There has been a certain amount of heat around our region this week – some of it metaphorical and some of it very real.
Monday night’s meeting of Withernsea Town Council was, at times, a fairly incendiary affair, with strong views expressed from both councillors and members of the public.
Not everyone agreed – and nor should they. Local democracy would be a pretty dull business if everybody turned up, nodded politely and went home again.
What was encouraging was seeing quite a number of people in the room, asking questions, challenging decisions and making their opinions known.
There will always be differences of opinion over how the town is run, who makes particular decisions and whether those decisions are the right ones. But people caring enough to turn up and have their say can only be a good thing.
And from metaphorical flames to rather more literal ones, another story that has attracted plenty of attention this week is the Land Rover that was set alight near Great Hatfield.
We first reported on the vehicle in July and the rather extraordinary circumstances surrounding it, and it was interesting to see a number of other media outlets subsequently pick up the story and follow our lead.
That is, of course, part of the job. Local newspapers are often the first to know what is happening on their patch because we are here, speaking to people and following stories long, long before they begin attracting wider attention.
What remains rather less impressive is that the burnt-out vehicle is still there.
Despite the attention the story has now received, as I write this it has yet to be removed by either the police or the council, leaving the charred carcass where it has been for three months.
Quite whose responsibility it ultimately is appears to be rather less straightforward than you might imagine – something we have been trying to establish this week.
It is perhaps another example of why local journalism matters. Sometimes the story is the dramatic event itself. Sometimes it is what happens, or fails to happen, afterwards.
Then other media outlets swoop in at the last minute and take the glory for all our hard work!
But, hey. We’re really not bitter. I mean that.
If anything, it’s a validation of what we’re doing here. And as an example of how varied our job can be, at the weekend we were up and down the North Holderness countryside in search of some rather different vehicles.
I’m talking about the Leven Tractor Run on Sunday, of course. We followed it throughout the day from the start at the village sports hall and then to the lunch stop in the beautiful grounds of Wassand Hall, before finishing up in Brandesburton at Dacre Lakeside Park.
We took hundreds of photos, including drone ones, and it was a difficult task indeed choosing just a small selection for our feature on Pages 6-7.
And if you can donate to young Charlie Dodds’ cause, the family would be so grateful.
