Things to do in Old Buckenham

Diary dates for November

Wednesday 1      Luncheon Club, Village Hall, 10am to 2pm

Wednesday 1      Women's Fellowship, Methodist Chapel, 2.30pm

Thursday 2         Parish Council, Village Hall, 7.30pm

Monday 6           Monday Mardle, Church Rooms, 2.15pm to 4.15pm

Tuesday 7           Coffee and chat, Church Rooms, 10.30am onwards

Thursday 9         Breckland Flower Club, Village Hall, 2pm

Thursday 9         Social and Wine Circle, Church Rooms, 7.30pm for 7.45pm

Friday 10            A special evening at Ox and Plough from 5pm

Saturday 11        November Market, Church Rooms, 11am to 2pm

Sunday 12          Remembrance service, Old Buckenham Airfield, 11am

Sunday 12          Remembrance service, Church 2pm, Memorial 2.30pm

Monday 13         Whist drive, Church Rooms, 2pm

Wednesday 15   Luncheon Club, Village Hall, 10am to 2pm

Wednesday 15   Songs of Praise, Methodist Chapel, 7.30pm

Wednesday 15   Run in the Dark, Ox and Plough at 7.30pm

Monday 20         Monday Mardle, Church Rooms, 2.15pm to 4.15pm

Thursday 23       Women's Institute, Village Hall, 7.30pm

Friday 24            Visits from Mobile Library during morning

 Wednesday 29    Luncheon Club outing

November newsletter is around in Old Buckenham

Five thousand words to read
Here is what the new newsletter looks like. You may have had one through your letter box in the last couple of days, if not why not go out looking for them in all the usual places.

Celebrating in Old Buckenham

Diamond day for Pauline and Max
Invite all your family and friends to the village hall when you have been married for sixty years and what do you get?
What we got on Saturday 28 October was a very pleasant afternoon, plenty of food, lots of sharing memories - all while being serenaded by a quartet of clarinet players (The Liquorish Allsorts).
We could also look at the actual wedding dress worn sixty years ago and see the photographs taken of the newly married couple. We drank a toast, ate pieces of cake and listened to old LPs being played on a portable wind-up gramophone. 
Below are some photos taken by the blog editor that may give you a taste of  what went on (you can see bigger versions of these images by just clicking on them). 

Party time in Old Buckenham

Women's Institute is golden
There was something special about Old Buckenham Women's Institute birthday party on Thursday 26 October this year as they were celebrating the fact that they were formed fifty years ago.
The present committee had put a special effort into all the decor and gold appeared everywhere.

As well as the Old Buckenham members and their guests, several other local Institutes had been invited to send two delegates so the village hall was full of people. The Norfolk Federation chairman Wendy Adams had also accepted her invitation to attend and the Federation Secretary Louise Casson was also there as she is a member of Old Buckenham WI.

Susan Hunter, the current President, opened the meeting by thanking all those who had helped throughout the year and reminded everyone about what was happening way back in 1967, such things as the first heart transplant and the first flight of Concorde.
This year the committee members had done all the cooking for the meal - beautiful cooked ham, buttered potatoes, salad, pickles of all sorts as well as a vegetarian quiche.

The entertainment was provided by singer Martyn Shults who enthralled the audience with his stories of "The Rat Pack", all vocally illustrated by his singing of songs made famous by Mario Lanza, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Matt Monro and Sammy Davis Junior. 

The celebratory cake was cut and a toast drunk.

Then it was time for a big raffle where even all the prizes seemed to continue the golden theme.
A wonderful evening, only ten more years before we can celebrate with a diamond evening.

(Remember you can enlarge the pictures by just clicking on them)

Visitor to Old Buckenham

You may have seen her
It appears from some snippets that the blog editor saw on tv news that the present prime minister visited the site of Chapel Green School in Old Buckenham today. Nobody thought to tell him so there is nothing much else to report.

