Sunday 31 March 2019

Latest Old Buckenham village newsletter

Local news and views


May have already dropped through your letterbox or is available to pick up from the village shop, All Saints Church, both pubs and the Airfield.

Thursday 28 March 2019

Enterprising cafe in Old Buckenham

Go along to Chapel Green
There is a chance for you to make a personal visit Chapel Green School on Thursday 4 April between 9.30am and 11.30am when they will be having their Fusion Enterprise Community Café. Don't be put off by the long driveway or the barriers across the road. The barriers will be lifted if you speak nicely to them.
The Enterprise Café will have sandwiches, cakes and drinks available for a donation, a range of products made by students can be purchased and there will be games (and games mean prizes).

You could even deliver all those LEGO vouchers that you have been saving.

The Café will also be open on Thursday 16 May and Thursday 20 June, two more dates to put in your diary.

Monday 25 March 2019

Collecting in Old Buckenham

Please continue collecting the tokens
Chapel Green School are still collecting the tokens that are now appearing in the EDP and are asking for help to win the school some LEGO. The EDP are running a new campaign with CreativeHUT, giving primary and junior schools across the region the chance to share £10,000 worth of LEGO Education resources.
Our Chapel Green School is taking part in this competition and for every 1,000 tokens they collect, they will receive £50 worth of LEGO. The top three schools who collect most tokens will win £1,000 worth of LEGO (this is based on number of pupils in the school versus tokens collected, meaning that all schools have a chance, both big and small).Tokens appear everyday in the Eastern Daily Press and Norwich Evening News. On particular dates there are ten additional tokens printed in the papers meaning that you can collect significantly more of them and quickly increase total collected. Every Tuesday and Saturday from now until Saturday 20 April are the 'token bonanza' dates.  So the dates to remember and put in your diaries are Tuesday 26 March (tomorrow!) and then Saturday 30 March. Next month it will be the Tuesdays 2, 9 and 16 April, Thursdays 11 and 18 April and the Saturdays 6, 13 and 20 April.
The final token will be printed on Friday 3 May so please spread the word and collect up as many as you can. Ask your neighbours and friends too to cut them out for you if you know they read the EDP. You can take the tokens along to Reception at the school or, if more convenient, give them to the newsletter editor or put them through the letterbox at his house, Crockslea in Cake Street.

Sunday 24 March 2019

Significant birthday in Old Buckenham

It was party time
Friends and relations of Alison gathered in Old Buckenham Village Hall yesterday to celebrate her 'significant' birthday. The family had done her proud with the whole event themed around Alice in Wonderland (Alison in wonderland?) with illustrations all over the walls and on the plates and cups on the tables.
It really was a party for all ages, from babies to those in their nineties. It was a tea party without a Mad Hatter; there were games of pass the parcel, a quiz for each table to try to answer and an elaborately decorated cake. The guests all came away with a party bag containing a piece of cake and a packet of all those little sweets that remind you of your childhood.
Thank you Alison and family for arranging an event that you and we will all remember for years to come.
Happy birthday Alison









Saturday 23 March 2019

Bulk recycling in Old Buckenham

Jumble sale in Church Rooms
The queue outside the Church Rooms started moving inside at 10am this morning. There was plenty of activity inside as the happy shoppers searched through for the bargains in the heaps of clothes, books, bric-a-brac and children's toys.
Many sackfuls of stuff went off to be reused and everything that was left over at the end was taken away by a local charity that uses it to make more money and also takes clothes and toys to those in Romania  who greatly appreciate it. 






Thursday 21 March 2019

Old Buckenham Parish Council in March

Minutes of March 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.

