Old Buckenham September newsletter

Now printed, being distributed

The September issue has now been printed and distributed to most of the people who deliver it along with the Six Villages magazine that is being put together this afternoon. Bulk copies of the Old Buckenham newsletter will be placed in the village shop, All Saints Church and the two pubs sometime over the weekend.

Flower festival in Old Buckenham

Arrangements with a Disney theme

Old Buckenham Methodist Church are holding their Flower Festival this bank holiday weekend on the theme of Disney animated movies. As well as the flower displays they will also have Disney memorabilia, books and colouring for the kids, plus tea and cakes. Entry is free and all are welcome. 

Opening details are 10am to 4pm on Saturday 26 and Monday 28 August.   On Sunday it will be open from 1pm to 4pm.

For more details go to http://oldbuckenhammethodist.yolasite.com/
And here are preview photos of some of the arrangements, pop along over the bank holiday weekend and see them yourselves.

Does local plan affect Old Buckenham?

Breckland Local Plan
Documents that will shape future growth and development in the district until 2036 have gone out for a six week pre-submission publication that goes on until Monday 2 October. Once adopted, a Local Plan will set out the policies used to determine planning applications and the location of sites to meet housing, retail and employment requirements. It will also identify a five-year supply of housing land which will give the Council more control of the location of new housing and will reduce the likelihood of ad-hoc development. 
During the pre-publication period, the Council will be inviting views as to the ‘soundness’ of the Draft Local Plan - ie whether it is consistent with national policy, and sets out an appropriate strategy to meet the housing and infrastructure requirements of the District. During this period the draft Plan can be viewed on the Council’s website and copies of the document will be available for inspection in libraries and the customer contact centres. You can also contact the Parish Clerk or Adrian Joel, District Councillor, by email adrianpjoel@btinternet.com
The responses will be reviewed and any necessary amendments made before the document is submitted to the Secretary of State for the Examination in Public.

Latest on Old Buckenham school

Progress at Chapel Green School
Works have progressed greatly since the last update. The building is really taking shape and internally the finished product is clear to see.
All internal walls are built and the layout of the school is in place Plastering is now complete for 50% of the building allowing finishing trades to follow behind including the installation of door frames, first coats of paint and second fixing of electrical items - sockets and light switches.
All external windows and doors have now been installed and the brickwork is nearing completion. This will allow scaffolding to come down over the next coming weeks which will put the finished building façade on display for all to see.

Installation of the internal floor screed has now commenced. This brings all internal floors up to their final level whilst at the same time encapsulating all of the under-floor heating which is installed to the entire floor area.
Keep your eye out for a mobile tower crane which will be visiting the site soon to lift some key items of plant to the roof - always an interesting sight.

Morgan Sindall are hosting a charity event at the village hall on Friday 25 August which will include a barbecue to raise money for the The Lighthouse Charity. Please look at the post for Thursday 17 August for more information. See you there.

Dash cam talk in Old Buckenham

Your footage can help with road safety

Old Buckenham was the venue for the first public presentation of a new online service launched by the police to tackle dangerous and careless driving on Norfolk’s roads. Members of the public can now upload footage of motoring offences captured by dash cameras via the Norfolk Police website. 

PC Christopher Wright, from the Roads Policing and Firearms Operations Unit, attended an event in the Village Hall organised by Old Buckenham Parish Council to explain how the scheme works and what people can do to help police tackle incidents of dangerous driving.
PC Wright explained that dash cam footage has already proved invaluable in many investigations into serious collisions but can also be used as evidence in cases of ‘anti-social’ driving. That could be reckless overtaking or tailgating – where vehicles are being driven dangerously close to the vehicle in front.
The new online form, on the Norfolk Constabulary website, aims to make it easier for members of the public with footage of traffic offences to send it to police so the matters can be dealt with.
Anyone with footage, who is willing to provide a statement, can complete an online form which asks for personal details and information about the incident they are reporting. The form is then sent to the Roads Policing and Firearms Operations Unit and further instructions are then provided on how to upload footage. The case is examined by an officer who will make a decision on what action, if any, is appropriate. This could be a prosecution, fixed penalty notice or warning letter.
Another benefit of fitting dash cams is that they provide what insurance companies describe as the ‘24/7 silent witness’. Footage can prove who was at fault in an accident and help crackdown on insurance fraud.
PC Wright emphasised the campaign is not about the public doing the police’s job for them. He said “In recent years the number of dash cam submissions about dangerous and anti-social driving has increased and this new online service is about making that process easier. Last year there were 64 fatal road collisions in Norfolk and Suffolk and nearly 600 that led to serious injuries. Anything we can do to reduce this number is worthwhile. The dash cam scheme is another way of educating motorists and hopefully will promote careful and competent driving.”