Old Buckenham Parish Council

Notes of October meeting
These notes have been written by the blog editor from the draft minutes and so may contain information that is amended at a later date.
Parish councillors Adrian Joel (Chairman), Rona Boggia, Susan Brown, Ben Devlin, Jon Hicks, Jonathan Kemp, Phil Little, Steve Milner and Andy Nicholls attended along with parish clerk Hilary Clutten and three members of the public. Apologies had been received from Sarah Hornbrook and Paul Phillips.
The minutes of the September meeting were approved as a true and accurate record of the meeting. Arising from the minutes, Steve Milner reported that the lighting at the new Chapel Green School will go off at 10pm if evening activities are taking place at the school but otherwise the lights will go off at 7pm.
Public participation on agenda items. Steve Milner will enquire if stickers about cold calling are available from SNAP.
It has now been agreed that a defibrillator can be installed at the Village Hall. A resident did not think that the telephone kiosk was a suitable location for a defibrillator.
It was agreed to discuss dogs on leads on common land and the possibility of separate dog signs at next meeting.
Would it be possible to record which items in the minutes have been done or not done? This will be discussed at next Parish Council Meeting.
Sarah Hornbrook had been asked to look into drawing up a document to enable the Parish Council to comment upon planning applications in a consistent way.
Planning application consultations. Land on north side of Hargham Road. Change of use from agricultural field to horse field and erection of stable. The Parish Council agreed to approve this application with seven votes in favour and two abstentions subject to the stable not being changed in the future to a dwelling and any highway safety issues being addressed.
Planning decisions made by Breckland Council. Appletrees, Harlingwood Lane. Front, side and rear extensions. This planning application has now been approved by Breckland Council.
1 Prosperous Row. Two storey extension and front porch. Planning permission has been granted by Breckland.
Beckwood, Stacksford. Construction of one and a half storey dwelling and garage – planning permission has been refused by Breckland Council.
Land adjoining Innishowen. New dwelling and cart lodge. Planning permission has been refused by Breckland Council.
Sunnyside House. New dwelling with cart lodge. Planning permission has been refused by Breckland Council.
Financial matters. The Clerk had distributed her Financial Report to councillor prior to the meeting. The second half of the precept and grant for 2017/18 has been received; the bank balance stands at £34,609.68 including reserves.
Chairman’s report. The Chairman thanked Sarah Hornbrook for framing the Parish Council’s responses to the Attleborough SUE and Local Plan consultations. The Old Buckenham Cricket Club would like to apply for a Precept Grant for 2018/19. The deadline for applications has passed; the council agreed that the Clerk could send the club an application form.
District Councillor’s report. Adrian Joel reported that Breckland Council had agreed to accept and release £167,123 funding made available from the Government’s Homelessness Support Grant to improve the support offered to those at risk of homelessness. It is anticipated that this will help families stay in their homes. Two specialist support workers will be recruited to provide tailored and intensive support to households within Breckland who are at risk of homelessness.
Parish Councillors’ reports. Steve Milner reported that he had four new volunteers for Speed Watch. Ben Devlin handed over a cheque for the use of the Green for a wedding. He also said that would be leaving the Ox and Plough on Monday 6 November but he would remain on the Parish Council. Jon Hicks reported that he had visited the High School to discuss the inappropriate use of the Play Area by some of the children. The Headteacher offered his apologies and will speak to the pupils. The High School children would like to design and build some item for the Recreation Field themselves; Browns have offered to supply some timber free of charge. Jon Hicks will meet with the High School Council next week so that a design for the bus shelter can be discussed. He has cut the Play Area and carried out further inspections. Adrian Joel reported that Raggs Lane footpath needed cutting; agreed to write to NCC and to copy in County Councillor Stephen Askew and Terry Cracknell. There was a discussion again about the path in front of the cottages on the Green. The hogging may be too deep and Jon Hicks said that he would rake some off.
