Old Buckenham's April newsletter

Full of reports

Enjoy all the reports of Old Buckenham activities while you can. With virtually all events in April being cancelled, the May issue will be rather thin unless villagers submit some interesting copy to go in the spaces between the advertisements.

Local to Old Buckenham

Snippets

If you have been collecting Plant to Plate tokens for Chapel Green School then please put them in a safe place which you can remember as the deadline for schools to submit tokens to the EDP  has been moved to Wednesday 30 September. 

The Six  Villages newsletter team expect to have printed copies of their magazine by Tuesday 31 March and hope to get it out to everybody next week via doorstep deliveries to the local distributors. If you don't receive your usual copy please contact Alison Frank  on 01953 860692.

Out walking in Old Buckenham

Blog editor takes his exercise
The sun was out, the streets mainly deserted so it seemed a good time to take my allowable 'exercise' walk this morning. Here is a mainly pictorial review of the ninety minutes rambling.

One of the regular pavement parkers is back just round the blind bend in Cake Street

Proximity testing.Tradesmen seeing how close they can get to each other on a building site

A sign of things to come

Work has started on the track outside Bramble House. The photographer was threatened and sworn at for taking this photograph

Most of the scaffolding is  now removed from All Saints Church showing the beautiful thatching and how quickly the earlier work has changed colour

Remember that hollow tree by the entrance to the High School? This is what remains.

The Village Hall is closed (and the car park is empty)

The recently planted daffodils are providing a colourful show at Chapel Green School while two buzzards 'mew' overhead 

Sadly the Village Shop is closed for a while...

Then it was back home for a welcome coffee and biscuit.
Just click on the individual pictures to enlarge them

For car owners in Old Buckenham

Car repairs and MOTs
UPDATE
Mill House Garage will be winding down on Monday 30 March but Clive Rush is happy for you to contact him by phone if your car breaks down and you need help. He also has Calor gas and courtesy cars if anyone needs them. He will be contactable on 01953 860572 as normal.

Following the government's recent announcements, Millhouse Garage in New Buckenham will be open as usual and for as long as they can get car parts delivered from their suppliers. MOTs can be carried out as normal. However, due to the increased demand, they are booking two weeks ahead. For your peace of mind they have put processes in place to ensure the safety of everyone. The office is closed so you will need to come to the workshop entrance where they will deal with your needs.
They can also collect and return cars if necessary. 

Stay safe.

Very quiet month in Old Buckenham

Diary dates for April

Wednesday 1    Village Hall AGM - postponed

Thursday 2    Parish Council, Village Hall - cancelled

Sunday 4    Learn a new song, Methodist Church - cancelled

Monday 6    Monday Mardle, Church Rooms - cancelled

Tuesday 7    Coffee and Chat, Church Rooms - cancelled

Wednesday 8    Luncheon Club, Village Hall - cancelled

Wednesday 8    Canada Days, Village Hall - postponed

Wednesday 8    Chapel Friendship Group, Methodist Church - cancelled

Thursday 9    Breckland Flower and Garden Club - cancelled

Thursday 9    Social and Wine Circle, Church Rooms - cancelled

Wednesday 15   Luncheon Club, Village Hall - cancelled

Wednesday 15    Songs of praise, Methodist Chapel - cancelled

Saturday 18    Spring Fair, Methodist Chapel - cancelled

Monday 20    Monday Mardle, Church Rooms - cancelled

Thursday 23    Women's Institute, Village Hall - cancelled

Friday 24    Women's Institute Walk - on hold

Saturday 25    Alternative Quiz Night, Methodist Church - cancelled

Wednesday 29    Luncheon Club, Village Hall - cancelled

Collecting tokens in Od Buckenham

Get cutting

Last chance to collect tokens from the EDP. The final ones will be in the paper on Friday 27 March but there will be ten bonus tokens on Saturday 21 March and again on Tuesday 24 March.
Help with this last push to see if Chapel Green School can win one of the big prizes worth around £1000.
With both the Village Hall and the Church Rooms closed and the Village Shop closing at the end of Wednesday please put any tokens that you have cut out  through the blog editor's letter box (Crockslea in Cake Street) and we will make sure that they get to the school in time for a final count up. Thank you