Barbecue in Old Buckenham

Chance to meet the builders
All the details are on the poster below. You can click on the image to make it bigger.

Plans could affect Old Buckenham

A chance to comment

Old Buckenham residents invited to comment on Attleborough growth proposals.They can share their views on plans which outline how significant growth in Attleborough could be delivered.
Breckland Council has received an outline planning permission application from Attleborough Land Ltd (part of Ptarmigan Land Ltd) and various landowners to build up to 4,000 homes, a link road, and other infrastructure and community facilities on the previously identified Strategic Urban Extension (SUE) site, to the south west of the town.
As part of the planning scrutiny process, Breckland Council has launched a consultation, inviting local residents to review the proposals and submit their comments. The application will be considered by the council’s Planning Committee in due course.
The plans include proposals for:
• Up to 4,000 new homes
• Construction of a new link road between Buckenham Road and London Road
• Access roads and junctions onto the development
• A pedestrian footbridge across the railway line and other off-site highway improvements
• Two primary schools
• Shops
• Community buildings
• Sports pitches and public green and open spaces
To take part in the consultation, residents can review the comments and submit their views online by searching for 3PL/2017/0996/O at www.breckland.gov.uk/planningsearch. Alternatively, comments can be emailed to planning@breckland.gov.uk or submitted in writing to Robert Walker, Executive Director Place, Elizabeth House, Walpole Loke, Dereham, Norfolk, NR19 1EE. 

The consultation will close on Monday 11 September and make sure you quote 3PL/2017/0996/O when making your comments.

Entering Old Buckenham Produce Show

Start producing now
How about taking part in the Old Buckenham Open Produce and Handicraft Show being held at the Village Hall, Old Buckenham on Sunday 10 September? Open to the public from 2.30pm. Presentation of prizes at 4pm.
Even better could you encourage more children to enter? It could be just the sort of thing to keep them occupied during the summer holidays.

The classes for children are:
48. A poem about a favourite toy, 8 lines.
49. A handmade birthday card.
50. Monster made from fruit and/or vegetables.
51. A building made from Lego.
52. Photograph of a tree or trees, no frame or mount.

Children's entries are free. Rules for exhibitors include that all exhibits should be brought to the Village Hall on the day of the show between 9.30am and 11am. Exhibits in the children's section must have been completed since the previous produce show.
The children's classes will be judged in two sections, ie 7 and under, and 8 to 11 years. Prizes and a trophy will be awarded to winners of each section in the children's classes with a ‘best in show’ award for the best children’s exhibit.

Thatching talk in Old Buckenham

Replacing the thatch on All Saints Church

Michael Aldred, a traditional reed thatcher, will be at All Saints Church on Saturday 16 September. There will be an initial general talk on" Thatching" for about half an hour, starting at 10am.

After a break for tea/coffee and biscuits, he will give a brief description of the deterioration of the thatch at All Saints Church followed by a question and answer session. The whole event is expected to last for about two hours.
Michael has carried out a detailed examination of thatch at All Saints and produced a written report for the Diocese and Heritage Lottery. An application has been made under "Listed Places of Worship" for financial support with grant funding. The total cost of the estimated repairs is £137,000.
This event is completely free of charge and a high attendance is essential to show to Heritage Lottery the support of the community to keep the church operating and in reasonable condition. Clergy and church warden will be in attendance.
Work on the thatch is essential to keep water out of the building. Please put the date in your diaries now and come along and add your support to the Raise the Roof campaign.

