The Village Action Plan (VAP) - Progress report

Amenity Area. A planning application is now with Breckland Council, lodged on behalf of the village by Martin Hall, the architect whose contribution to this project has been so valuable. It is not known when the result of this application will be made public but the District Councillor is keeping a close eye on the situation at Dereham. An application has also been made to Breckland for a grant under their "matched funding" scheme for the sum of £3,000. A decision on this is expected early next month. The Parish Council have passed the necessary resolution accepting responsibility for the maintenance of the piece of land involved on an 80-year lease.

Youth Recreation Area. There have been considerable ongoing discussions between the Village Hall Management Committee and the Parish Council. Recently the Scouts representative on the VHMC came forward with a plan to use the area at the rear of the hall to incorporate adult facilities in addition to the proposed youth requirement. It is intended that the new committee at the Village Hall will progress the matter with the parish councillors. The Parish Council voted in favour of the site at the rear of the hall as being the most suitable for youth recreation.

Village Environmental and Recycling. Recently Peter Cockburn, a recycling officer at Breckland, gave a talk to members of the Village Group, which proved far more interesting than anticipated. The talk included details of the handling procedure for abandoned vehicles and the problems associated with fly tipping. The first garden waste and community composting scheme in this area was now up and running at Narborough. However reports suggest the Environmental Agency have concerns about the scheme concerning pollution matters and possible disease to animals. Breckland Council have reported that they now average 30% of recycled waste in their collections. The greatest problem, as reported in the April newsletter, is that of disposable nappies which will spend at least 200 years in landfill. An exercise collecting clothing and textiles for the Black Rag Company (for third world countries) on behalf of the High School, similar to that carried out last year, is anticipated for June. Further details will be given next month.

Village Design Statement. This group continues to make steady progress with some new members having been enlisted, including Terry Banham, who will provide valuable input in relation to Stacksford. The working group are particularly aware of the need to persuade the District Council to adopt the finished article as supplementary planning guide. During the month Godfrey Sayers came to the village and spoke of his experiences relating to four North Norfolk Design Statements. He spoke on the need to have all the community involved to achieve all the parishioners’ views and the impact it is hoped the finished product will have on the future of our village. Members of our community are strongly recommended to come along to some of the meetings to hear what is happening , rather than leaving it too late to have their viewpoints taken into account. However every effort will be made by this hard working group to keep you informed and, at some future date, it is anticipated that a draft will be circulated to every household. Further details on any aspect of the VDS from Dennis Packham (860744) or Terry Cracknell (860747).

Watch out for the date of a future special meeting when it is hoped a senior representative from Breckland Council will attend. The next regular meeting will be on Monday 10 May at 7.30pm in the Memorial Room.