Old Buckenham Women's Institute

On the subject of homelessness
The speaker at Old Buckenham Women’s Institute's latest meeting was Jan Sheldon, chief executive of St Martins Housing Trust. Also attending was Mike Bartlett who helps to raise astonishing amounts of money for St. Martins every year.
Starting with a video of some people talking about how they became rough sleepers and how the charity has helped them, Jan explained they offer hope, trust and safety to the rough sleepers of Norwich. Among the varied facilities owned by the trust 'Under One Roof' teaches life skills to enable them to gain confidence and make them feel human again. They are never given up on and some end up working for them.
The number of rough sleepers in Norwich has decreased from 35 in 2016 to 18 in 2019. Each story is unique and a recording was played from a woman who after a happy childhood told of a life of misery involving one drug dealer abusive husband, another abusive alcoholic husband, having her daughters taken away and twice attempting suicide which Jan described as a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Saved by St Martins she now works for them and has her daughters back.
There are many such success stories at St Martins who help up to 200 people at any one time. Rough sleepers are the tip of the iceberg.
Several Old Buckenham members act as collectors outside various supermarkets and some knitted scarves for the recent 'house' erected in Norwich Cathedral. The 4,766 scarves represented the rough sleepers across the country in 2019 and included 600 black ones representing those who had died. Altogether an excellent and enlightening talk.
On Friday 24 April, to celebrate 'Women Walk the World Day' and to raise funds for the charity Associated Country Women of the World which supports women across the world to improve their lives, two walks are planned of five miles or two miles starting from the Village Hall. The cost of the walk is £2 and for another £5 a lunch of soup and a roll and a dessert is available afterwards. Start times are 10.30am for the 5 miles and 11.30am for the two miles. Anyone is welcome to walk or just come to lunch at the Village Hall at 12.30pm.
The next meeting is on Thursday 26 March when the subject of Rebecca Tate's talk will be 'Hats made from start to finish'. Then on Thursday 23 April  the speaker is Liz Keable talking about 'A Pocket Full of Purpose'. Both meetings start at 7.30 pm in the Village Hall.

Broadband in Old Buckenham

Meeting in Village Hall
In case you have missed the information that has come by post, there is a meeting with County Broadband on Tuesday 10 March (tomorrow) at 7pm in the Village Hall to highlight this opportunity for parishioners to educate themselves about the technology, the project and its funding. Learn more about this potential new service to the village so that you can make an informed decision on future broadband in this area.

Latest Old Buckenham Council minutes

Report on March Council meeting
These notes have been written by the newsletter editor from the draft minutes and so may contain information that is amended at a later date.