Old Buckenham Parish Council minutes

July Parish Council meeting
These notes have been written by the newsletter editor and are based on the draft minutes so may contain information that is amended at a later date. A printed copy of the full draft minutes is displayed on the notice board on the wall of the village shop.
Those councillors present were Adrian Joel (Chairman), Susan Brown, Jon Hicks, Jonathan Kemp, Phil Little, Steve Milner, Andy Nicholls and Paul Phillips.
Also in attendance were Hilary Clutten (Parish Clerk), Chris Wright (Wymondham Police) and Martin Render (Community Heartbeat Trust) as well as seven members of the public.
Apologies for absence were accepted from Rona Boggia and Sarah Hornbrook.
Co-option of a parish councillor to fill a vacancy. Four residents of Old Buckenham had expressed an interest in becoming a parish councillor. Three attended the meeting. In turn, candidates Jean Bornett, Gemma Frost and Paul Phillips addressed the Parish Council with details about themselves including their interests in the village. There then followed a secret ballot in accordance with the resolution passed by the Parish Council in April this year. The Clerk counted up the votes and Paul Phillips was duly elected a Parish Councillor for Old Buckenham.
Minutes of June Council meeting. The draft minutes were approved as a true and accurate record of the meeting.
Matters arising from the minutes. Steve Milner distributed copies of a dog bin sign he had seen whilst on holiday; it was agreed to add the words ‘Thank You, Old Buckenham Parish Council’ to the sign. Council agreed to use the sign as amended for each bin.
Public participation in relation to agenda items only. Chris Wright from Wymondham talked about the Norfolk Constabulary Dash Cam Campaign whereby footage of dangerous driving or other crimes can be uploaded onto the Norfolk Constabulary website. A number of successful prosecutions have been achieved through this initiative. The organisation of a presentation about the campaign is recorded later in these minutes.
Martin Render from the Community Heartbeat Trust gave a talk about the installation of defibrillators in villages. As part and parcel of purchasing a defibrillator (top price model £2,000) the Trust would run a training seminar in the village and teach basic CPR. A quality defibrillator has a warranty of between eight and ten years. The maintenance costs of the defibrillator would be around £110 per annum including the replacement of the battery and pads. If the defibrillator was put in a telephone kiosk the Trust will provide the kiosk paint free of charge. Some buyers have received 100% funding from the National Lottery.
A resident reported that there was no sprinkler system in the new Chapel Green school. Jon Hicks and Adrian Joel said that this issue had been raised with Norfolk County Council but they had been told that the water pressure in the village was not good enough to supply sprinklers. Steve Milner will take this issue to the Chapel Green School Stakeholders and he has already written to the Head of the School. The Council agreed that the Clerk should write a letter to Chris Hey of Norfolk County Council with a view to getting it put in writing about the lack of water pressure. A resident reported that his poultry unit has to have a 24 hour water storage system so why not the school?