Road Safety Working Party. Rona Boggia reported that the Working Party had carried out a traffic survey at the crossroads on Friday 29 September between 8.15am and 9am then again between 2.30pm and 3.30pm. It was noticed that some school children were being dropped off by the Ox & Plough and the Church Rooms and walked along the path on the Green. They then had to cross Abbey Road where the bend in the road makes crossing the road dangerous. It was agreed that the Clerk should write to NCC (and copy to County Councillor Stephen Askew) to enquire about reducing the speed limit on the roads close to the schools and to send a copy of the traffic survey. There was also interest in the Parish Council replacing the ‘Lollipop person’ at its expense if this was possible.
Play Area. Jon Hicks reported that the tractor would be repainted.
Recreation Area. The Clerk had provided quotations for a number of different litter bins and the Council decided to purchase a green wire litter bin from Bins-and-Benches for £75 plus VAT and carriage.
Chapel Green School. The transfer of children to the new school will start in January 2018 and an open day is to take place this December.
The Green. A written report had been provided from the Green Management Working Party meeting. No money had been needed for grass cutting and no other spending was anticipated in the near future. The Working Party will be arranging to obtain quotes for grass cutting next year. The Chairman thanked John Fernihough for his work in helping to manage the Green. It was noted that the Parish Council had achieved a lot in the last year. Thanks were given to Jon Hicks for his work on the Play Area and to Steve Milner for the film of the Green that he had made for the Annual Parish Meeting.
Review of Standing Orders. A copy of the proposed revisions had been circulated to councillors which indicated the reasons for the changes. The Council resolved to adopt the revised Standing Orders with immediate effect.
Allotments. On the recommendation of the Allotments Working Party the Council to adopt the revised allotment agreement, to set a rent for the allotments for residents of £40 per full plot and £20 per half plot for 2017/18 and to set a rent for the allotments for non-residents of £50 per full plot and £25 per half plot for 2017/18. There are some vacant allotments and the Chairman agreed to advertise these in the village newsletter.
Footpath and fence at the Village Hall. NCC are arranging to have the upgrading work done and have offered to pay the Parish Council a sum of £5,000 for future maintenance which is not likely to be required for ten years. The Council agreed that the Clerk should write to Isobel Horner (NCC) to advise them that it should be its responsibility to look after the ongoing maintenance of the footpath as it is needed for the use of school children.
Telephone kiosk. The Council resolved, should lottery funding be available, to put a defibrillator in the telephone kiosk and then a second defibrillator should be purchased. The Parish Council agreed to organise a clean-up of the kiosk and the Clerk was asked to contact BT about the electricity supply.
Highways issues. The Clerk was asked to report various highways issues to NCC including a missing manhole cover and potholes in front of the Laurel Tree Centre on the Green.
Village sign refurbishment. The Chairman reported that it would cost a total of £815 to refurbish the village sign and that free transportation to the sandblaster had been offered. It is possible to put in an application for a ‘Pride of Norfolk’ grant which could be done by Kerry Talbot. The WI, which had erected the original sign, has given their approval to the project. Ben Devlin preferred to see the Parish Council raise funds locally rather than apply for grants. However the Council agreed to proceed with an application for a ‘Pride of Norfolk’ grant.
Village shop. The Council agreed to ask Breckland Council to add the Village Shop to the Register of Community Assets thereby ensuring that the community would have the prior right to bid if the business was put up for sale.
Welcome Pack for newcomers. Susan Brown showed the Council a copy of the booklet that had been produced by New Buckenham Parish Council but said that a lot of the information in it was already available in the village’s current regular publications. She thought that two-page insert put into existing publications and a section on the Parish Council’s website would be more suitable. Paul Phillips is helping with this project and Susan Brown agreed to produce a draft document for the next Parish Council meeting.
Parish Council Handyman. The Council decided to retain this project but to offer the work on a job by job basis rather than appointing one person. Andy Nicholls offered to co-ordinate a list of jobs and bring it to the next Parish Council meeting.
November Parish Council meeting. Subjects to be discussed would include the Handyman‘s job list, dog fouling on the Green/dogs on leads, Christmas tree near the Ox & Plough and events such as a village picnic.
The next Parish Council meeting is on Thursday 2 November and will be held in the Village Hall starting at 7.30pm.

