At first we were told by Norfolk County Council that an accouncement would be made regarding the quarry site allogations in November 2008. Then as November started to approach, they announced delays due to the time and work involved in processing the overwhelming number of objections, and so they gave us a new date of January 30th 2009.

Now however, we hear that Norfolk County Council have delayed the decision yet again. This time they have not given a firm date, so nobody knows for certain when the announcement will be made.
I was told we can expect a firm decision sometime in Mid 2009. Other people I have spoken to have been given dates as diverse as March 2009 to July 2009.

Caroline Jeffrey from Norfolk County Council has done her best to keep me informed with the latest information regarding the process, but she can only provide me with information if it's available to her, and from what I can ascertain, the NCC offices are in a state of some chaos at the moment.

Caroline told me "The core strategy has had delays due to the work load associated with the allocation consultation responses and the development of the document has not gone as smoothly as anticipated, which we are in the process of trying to resolve."

She went on to say "We are currently seeking legal advice on an issue raised by Government Office relating to the strategy and integration of sites. This has a direct impact on the allocations document as we can not start our methodology for site selection until the core strategy is more advanced."

We've been assured that as soon as a decision is made, Norfolk County Council will write to every individual who submitted a response during the consultation period informing them of the result, however that's very little comfort to the poor residents who now have to suffer the agony of uncertainty for another six months or so.

Meanwhile, stress levels in the Pentney community continue to rise, aggravating associated health issues among the elderly, infirm and disabled residents.

The humane and considerate thing to do would be to withdraw MIN93 from the consultation period completely.
Norfolk County Council don't have the power to do this.
Savills don't have the power to do this.
Only one man has the power to do this kind, humanitarian thing, for the benefit of his neighbours and fellow human beings.
That person is the landowner who submitted his site for the consultation process in the first place.

So come on Mister Cunnington, for the benefit of the community in which you live, and for the sake of the wellbeing of your neighbours. Pull the iron out of the fire. Withdraw your site from the consultation process and allow Pentney to return to the beautiful rural idyl that it was 12 months ago.