A resident raised the question of trying to get a doctor’s surgery in the village – this had been investigated by the Parish Council last year. The Clerk will look for the negative response from the Attleborough Surgeries.
A resident wanted people to recognise the work of John Fernihough on the Green, asked about its insurance (public liability), what happens if a dog bites someone and should the grass be cut in front of the barn past the Post Office? He also remarked that the entrance to the school is not wide enough and on a bend which makes it a dangerous road access. Steve Milner said that there were a lot of building materials lying around at the moment and once cleared the splays would be enlarged; also some hedgerow removed. It was agreed that when writing to Chris Hey about the sprinklers, the school entrance should also be mentioned.
Gemma Frost agreed to fill the Old Buckenham resident vacancy on the Green Management Working Party.
A resident offered her help as a trained First Responder. She also reported that the Play Area was dangerous, including the equipment, and that the grass is not cut often enough.
Planning applications. West View Farm, The Green. Rebuilding of front boundary wall at a listed building. Council agreed not enough detail in the application to make comments.
The Granary, Mill Road. Replacement of windows in a listed building. Agreed to support.
Barn adjacent to Stacksford House Farm. Variation of planning conditions. Agreed not qualified to comment on this.
Development plot, Harlingwood Lane. Discharge of planning conditions was noted.
Builders’ Yard, Hargham Road. Discharge of planning conditions was noted.
Planning decisions by Breckland. Gamekeeper Public House, The Green. Consent for new signage.
Development plot, Harlingwood Lane. Approval of reserved matters.
Other planning matters: Local List 2017 Consultation, Breckland District Council – agreed no comments.
Draft Guidelines for Recreational Provision in New Residential Developments Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPD), South Norfolk District Council – agreed no comments.
Gamekeeper Public House – CAMRA has accepted the Gamekeeper as a right to bid for Community Asset. The Parish Council will consider the local shop for the same at next meeting.
Financial matters. The Clerk had distributed her Financial Report to the councillors prior to the meeting. The completion of the purchase of the telephone kiosk has taken place; she has added this to the Council’s insurance policy with a replacement cost of £2,000. The sum of £5,000 has been received being a grant towards the new fencing for the Children’s Play Area and is included in the bank balance which at the end of June stood at £45,535.88.
The sum of £3,201.40 has been received from Norfolk County Council being the balance of the Parish Partnership Award 2016-17 for the work on the Village Hall car park. The Council agreed to pay an invoice from MW Surfacing for £3,841.28 for the Village Hall car park using the balance of the Parish Partnership Award received.
Chairman’s report. The Chairman welcomed Paul Phillips to the Parish Council and suggested that perhaps the unsuccessful candidates might like to join one of the Parish Council’s Working Parties.
District Councillor’s Report. The Emerging Local Plan is moving forward; it goes to Cabinet and then to Full Committee in July. It will then be published so that a further consultation can take place. The allocation of houses for Old Buckenham is 37. Of this number 20 have been identified already leaving 17 to find over the period of the Plan.
A new street sign, “The Green leading to Hargham Road”, has been put in position and further new signs may be forthcoming.
Parish Councillors’ reports. Susan Brown remarked on the parking issues when the Ox and Plough has its weekly gatherings. It was suggested that a sign could be put out on Tuesday evenings in the summer asking drivers to go down the road. Phil Little agreed to speak to Ben Devlin about parking issues. Steve Milner reported that he had updated the Old Buckenham.org and Parish Council websites and people should let him know if they want anything put on these websites.
The Old Buckenham Church funding raising campaign “Raise the Roof” has started. Paul Phillips suggested that the Parish Council sponsor a larger event to make the village residents aware of the Norfolk Constabulary’s “Dash Cam” campaign – a Saturday in the large room at the Village Hall seems appropriate. He will liaise with the Police. Andy Nicholls thanked John Fernihough for his hard work on the Green and wondered if the Green would be cut again in August. Work will soon start on clearing Green Pond opposite the Post Office.
Old Buckenham Neighbourhood Plan. Andy Nicholls and Adrian Joel had met with Susan Heinrich of Breckland Council who had said that some of the key issues might be solved by the Breckland Local Plan so that a Neighbourhood Plan for Old Buckenham might not be necessary. It was suggested that Tim Bornett be asked to look at the next Breckland Local Plan consultation document once it was published.
Attleborough Neighbourhood Plan. This is coming to a close in its current form but a new guise is anticipated.
Road Safety Working Party. The local MP, George Freeman, will be having a meeting with the Road Safety Working Party.
Play Area. The state of the Children’s Play Area had been brought to the attention of the Parish Council through letters received from concerned parents/residents. The grass had been now been strimmed and needs to be kept neat and tidy during the school holidays. Jon Hicks said that he was willing to take over the grass cutting from Ben Devlin and he is arranging to have overhanging trees trimmed. The Play Area has been inspected by Jon Hicks twice in the last month. He has done various jobs and identified that the tractor and trailer are no longer fit for purpose. He and Phil Little have agreed to refurbish the tractor and trailer. The fencing will be done in July/August once the new railings arrive. Various parish councillors offered help in removing the old railings to save the expense of £500 that the supplier of the new railings would charge.
Recreation Area. The Village Hall Committee has reported that it believes the Recreation Area belongs to the Parish Council and not the Village Hall. This being the case the Parish Council wonders why it has been being charging rent to the Village Hall for the land all these years. Also NCC wants to upgrade the footpath that passes over the Recreation Area for the use of school children. It was generally agreed that NCC should pay for this work and agree to maintain it.
Chapel Green School. The topping out ceremony had been arranged for July.
Precept Working Party. This will meet during August.
Highways matters. The Clerk was asked to thank Highways for some work that had been carried out in the village and to report various dirty road signs – hopefully the Highways Rangers can deal with this particular issue.
Report on the Green. The Council agreed that the Green Management Working Party should spend up to £300 on identified tree works. Another tree was identified by a resident as needing work and the Chairman will inspect it. There was general consensus is that there is not much that can be done about dog mess on the Green as it is Common Land. The purchase of a bag dispenser was considered but no firm decision made.
Telephone box update. There was a proposal to advertise for a contractor to refurbish the telephone box now that the equipment has been removed. The Parish Council agreed that Steve Milner should put an item on Facebook.
Defibrillator. Steve Milner read out a statement from a retired local doctor asking the Parish Council to consider installing a defibrillator in an alternative location such as the Village Hall where it would be available to more people. A portable machine was also discussed for taking to village events but the First Responder present said that she had one. It was proposed and seconded that the Parish Council should purchase a defibrillator for a site at the Village Hall (subject to Village Hall approval) and the vote was carried by four votes to three with one abstention. The Clerk was asked to contact the Village Hall Committee.
Correspondence. This included an invitation to the Annual General Meeting of Community Action Norfolk and also a letter concerning the winding up of Norfolk Community Transport Association. The Parish Council agreed not to support the winding up of this important organisation.
Items for the next Parish Council meeting. These will include the defibrillator, Chapel Green School, the telephone box, community assets, the Green, the Children’s Play Area and the Recreation Area/upgrade to footpath.

