of action at the Aquatic Centre in Athens. Defending champion Cundy was aiming for his third straight gold in the 100m butterfly but settled for bronze in a time of one minute and 01 02 seconds.

A proposed new Dersingham health centre could include space for a dentist, optician, dispensary and doctors’ training facilities, in addition to GP’s consulting rooms. The project, costing an estimated £1.5 million to complete, could also include operation rooms and areas for other services such as occupational health and complementary therapies. The scheme has been outlined to the Patients’ Participation Group attached to Dersingham’s Carole Brown Health Centre. The new facility would replace the existing centre, named after the popular local doctor who died of bowel cancer last year.

Residents in Terrington St Clement are being asked to help support a plan to restore the old church hall which has been left unused for more than four years, The hall is a Grade II listed building and bids have been made for grant funding including a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund. Some £200,000 worth of grants could be forthcoming, but the village needs to raise at least £10,000 or £15,000 in matched funding.

Pupils’ behaviour and the leadership of headteacher Sue du Bois have been praised by Ofsted inspectors who visited Sandringham and West Newton Primary School. A report following Ofsted’s two-day June inspection also highlighted the school’s community links and concern for the needs of individual pupils were described as “very good”. It also stated: “The headteacher and her team of staff are good role models for each other and the pupils.”