Road closure in Old Buckenham

Less than two weeks to go
This sign is outside Dairy Cottage in Abbey Road, just by the entrance road that leads to the Pre-school, Primary school and the Village Hall. At times motor access to these places will not be possible if you are coming in to Abbey Road from the Green.

New Old Buckenham school

Name is up
Work continues apace on Chapel Green School in Old Buckenham. Here are some photos taken today from behind the Village Hall to show how it is progressing.

On the Old Buckenham skyline

Energy trip
When you are going along Hargham Road towards the A11 and Thetford, a large silvery/grey building shows up through the trees. Work started on this building at Snetterton in December 2014 and the Snetterton Renewable Energy Plant became fully operational in April this year.
It produces 44MW of green electricity by burning a mix of biomass fuels including straw, oil seed rape, miscanthus (elephant grass) and wood chips.

A small group of local residents were able to go on an organised tour around the plant yesterday afternoon to see what goes on there.
It is a very large complex that is in operation 24 hours a day throughout the year. It gets through about 33 tonnes of fuel every hour and stores up to four days' worth of fuel bales on site, that is over 5,000 bales. You may have seen the large loads of straw bales on  lorries that travel through the local villages on the way to Snetterton.
It is a very safety concious site. As visitors we were fitted out with high-vis jackets, hats, glasses and gloves before being shown around by our guides who explained the working of all the machinery and other equipment.

Those running the site are pleased to welcome schools, colleges, universities and interest groups to go to the site to learn more about how it works, the fuel they use and the benefits of renewable energy production. Ideally groups need to be small (around ten). You need to be fit enough to climb stairs and not worried about being able to see through the stair treads down to the ground way below.
More details at https://www.snettertonbiomass.com/ 
or email info@bwsceast anglia.com 

Old Buckenham WI

Learning about the Anglo-Saxons
At the September meeting of Old Buckenham WI, members enjoyed a visit from Fiona Dowson who came dressed as an Anglo-Saxon to tell them about the West Stow
Anglo-Saxon village.
During the early Anglo-Saxon period, West Stow was the site of a small village made up of timber buildings. Comparatively little is known of life at that time. Crops were grown and animals kept but the people were very poor. Fiona demonstrated how wool was spun on a home-made spindle much as it is today in many places.
Old Buckenham will be celebrating its fiftieth birthday during October. Then the Annual Meeting takes place on Thursday 23 November when they will be hearing reports of
their activities over the past year and also electing their president and committee
members for 2018.

Quiz time in Old Buckenham

Testing time in the village hall
Saturday 7 October was the day for another village quiz with nine teams trying to prove who was the best at answering a wide range of questions.

A sudden knock-out 'true or false' round had people standing around with their hands on their heads.

The overall winners were the "Shrobucks" team who were very pleased with their trophy.

Second place went to "Mike's lot" with a tie for third place between "Wagglers" and "Maggie's Mob".
A very enjoyable evening (with wonderful fish and chip refreshments at half time) which hopefully raised useful funds for the village hall.
The official scores have now been received from the quiz master and are:

1 Shrobucks 74

2 Mike's Lot 69.5

3= Maggie's Mob 67

3= Wagglers 67

5 The Methodists 66.5

6 Women's Institute 66

7 Writers' Block 65

8 PCC 64.5

9 Quiz Team Aguilera 61

(the maximum possible score was 90)

Dogs in Old Buckenham Country Park

Showtime for dogs
Yesterday, Sunday 1 October, was a chance for dogs and their owners to parade in front of the judges at the dog show organised by Rosedale Funeral Homes. The aim was to raise money for local animal charities.
The blog editor was unable to get to the walks that had been arranged in the morning but the weather slowly started improving during the afternoon and everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Odld Buckenhamevents in October

Diary dates for October

Monday 2           Monday Mardle, Church Rooms, 2.15pm to 4.15pm

Tuesday 3           Coffee and chat, Church Rooms, 10.30am onwards

Wednesday 4      Women's Fellowship, Methodist Chapel, 2.30pm

Wednesday 4      Luncheon Club outing

Thursday 5         Parish Council, Village Hall, 7.30pm

Saturday 7          Village Quiz, Village Hall, 7.30pm

Monday 9           Whist drive, Church Rooms, 2pm

Thursday 12       Breckland Flower Club, Village Hall, 2pm

Thursday 12       Social and Wine Circle, Church Rooms, 7.30pm for 7.45pm 

Friday 13             Coffee and cake afternoon, Church Rooms, 1.30am to 4.30pm

Saturday 14        Liquorice  Allsorts concert, All Saints, 7.30pm

Monday 16         Monday Mardle, Church Rooms, 2.15pm to 4.15pm

Wednesday 18   Luncheon Club, Village Hall, 10am to 2pm

Wednesday 18   Songs of Praise, Methodist Chapel, 7.30pm

Saturday 21        Table Top Sale, Church Rooms, 10am to 12 noon

Wednesday 25   Spooky stuff, Old Buckenham Country Park, from 12 noon

Thursday 26       Women's Institute 50th birthday party, Village Hall

Friday 27            Visits from Mobile Library during morning

 Saturday 28       Meet Max and Pauline, Village Hall, 2pm to 6pm

Yet another Old Buckenham village newsletter

Plenty of news
This October issue has appeared around the village just before the beginning of the month. Read it to find out what has happened and what will be happening in Old Buckenham.