The next Parish Council Meeting will be on Thursday 7 September starting at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.

Old Buckenham parish councillors 2017

Contact list
Following some recent appointments, the Old Buckenham Parish Council is now complete and here is list of all their details should you wish or need to contact them.

Parish Clerk

Hilary Clutten, 35 Lavender Close, Attleborough. Norfolk NR17 2PZ
Telephone 01953 451078, email: oldbuckenhampc@live.co.uk

Parish Councillors
Adrian Joel (Chairman)
9 Hargham Road, Old Buckenham, NR17 1SL
01953 860663 adrianpjoel@btinternet.com

Andy Nicholls (Vice-chairman)
The Joules, Crown Road, Old Buckenham, NR17 1SD
01953 861044 andynicholls10@btinternet.com

Rona Boggia
The Joules, Crown Road. Old Buckenham, NR17 1SD
01953 860915 mrboggia@icloud.com

Susan Brown
1 Old Post Office Terrace, Old Buckenham, NR17 1RD
07932731881 baildonbrowns1@icloud.com

Ben Devlin
Ox & Plough, The Green, Old Buckenham, NR17 1RN
07887 691722 bdevlin8@mac.com

Jon Hicks
2 Hargham Road, Old Buckenham, NR17 1SL
01953 861414 jonnathanhicks1970@gmail.com

Sarah Hornbrook
2 Chapel Loke, Old Buckenham, NR17 1PY
01953 860022 sarahhornbrook@hotmail.co.uk

Jonathan Kemp
44 Hargham Road, Old Buckenham, NR17 1PD
01953 860567 jonathan.kemp@hotmail.co.uk

Phil Little
1 Forge Close, Old Buckenham, NR17 1RX
01953 861164 plittle@peerless-coatings.co.uk

Steve Milner
Fig Tree Cottage, Stacksford, Old Buckenham, NR17 1PN
01953 860866 stevemilner1@gmail.com

Paul Phillips
3 Forge Close, Old Buckenham, NR17 1RX
01953 860622 paulphillipsmedia@gmail.com

Even more details on Old Buckenham finds

Information from the secretary

Godfrey Pratt, secretary of the Norfolk Heritage Recovery Group (NHRC) has provided more details on the finds.