Old Buckenham Parish Council met on Thursday 7 March in the Village Hall.
Those present were councillors Gemma Frost (Vice-Chair), Jonn Hicks, Steve Milner, Andy Nicholls and Donna Oakley as well as Rachel Noyes (Clerk) and six members of the public. Apologies for absence had been received from councillors Adrian Joel and Ben Devlin.
The minutes of the February meeting were approved (4 in favour, 1 abstained) and there were no matters arising.
Public participation relating to agenda items. A parishioner highlighted the talk by Norfolk Wildlife Trust about Common Wildlife on Friday 15 March at the Village Hall.
Financial matters. The balance in community account at the end of February was £38,714.68 and the balance in the premium account was £2,877.49. There was no income in February and payments approved totalled £971.98 including £110 for the installation of the defibrillator at the Village Hall and £225 for community car services.
A parishioner had submitted an invoice for approximately £400 for placing wooden posts and reflectors around the playground to prevent cars from parking on the Green in that area. The posts themselves had been donated and the invoice was for the labour and reflectors. However, this work had not been discussed or approved by either the Green Working Party or the Parish Council. Councillors discussed whether to pay this invoice as approval has not been sought beforehand and if they paid for this then others might carry out unapproved work and expect the Parish Council to pay for it. While all councillors were very grateful to the parishioner for all their help and contribution to the village, they felt the need for consistency was important. It was highlighted that the parishioner had not gone through the proper channels, they had not used the village handyman or sought three quotations for the work which is the standard practice on all work carried out in the village. A proposal to reimburse the parishioner £55 for the reflectors only and write a letter explaining why the Parish Council was unable to pay the full invoice was approved (5 in favour).
New planning applications. (All planning applications are available for viewing on the Breckland District Council planning portal – www.breckland.gov.uk/article/2933/Search-Planning-Applications. Parish councillors have been asked by the chairman to view the new applications in advance of the meeting).
Willow House, Mill Road. Construction of a single storey rear extension along with extending and converting a loft space over an existing garage to form additional bedroom accommodation. Erection of a two-bay cart lodge with non-habitable space over. (3PL/2019/0080/HOU). There were no objections from the parish council (5 for).
Land to the north of Fen Street. Erection of four detached dwellings (3PL/2019/0231/O). There have been previous applications for this land by Askew & Partners, which have been refused due to utilities such as water and sewerage. This is the first application for four dwellings (previously for eight). There were several issues for existing residents of Fen Street such as traffic speeds, junctions with poor visibility and water pressure. While no one objected to the general location, it was questioned whether or not the existing problems could cope with more houses. Andy Nicholls highlighted that Breckland Council haven’t reached their five-year housing quota and so might be more likely to approve this time. Steve Milner suggested using the potential building of these dwellings to help improve the issues current residents are facing. This would include extending the 30mph zone to the full length of Fen Street, improving the visibility at junctions and making it safer for walkers and cyclists. If these issues are addressed, then the council would support the application. A proposal to support the application with letter explaining that it is on the condition of addressing these issues was approved (5 in favour).
Planning decisions by Breckland Council. Shardalows Farm, Fen Street. Two-storey and single-storey extensions to farmhouse (3PL/2019/0040/HOU).
Meadowcroft, Doe Lane. Removal of Agricultural Restriction on planning permission W.8024 and W.85233 (PL/2018/1460/VAR).
The two above applications have now been considered and both the applications have been approved.
Tourism/Breckworld. New Buckenham Parish Council had been in contact to inform about an idea they had to develop tourism within their parish, with the possibility of linking it with Old Buckenham. Breckland Council are developing an app (Breckworld) to promote five market towns in Breckland. New Buckenham Parish Council would like to join forces with Old Buckenham Parish Council and extend the Attleborough information to cover both villages, possibly through the Tas Valley Way which runs through Old Buckenham. All councillors viewed this as positive for the village as it would support local businesses and may be a way of promoting, and therefore protecting, local wildlife. Jonn Hicks explained that the only issue was funding. However there are lots of grants available which were being investigated by New Buckenham Parish Council. It was suggested that we could also link up with other nearby villages (eg Banham, Keninghall, etc) which would help spread the cost too. A representative of New Buckenham Parish Council would be invited to next month’s meeting for more information and an update.
Action Log review. The Action Log was reviewed and updated. Items still to be completed included putting together a welcome pack for all new villagers with useful information, to produce a Neighbourhood Plan (which will now be deferred until a new council is elected in May), and arranging repairs and conversion of the old phone box into an information point.
Village Green Working Party. The three quotes for clearing vegetation behind the bus shelter had been obtained. Only one of the quotes included chipping, despite this being requested from all three companies. There was not enough time to go back to ask the other companies to re-quote as the work must be completed before birds start nesting. Therefore, it was proposed to accept the company ‘B’ quote of £600. This was approved (4 in favour, 1 abstain).
Road Safety. One of the Speed Watch signs had been stolen. A letter and email had been sent to Highways regarding extending the 30mph zone on Fen Street but Highways claim there haven’t been enough accidents to justify this. Steve Milner appealed to residents of Fen Street to all write to Highways about this topic.
Play Area. The Safety Inspection has been passed. Nothing serious to do but there were quite a few advisory notes. An initial estimate of approximately £650 had been made to complete all improvements. Now waiting for Playdale to come back with more information before making a detailed costing.
Recreation Area. Stuart Barker has asked if the Recreation Area needs cutting this year. While it has already been agreed, Rachel Noyes will contact and confirm this with him.
Councillors’ reports. Steve Milner stated that work on broadband in Stacksford has started. Also he asked if there could there be a poster to publicise the elections in May to get people’s attention. Donna Oakley wished to remind all dog walkers to pick up dog mess. The minority of people who don’t do this make the village and the Green look awful. Gemma Frost said that the initial plans to plant snowdrops around Ottomer pond needed to be bought forward. It would now be taking place Saturday 9 March at 10am. Also the Primary School has requested an area around the pond that can be worked on with children for their Forest School project.
Items for April agenda. Play area to be discussed.