Coffee morning in Old Buckenham

Lovely cakes
Those who came along to the Gamekeeper this morning  between 9.30am to 12 noon were able to enjoy a morning raising money as part of the World's Biggest Coffee Morning for Macmillan Cancer Support
Here are a couple of photos to show you what you could have enjoyed by taking part.

Update from Tony at the Gamekeeper
We would like to say a massive thank you to all those who came to our Macmillan Coffee Morning yesterday, at The Gamekeeper, it turned out to be a great success. Thanks also to those who brought cake, we had quite a lot left over so we gave all our guests last evening the option of having cake instead of desert for a donation the the fund. Finally it all went so the grand total raised is £301.90 which is absolutely brilliant - Thank you very much.

Trips around in Old Buckenham

Heroic or Heritage?
There were two very different journeys going on in Old Buckenham yesterday.
If you went to the field alongside Old Buckenham Airfield you could run around this large field and deal with various obstacles that had been put in your way. After starting off from the large inflatable arch there were tunnels to get through, see-saws to climb over, barbed wire to crawl under and poles to clamber over) if you had enough energy left) before finishing back at that large arch once more.
There you could collect your free water and a medal. What's more the entrants paid to do this! It was a 'Heroic' event raising funds for the East Anglia Children's Hospices.

About the same time as these 'races' started, a group of members of the Old Buckenham Scout Group were leaving All Saints Church to go on a prototype 'Heritage walk' and learn about some of the village's history. They walked along Abbey Road to Buckenham Priory where they stopped outside the gates to hear the history of the building that had once stood there. Then it was along the footpaths to Old Buckenham Castle. The gates here had been unlocked to allow everyone in for a suitable lunch break.
Soon it was time to hear more about the history of the site and to walk all around the ramparts. Then on in to New Buckenham before taking more footpaths back to All Saints Church in Old Buckenham.
It is hoped that this walk can be developed into a more detailed Heritage walk for all and, as part of the 'Raise the Roof' campaign, even raise some funds as well as educating villages on local history.

(part of a map in the booklet 'Some notes on Old Buckenham' published around 1946)

