There has been a mixture of news coming out of Downham Market over the last ten or so days and a wide variety of stories have got into the EDP. To kick us off we had a story on May 7 about plans for six homes and two new shops on the site of a former slaughter house in Downham. I have to admit I was intrigued by this story and it looks like a good plan. What do you think? Moving on, the barrow crossing at the town s station was shut by Network Rail on Monday, May 9, which angered South West Norfolk MP Elizabeth Truss. It does appear that Network Rail had simply had enough of people “abusing” the crossing but are they just moving the problem? Town and borough councillor Colin Sampson has also made the headlines after it was revealed he will be the new mayor of West Norfolk. He already has mayoral experience having been Downham mayor in 2005 and I am sure he will serve the borough well. The annual Hilgay book fair returned last weekend and yet again people packed the village hall to support the event and pick up a couple of “holiday books”. It also raised a lot of money for Help for Heroes which is such a worthwhile cause. I can t wait for the Downham Market Festival to bring the town to life at the end of this month. There are a lot of events planned for the eight-day festival. Click the link the get a round up of the events but make sure you buy a programme from a whole host of shops in town to get the full schedule. Finally, this week saw the start of the trial of Michael Tucker who is accussed of killing his partner Becky Thorpe. Becky went to Shouldham Primary School and Downham Market High School. She also played hockey for Denver Ladies and worked as a dental nurse in the town for a while. I am sure there are plenty of townspeople who came across her and were saddened to hear of her sudden death.