Old Buckenham Parish Council met on Thursday 5 March in the Village Hall. Those present were councillors Jonn Hicks (Chair), Steve Milner, Adrian Joel, Terry Cook, Ben Devlin and Andy Nicholls. Apologies for absence had been received from Mike Farrington.
Also in attendance were Rachel Noyes (Clerk), Stephen Askew, a County Broadband representative and nine members of the public.
The minutes of the meeting held in February were approved (3 in favour, 3 abstain) and there were no matters arising from these minutes
Financial matters. Community account balance was £32,005.48. Income received (from sale of wood) £60.
Payments amounting to £2,328.07 were approved (6 in favour) which included rent for the allotment site, cutting the grass of the village Green and a bat inspection needed before work could be done on a tree on the Green.
There had also been a VAT reclaim of £2,802.95.
Planning. (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).
New planning applications. Land to the west of 49 Hargham Road. Permission in principle for the erection of 4 dwellings (Town and Country Planning) Permission in Principle (amendment) Order 2017 (3PL/2020/0117/PIP). This application had been previously withdrawn. Now includes a footpath. Some councillors and parishioners felt that it was already a dangerous road and did not need any more traffic adding to it. Others felt that the applicants had listened to advice and a footpath for pedestrians was now part of the plan. It was highlighted that the application should go straight to the Planning Committee (because of the applicant’s position) but there was no date given online. It was also felt that despite being a PIP application, there was little information about the proposed size and approximate location of the dwellings. The Parish Council also felt that the proposed footpath should be approved and built first to ensure it is actually completed. The clerk is to contact Breckland Council with feedback on these application issues and seek confirmation regarding the Committee hearing.
Apple Tree House, Church Lane. Demolition of west side lean-to. Demolition of front wall to the front porch to create open fronted canopy. Construction of a single-storey flat roof extension to the rear and small canopy porch to the east. Installation of ground source heating (3PL/2020/0150/HOU). The council agreed to support the application (6 in favour).
Land adjacent Caldcleugh, Cake Street. Dwelling under construction at The Old Asparagus Field. Revised access location to dwelling approved under ref 3PL/2018/1014/VAR (3PL/2020/0171/F). Highways had concerns during initial application about access. Therefore access was moved to the side via an existing track and the application was approved on this basis. The Parish Council felt the need for consistency and did not support the application (5 in favour, 1 abstain).
17 Hargham Road. First floor extension and ground floor infill creating a 1½ storey dwelling with annex accommodation and erection of detached carport (3PL/2020/0189/HOU). The council agreed to support the application (6 in favour).
Planning decisions by Breckland Council. Bramble House (formerly Karmel), The Green. Two storey side extension, single storey rear extension, garage extension and change of roof direction (3PL/2020/0016/HOU). This application has been considered and the application has been approved.
Ox and Plough lease. As proposed last year, the fee for the lease of a set area of the Green to be raised in line with inflation. Therefore it will rise to £550 for next year, payable in two instalments. This was approved (5 in favour, 1 abstain). Public Liability insurance details to be sent to the Clerk.
County Broadband update. A representative from County Broadband provided an update. Currently they had 61 pre-orders, 159 are required. Currently 14 villages are at ‘approved to build’ stage. Banham and Old Buckenham are still in pre-order stage and have until review date of Monday 4 May to collect as many orders as possible. An EDP press report stating Old Buckenham had signed up was incorrect and was corrected once bought to the firm’s attention. If signed up, community hubs such as the Village Hall, churches and the Church Rooms will be provided with free internet (schools are more difficult to provide for as it is arranged by councils, etc). Some villages in Essex are now up and working and can provide reviews of the work. A village meeting had been planned for Tuesday 10 March starting at 7.30pm in the Village Hall to provide an opportunity for residents to ask any questions they have and to learn about the technology. The Clerk is to highlight this meeting on Facebook.
Committees for councillors. These have been brought up to date:
Personnel Committee: Steve Milner, Ben Devlin, Mike Farrington.
Play Area Working Party: Steve Milner, Jonn Hicks, Kerry Talbot (resident).
Recreation Area Working Party: Jonn Hicks, Andy Nicholls.
Road Safety Working Party: Steve Milner, Mike Farrington, Andy Nicholls, Mike Bartlett (resident), Trevor Crooke (resident), Lucy Womack (resident)
SNAP: Steve Milner.
Attleborough Development Partnership: Adrian Joel.
Old Buckenham Village Hall: Terry Cook.
Allotments: Adrian Joel.
Parish Council website: Steve Milner, Rachel Noyes.
Old Buckenham Green Rights: Andy Nicholls.
Almshouses Trust: Ben Devlin.
Village Green Working Party: Gemma Frost (resident), Andy Nicholls, Sarah Dye (Green Right Proprietor), Allison Frank (Green Right Proprietor), Terry Cracknell (Lord of the Manor), John Fernihough (resident), Adrian Joel.
Eleemonosynary Trust: Jonn Hicks.
Public Rights of Way (PROW): Steve Milner, Terry Cook.
Chairman’s report. He will be arranging a meeting regarding May’s Craft and Food Fair in the next few weeks. It will be advertised when a date has been fixed. He is awaiting two quotes for a secure gate through to the MUGA at Chapel Green School from the village hall car park. The parish noticeboard by the village shop will be fixed with new corkboard. The Annual Parish Meeting will be on Friday 24 April starting at 7.30pm in the Village Hall.
Road Safety. The SAM sign is currently being converted to Bluetooth for easier and safer downloading of data. The mobile SAM sign is also in use at the moment.
Play Area. Apologies were given for the delay in completing this work as the weather has been too wet to proceed.
Recreation Area. It is still too wet to roll the grass for a new football pitch. Andy Nicholls is to order new goal posts.
Councillors’ reports. Steve Askew reported as Breckland and County councillor. Gravel by Rod Alley Pond has been laid. Lights by the crossing have been fixed to reduce reflections into nearby properties. Potholes on Grove Road have been repaired twice. There is an issue with the drainage and currently seeking approval for works. Church Lane has been flooding with recent heavy rain although it thankfully clears steadily once the weather improves. He has been pushing for date for works but as it is a major scheme, it is in a group which is selected by priority. As water is not entering properties, etc, there are others that will get priority. Parish councillors highlighted drains that need clearing on Cake Street and on a broken drain cover on Mill Road that needs replacing as it could cause bad accident.
Terry Cook wished to thank both Steve Askew and Steve Milner for pushing so much to get the pot holes sorted on Grove Road as they were very dangerous. He also mentioned the play ‘Canada Boys’ that will be performed at the Village Hall on Wednesday 8 April starting at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £10 and can be booked by ringing 07880 660444 or emailing bookings.obvh@gmail.com.
Steve Milner had attended a seminar about Public Rights of Way (PROW) with Terry Cook. It had been very useful and informative. Old Buckenham needs to start working on maintaining and improving the public rights of way and so he has started a new Working Party to work with community groups to map, tidy up and publicise our rights of way. Ben Devlin mentioned the track from the Gamekeeper and the schools which has become very busy again with parking and being used as a cut-through resulting in lots of potholes. Highways are responsible for the track.
Items for next agenda. These will include the use of the village Green for events, a communications strategy and jobs that will need doing over the next 12 months.