The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Thursday 4 April starting at 7.30pm in Old Buckenham Village Hall.

Sunday 17 March 2019

Old Buckenham Women's Institute

Detection dogs
At the February meeting of Old Buckenham WI President Kate Lloyd welcomed members and two guests. Arrangements were made for those members attending the Federation Annual Meeting in March. This year is being held in the Theatre Royal as it is the Federation's Centenary. Also there will be a celebration service in Norwich Cathedral in April at which OBWI will process with their banner.
The speaker for the evening was Norma Howell, her subject Medical Detection Dogs. This charity is totally dependent on public donations and has the Duchess of Cornwall as its patron. Here is yet another amazing service that dogs can provide for us along with guide dogs, sniffer dogs, etc.
The charity was started by Claire Guest (who worked with guide dogs) when her own dog, Daisy, detected her breast cancer. Research followed and now detection takes place under clinical conditions with trained dogs sniffing samples of urine or breath. Dogs have an incredible sense of smell, 300 million smell receptors compared with a human's 5 million.
Norma also described the work of Medical Alert Assistance dogs. These dogs live with clients who have a disease such as diabetes and can warn carers when intervention is necessary. Each disease has a specific odour footprint and dogs can detect changes before any symptoms occur so, for example, they can warn parents during the night if their child's sugar levels are needing attention. Detection of Parkinson's disease for which there is no definitive test can mean treatment is possible up to 10 years earlier.
These dogs save lives, save the NHS hundreds of pounds and are life changing for many people.
Old Buckenham WI next meets on Thursday 28 March in Old Buckenham Village Hall and starts at 7.30pm. The speaker is Christine Humphries on the sbject of 'Laura Eke and the fisherman who painted on wood'.
The following meeting is on Thursday 25 April at 7.30pm in Old Buckenham Village Hall when Simon White will talk about Peter Beales and the romance of the rose.