Old Buckenham Parish Council

September parish council
The following notes have been written by the newsletter editor from the draft minutes and so may contain information that is changed at a later date
The September Old Buckenham Parish Council meeting was held on Thursday 7 September. Those present were Adrian Joel (Chairman), Rona Boggia, Susan Brown, Jon Hicks, Sarah Hornbrook, Phil Little, Steve Milner, Andy Nicholls and Paul Phillips as well as the parish clerk Hilary Clutten and five members of the public.
Apologies for non-attendance had been received from Jonathan Kemp.
The Council approved the minutes of the July meeting subject to the change that Sarah Hornbrook and Adrian Joel had attended a meeting rather than Andy Nicholls and Adrian Joel.
Matters arising from the Minutes. Steve Milner reported that the Dash Cam Campaign meeting had been good with 19 people attending. Chris Wright from Wymondham Police had given a presentation including some examples of dash cam footage. There is a police website where dash cam footage can be uploaded. Paul Phillips had written a newspaper item about the meeting but the police had taken so long to agree the wording that the newspapers lost interest in printing it.
Public participation on agenda items. A resident reported that the traffic in Hargham Road had been getting worse recently with more large lorries, agricultural vehicles and both emergency and other vehicles travelling at high speeds. It is impossible for a car and a lorry to pass on part of the highway so vehicles are using the front lawns of some properties, including his own, to achieve this. The NCC Highways’ Engineer has been to take a look and agrees that there is a problem. It is hoped that a ‘slow down’ sign might ultimately be erected. He wondered if it would be possible to use a Sam 2 (the parish has the regular use of this machine and Hargham Road is one of the areas that is checked) to check speeding but also traffic police were needed to check the speed of drivers. The resident would like the Parish Council’s support with Norfolk County Council.
Old Buckenham land is included in the Attleborough SUE – see later in the inutes for discussion on this.
The shingle in front of the village shop is not suitable to walk on or for people using walking frames meaning that people are having to walk on the road.
A resident who is a member of the Norfolk Heritage Recovery Group (metal detecting) spoke about its recent finds on the site of Chapel Green School before building had started. There had been a significant find of Iron Age coins. They had also surveyed an adjacent field and would now like to survey the Recreation Area and an area in front of the Village Hall. All finds must be reported and if there is any reward this must be shared 50/50 with the landowner. Hopefully it might be possible to display some finds in the Village Hall.
Is light pollution from Chapel Green School likely? Steve Milner reported that the lighting would be shown on the planning application and he would endeavour to find the information.
A resident reported that there was a rumour going around the village that a resident had been banned from Parish Council meetings. The Chairman said that this was not true and that he would contact the person concerned.
Is it possible to have dogs always on leads on the Green? Some notices have been put on the bins encouraging this but the Parish Council is unable to enforce it because it is common land. Advisory notices were suggested as an alternative and this may be discussed next month.
Planning applications. Sarah Hornbrook reported that Breckland Council has been unable to demonstrate that it has a five-year housing land supply and therefore there will be a presumption in favour of sustainable development. This means that it is no longer sufficient to refuse an application just because it is located outside the village settlement boundary; consideration must be given to whether the proposal represents sustainable development.
Planning application consultations. 1 Prosperous Row, Stacksford. Resubmission of application to build a two-storey extension; the size of the extension has now been reduced. The Council supported this application with nine votes in favour and 1 abstention.
Beckwood, Stacksford. Erection of a one and a half storey extension and detached garage with new access. Sarah Hornbrook said that the location was unsustainable due to its distance from the centre of the village and that there were traffic issues and recommended that the Parish Council did not support the application. However the Council supported this application with three votes in favour and seven abstentions.
Poplar Pigs, Doe Lane. Erection of mobile phone mast and related equipment – this application has now been withdrawn.
62A Fen Street. Erection of single storey extension to both sides of the property and a single storey extension to the rear. The Council supported this application with nine votes in favour and one abstention.
Land adjoining Innishowen, Fen Road. Erection of new dwelling and cart lodge. Sarah Hornbrook reported that this was a very rural location and recommended that the Parish Council did not support the application. The Council did not to support this application with three votes not to support the application, one vote to support, and six abstentions.
College Barn, Cake Street. Conversion and extension of barn to one residential dwelling. Sarah Hornbrook said that Highways had objected to the access because of the poor visibility and therefore she recommended to the Parish Council that it follow the Highways recommendation for refusal. The Council did not to support this application with three votes for nor to support and seven absentions.
Store Barn, Poplar Farm. Conversion of barn to one residential dwelling. As this is permitted development within current planning legislation the Parish Council merely noted the application.
Sunnyside House, The Green. Erection of new dwelling with cart lodge. Sarah Hornbrook remarked that the design of the dwelling was of three storeys when there were no other three storey properties around the Green so it is out of keeping with the Green and the Conservation Area. Also, the location is detrimental to the adjacent properties and there are Highways implications that may affect the Green. She recommended that the Parish Council did not support the application. The Council did not to support the application with nine votes not to support and one abstention.