In the end there were 52 club members detecting, plus a special guest Wendy Howard who is the Anglian Secretary for the National Council for Metal Detecting (NCMD). Wendy commented very favourably on the organisation of the day's event, the quality of the finds, and the quality of Steve Milner's lunchtime burgers.
There were very many finds, which covered a timespan from Neolithic (a flint cutting blade), through Roman (three Roman broches and a coin), medieval, and many coins right up to a modern 20p piece. Of the coins, there were a dozen medieval silver pennies from the 12th and 13th centuries, and two very impressive Charles 1 shillings from the mid 1600s. 

Godfrey's personal best find was a Queen Anne silver sixpence (approximately 1705) which had been bent to form what is known as a Love Token: reputedly this was the origin of the nursery rhyme about the crooked man finding a crooked sixpence by a crooked stile.

During the afternoon Christine Arksey, whose husband used to farm the land brought along a Celtic bronze bracelet  which her husband found about thirty years ago on the same field as the one being detecting on now. This is quite an important and rare find, in excellent condition, and she very kindly agreed that it could be taken it on next monthly visit to the Finds Liaison Officer at the County Archaeologist's Office at Gressenhall where it will be accurately described, photographed and added to the national database at www.finds.gov.uk 

Very great thanks and appreciation are due to Tom Barron, without whose generous loan of two of his fields the event could not have taken place. As a result of the dig, NHRG will be writing out a cheque for £500 to the Raise The Roof appeal. If anyone else would like to help raise another £500 by offering some land for a day, please contact Godfrey Pratt (NHRG Treasurer) at godfrey.pratt@mail.com

Recovering the past in Old Buckenham

Fine for detecting
Norfolk Heritage Recovery Group (NHRG) held its metal-detecting dig today at Old Hall Farm in Harlingwood Lane, Old Buckenham. The weather was fine, over thirty members of the Group started their searches at 10am and were still at it well into the afternoon.

The finds were put on display so that members of the public could see what had been found. There were many coins, some musket balls, bells from farm animals, a medal and other items needing further investigation.

You can enlarge these images by just clicking on them

The items will get further examination at the NHRG monthly meeting tomorrow.
Afterwards, the finds will be taken to the Finds Liaison Officer at the County Archaeologist’s Office to be recorded on the national PAS (Portable Antiquities Scheme) database.
Any proceeds from this charity event will be donated to the Raise the Roof appeal for the re-thatching of All Saints Church in Old Buckenham. 

Metal detecting in Old Buckenham

What will they find?
Norfolk Heritage Recovery Group (NHRG) will be holding a charity metal-detecting dig in Old Buckenham on Sunday 6 August. All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Raise the Roof appeal for the re-thatching of All Saints Church.
The dig will take place at Old Hall Farm in Harlingwood Lane. The fields to be metal-detected are situated between the site of Buckenham old castle on Abbey Road, and the new castle just outside New Buckenham. According to the NHRG treasurer, who lives in Old Buckenham, they are hopeful of recovering some interesting items of buried heritage from Old Buckenham’s distant past.
If anyone from the village is interested to see what’s discovered, there will be a display of finds at the Registration Point situated at Old Hall Farm buildings in Harlingwood Lane. The display will be available to view between 2pm and 4pm on the day of the dig and there will be someone from NHRG on hand to identify the finds and explain their significance. Afterwards, the finds will be taken to the Finds Liaison Officer at the County Archaeologist’s Office to be accurately identified and recorded on the national PAS (Portable Antiquities Scheme) database.
If anyone would like any further details, please contact Godfrey Pratt by email to godfrey.pratt@mail.com