The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Thursday 2 April at 7.30pm in Old Buckenham Village Hall.

Local parking for Old Buckenham residents

More about the Attleborough trial
The editor of the village blog put in a Freedom of Information request to Breckland Council about the car parking trial that will take place at the Queen’s Square car park in Attleborough. Here are the questions he asked and the replies that were received.
Why is it necessary to get a ticket from a machine if the car park is being patrolled by parking attendants?
The car park will be patrolled by enforcement officers who need to know your time of arrival. In using tickets this also allows us to monitor the parking trial.
Are cars entering the park being monitored by number plate recognition equipment?
No this trial is not managed by CCTV. If you park and do not obtain a ticket, then you may be fined.
What has been and will be the financial cost of this scheme and who will be paying for it? This scheme has been funded out of the Market Towns Initiative, to support Attleborough town centre and increase footfall. Any ongoing cost from the trial will be funded from potential enforcement.
The machines will have cost money, will need maintenance when they breakdown and parking attendants will have to be paid. 
Kings Lynn Parking Partnership will maintain the breakdown of the machines and costs of the parking attendants.
Further expenditure will be needed to do the administration of the system of fines charged to those overstaying their time. Are these costing figures available to the public?
The parking enforcement will be managed by Kings Lynn Parking Partnership who will manage all these costs.

Undercover in Old Buckenham

What the thatchers have been doing
Those who have been doing the undercover work on All Saints Church kindly took the blog editor's camera with them today to show that their work is nearly finished. Just some final dressing of the reed and tidying up to be done.

Old Buckenham's March newsletter

It's here for you to read

What have penguins got to do with the Village Hall? You'll have to read the March issue to find out.