Month: April 2022

Planning Updates March 2022

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Planning Updates March 2022

.  Planning Updates

The following applications have been approved:

  • Station Road Playing Fields, Station Road East. Erection of a permanent netted cricket ball stop fence 10m x 30m.
  • Goldsland Farm (LAW). Use of enclosed curtilage as garden area of farmhouse.
  • Goldsland Farm. Outbuilding for private gym and summer house.

 

The hedge adjoining the Community Centre car park has been cut by the adjoining householder to expose the line of the footpath. The Council will maintain the remainder of the hedge which is across their land in future and tidy up the present visual impact.

Update of some of the celebrations being arranged to mark the Platinum Jubilee were discussed. Street party organisers are reminded that they need to complete an application form to close a road obtainable from the Vale Council https://www.visitthevale.com/inspiration/the-queens-platinum-jubilee-2022. The Council is looking to plant Jubilee roses and erect a toposcope as a permanent marker of the occasion.

The Welsh government’s Community and Town Councils statutory guidance implications for the Council were discussed. This directive includes measures to encourage greater public participation in local matters and will require all meetings to be streamed in future. There are also requirements to publish more material and training requirements for councillors and staff.

It has been agreed that the patio area outside The Hub should be relocated to the south side of the library building at ground level and the present path widened to accommodate chairs and tables. Investigations of cost etc are being investigated.

Maintenance of the Community Building. The Council has appointed a consultant to investigate the repair to the windows, many of which are over 100 years old. The building is in the village conservation area and hence there will be restrictions on repairs/replacements. Work will probably involve the removal of the windows, stripping and replacement of any decaying areas and reglazing where required so that hopefully they will be good for another 100 years.

Confirmation has been received that polling stations for the forthcoming elections will be the Community Centre and mobile stations located in the Beech Tree car park.

Having erected the new notice boards at the two new housing sites, the replacement of a notice board for Dyffryn needs to be considered.

The Council was informed of a serious escalation of the lost dog posters which continue appearing around the village and local countryside. Razor blades are being embedded in the sides of the notices in the hope of deterring their removal. Anybody coming across any such notices should report it to the police before a serious injury is suffered by a member of the public.

The Council are seeking a new Clerk to the Council(see page 5). The present incumbent is taking up full time employment

 

 

Planning Applications for April 2022

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 Planning Applications for April 2022

.  Planning Applications

The Council raised no objections to the following applications:

  • 27, Burdons Close. Construct a single storey orangery rear extension.
  • 9, Goldsland Walk. Conversion of existing integral single garage into a living space.

 

Applications have been made for work to trees covered by Tree Preservation Orders:

  • 7, Tarrws Close. – two mature Horse Chestnuts. Prune back all lower young growth on both trees overhanging the garden. Reduce heavier higher lateral branches.

• 60, Burdons Close. A Sycamore, Ash and Oak. Reduce overhanging lateral branches by 2 metres to strong growth points.

 

 

 

The Man Who Helped Change The World

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THE MAN FROM THE ‘DIFF’ WHO HELPED CHANGE THE WORLD

Most people have not heard of a Cardiff based Post Office engineer called George Kemp, but his important contribution to the history of radio communications, alongside the more famous Gugliemo Marconi, cannot be denied.
As Marconi’s right hand man George Kemp helped make history when, on 13 May 1897, the two men transmitted a radio signal across open sea (from Lavernock Point to Flat Holm) for the first time. Many will have seen the bronze plaque unveiled by the Cardiff Rotary Club, inside the courtyard of the closed St. Lawrence Church, Lavernock, which marks this achievement.
George Kemp was born in 1857 and spent most of his childhood in the port of Southampton. At the age of 17, like many of his friends, he joined the Royal Navy. Kemp took part in some famous naval operations, including, in 1879, the bombardment of Alexandria in the Anglo-Egyptian War, fighting alongside John (later Admiral) Jellicoe. On his return home, he studied at a famous Torpedo and Gunnery School, where he was in the same class as Prince George (later King George V). At the final passing out examination, the talented Kemp obtained a record 97%. In 1887 he was promoted Chief Torpedo instructor, going on to experimental work on torpedo design and the use of electricity on ships. Kemp left the navy at the age of 38, his skills getting him a prestigious appointment to the engineering staff at the Post Office based in Cardiff.


Kemp (on the right of the picture) had held this appointment for only a few months but had already impressed his boss Sir William Preece. Preece decided Kemp, with his background and experience, was the ideal person to help Marconi realise his dream of becoming the first to create a system of long range wireless telecommunication. Marconi had already managed to send a message in Morse Code over a distance of two miles on his father’s vast country estate. With little interest shown in his exciting work in Italy though, Marconi decided to move to London, hoping to develop a system of messaging between ships, which would find enthusiastic customers in the Royal Navy and merchant fleets. Marconi and Kemp hit it off immediately. In July 1896 Kemp, who had three children to look after, gambled on his faith in Marconi, gave up working for the Post Office in Cardiff and soon became head of engineering development with the Marconi Company, a position he held for the next 36 years until his death in 1933.
After transmitting messages between government buildings, in 1897 the two men successfully sent Morse code signals over nearly 4 miles on Salisbury Plain. Living in the area, George suggested the south Wales coast as the ideal location for the experiment to transmit across open sea. Following days of testing, Marconi took up position on Lavernock Point while Kemp and his nephew Herbert were positioned three miles away on Flat Holm. Kemp’s diary detailed early set backs as the fate of the experiments ‘trembled in the balance.’ ‘An inspiration saved it’ he wrote. It was a simple one. The apparatus was carried to the bottom of the cliff increasing the overall aerial height to 50 metres. Marconi sent an initial message in Morse code. It read: “CAN YOU HEAR ME”. Shortly after, Marconi received a reply from Kemp: “YES LOUD AND CLEAR”. The recording slip for this first message is now kept at the National Museum of Wales. Another followed by successfully transmitting nearly 10 miles across the Channel to Brean Down Fort near Weston Super Mare.
Kemp remained at Marconi’s side for his most memorable achievements, including the first wireless transmission across the Atlantic Ocean in 1901. The two men grew to be close friends, so much so, that Kemp was even in charge of Marconi’s personal diet. In 1909 Marconi shared the Nobel Prize in Physics with fellow pioneer Karl Ferdinand Braun, in recognition of their ‘contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy’. The contribution of the Cardiff based Post Office engineer should also not be forgotten.

 

 

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