Thursday 14 March 2019

Flower and Garden Club in Old Buckenham

Fund raising for cancer centre at NNUH
Today was the AGM of Breckland Flower and Garden Club. The meeting was held in Old Buckenham Village Hall with some sixty members present to hear reports on how the club as done over the last year and to elect the officers and members of the committee. With the official part of the meeting over, it was time to hand over a cheque to the chosen charity for 2018/2019. The money had been raised by several special events and some generous donations.
Members gasped with amazement when the cheque was unrolled - the sum raised was £5,ooo which is going to help with breast cancer treatment at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

This is the second cheque in the past year of fundraising, there was £3,000 last May for breast screening equipment making  a total £8,000.
The Norfolk Accident Rescue Service (NARS) is the chosen charity for 2019/20. 










Members then took part in a workshop to produce an arrangement in a small pot using ivy leaves, delicate twigs and pink tulips before enjoying their tea and cakes.
A more detailed report of the meeting will appear on this blog later in later in the month.

Wednesday 13 March 2019

Great news for Old Buckenham

All Saints Church secures National Lottery support
This is the official press release about the grant.

Old Buckenham PCC has received a grant of £95,700 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund towards its Raise the Roof heritage project in Old Buckenham. Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the project aims to replace the decayed thatched roof on the nave of All Saints Church in Old Buckenham ensuring the building is conserved for future generations. Starting this spring, the project will also include various activities designed to engage the local community with the heritage of the church, its history and its role in the life of the village.
Among the activities planned, children from Old Buckenham Primary school will contribute to the production of a ‘heritage and nature trail’ leaflet for the church and will be using the churchyard for activities as part of their ‘forest school’- based learning. Pupils from Chapel Green School will be undertaking a project to develop a sensory trail leaflet to help people with special needs access the building’s features and learn about their use.
All Saints Church is a focal point for the village and its history reaches back over 1000 years. Grade 1 listed, the building has been assessed by Historic England as ‘at risk’ because of the state of the thatched roof. As well as having an active congregation at weekly services of worship it is used by the schools for special services and for occasional events such as concerts throughout the year. The church is open during daylight hours every day for visitors.
Commenting on the award, Alison Hannah said: “We’re delighted that we’ve received this support thanks to National Lottery players. We know how much All Saints Church means to the village and it’s great to know that we can bring a new generation along with us as we protect the building’s future for another 50 years at least” 


Old Buckenham Parochial Church Council (PCC)  is responsible for the management of All Saints Church and all that takes place there, on behalf of the Church of England. The PCC is made up of elected members of the congregation and is chaired by Rev Canon Stephen Wright, the priest in charge, with the support of the church wardens. 

The National Lottery Heritage Fund, using money raised by the National Lottery, inspire, lead and resource the UK’s heritage to create positive and lasting change for people and communities, now and in the future. www.heritagefund.org.uk

Saturday 9 March 2019

Putting colour in Old Buckenham Green

Preparing for next Spring
A group of hardy volunteers spent some of their Saturday morning planting snowdrops and aconites around the area of Ottomer Pond on the village Green. The planters were of all ages and were dressed to cope with the icy wind blowing across the site.
Now it will be a twelve month wait to see the outcome of this work.






Friday 8 March 2019

Common talk in Old Buckenham

Life on the village Green

This talk at the Village Hall is free (and there are refreshments). Gemma Walker of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust will be introducing some of the species that exist on our Norfolk commons and including those on our village Green.
There is no need to book so just come along and enjoy it.

Tuesday 5 March 2019

Drive carefully in Old Buckenham

Speeding down Cake Street

As a result of the measurements made by members of the village Speedwatch team, the police often come to officially check on the speed of vehicles in Old Buckenham.
Today the local 'speed cop' was stationed for a while in Cake Street. We understand that at least a dozen motorists were recorded at well over the 30mph limit. While the blog editor was present, one motorist came by at 48mph - that driver will definitely be paying the price for their lack of concentration...