Outline planning application. Attleborough SUE (Strategic Urban Extension). Land south of Attleborough. Attleborough is identified by Breckland Council as a strategic growth location with development to the south of the railway line. This outline planning application includes a link road to the A11, two primary schools, shops and petrol station; there is no provision for a bus service. Sarah Hornbrook has identified from the planning application that a small field in Old Buckenham has been included. The Parish Council needs to request, in the strongest terms, that a very definite boundary is maintained between Attleborough and Old Buckenham. At this stage it is planned that the link road to the A11 will not be started until the 1200th house has been completed. This is likely to be about eight years away so the Parish Council needs to lobby for the link road to be built first. It was agreed that Sarah Hornbrook should draft a response to this application and then circulate it for Councillor’s comments. The Clerk was asked to obtain an extension to the consultation timescale.
Breckland Local Plan. Pre-submission publication, representations to be made during the consultation period which ends on Monday 2 October. The current document allocates 20 dwellings to Old Buckenham at St Andrew’s Close. This will leave 17 dwellings to find locations for elsewhere in the village over the next 20 years. These could be built outside the settlement boundary. Breckland had made two attempts to find other areas to build in the village but none of the land offered proved suitable. Sarah Hornbrook believes that the Parish Council should challenge these figures as the Breckland Local Plan proposal allocates an additional 10% of dwellings (based on 2011 figures) to Local Service Centres when in Old Buckenham’s case it has allocated 12½%. Sarah Hornbrook also pointed out some dubious wording in the document in relation to the St Andrew’s Close site; the development there is described as needing to be show the “appropriate use of height and scale to ensure the site’s position as a gateway to the settlement” which seems bizarre when St Andrew’s Close leads nowhere.
Old Buckenham Parish Council can have the opportunity to attend the Local Plan Inspection Meeting and Sarah Hornbrook suggested that there should be an initial request to attend as there is no obligation to attend should no-one be available at that time. Council agreed that Sarah Hornbrook should prepare the Council’s response to the document and circulate it to councillors for comments. In addition she was asked to compile a planning ‘tick sheet’ for considering planning applications so that the Council could respond to planning applications more consistently.
The Chairman reported that Breckland Council has offered to come and talk about planning but no firm decision was made about this.
Financial report. The Clerk had distributed her financial report to councillors prior to the meeting. This showed that the money allocated or donated for the Green amounted to £4,937.44 and that £3,089.44 had been spent leaving a balance for the remainder of the year of £1,850. The net reserves for the Play Area now stand at £3,285.35 after paying for the new fencing.
Chairman’s report. The Chairman reported that he had attended the ‘Topping out’ ceremony for Chapel Green School at which he had been given a “Thank You” card made by pupils from the three schools. This was placed in the correspondence folder for circulation to councillors. He also thanked Sarah Hornbrook for her comments on the Attleborough SUE and the Breckland Local Plan.
Parish Councillors’ reports. Steve Milner reported that more volunteers for the Speed Watch are needed. Ben Devlin remarked on the excellent presentation given by a member of the public at tonight’s meeting in relating to his particular speeding problem. He also suggested that the Parish Council purchase a dispenser for dog bags. Jon Hicks thanked everyone who had come to help take down the old fencing around the Play Area.
Attleborough Neighbourhood Plan. This is now out for consultation.
Road Safety Working Party. Rona Boggia reported that the safety crossing situation is now looking more hopeful and has the support of the local MP. NCC now intends to carry out its own traffic survey in relation to the volume of traffic at school opening and closing times. A resident suggested that the traffic volumes at these times should be investigated at Chapel Road School.
Play Area. Jon Hicks said that the new fencing is now in place but there are a couple of jobs that need doing where the old fencing used to be. The grass has now been cut twice since the new fencing was installed. He has been invited to attend an event on Sunday 8 October so that he can be presented with the new waste bins for the Play Area. He is also going to the High School to try and address the improper use of the Play Area by the older children and to also ask them if there is anything that they would like to have on the Recreation Area. The lawn mower is now beyond economic repair. Jon Hicks has obtained two quotations for new replacements and the Council agreed to purchase the mower from Breckland Mowers at a cost of £850 including VAT.
Recreation Area. The Chairman asked the Clerk to put the purchase of a wire waste bin on the agenda for the next meeting. The grass has been cut and much rubbish removed. The Village Hall Management Committee is happy for the metal detector survey of two locations on the Village Hall site, one of which is the Recreation Area, the Parish Council as tenant of the Recreation Area also agreed to the survey.
Chapel Green School. A response had been received from Chris Hey about the sprinklers. He states that the relevant safety rules have been complied with and that the new school does not require a sprinkler system.
Highways matters. The Clerk explained the issue about planting the bulbs; it was agreed not to pursue obtaining a license to plant for the time being.
Report on the Green. A report from the last Green Management Working Party meeting had been circulated. There has been a problem with the grass cutting as there is too much soil (because of the moles) to make the grass cuttings useable by the contractor and have therefore been left lying on the Green. The Green Management Working Party would like to arrange for an alternative grass cutter for the rest of the season. The Parish Council agreed that the Working Party should obtain two quotations for this additional work.
The meeting closed at 10pm leaving business to be carried over to the October 2017 meeting.

The next Parish Council meeting will be on Thursday 5 October starting at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.