Old Buckenham blog

Enjoyable evening

The Women's Institute meeting on Thursday 25 January was fun and games as they played a Beetle Drive and had a Quiz. They were lucky to have three new visitors as well who enjoyed themselves and are now going to join our village WI. The monthly competition was for “A Pretty Plate” with some beautiful entries and our Flower of the Month included a hellebore and catkins. Next month is their Annual Meeting where they will be voting in a new committee for the year so it would be nice if as many members as possible attend. They look forward to seeing you on Thursday 22 February.

Looking ahead to February

How you can help others

Do you have your own car, enjoy driving and meeting people? Have you got some spare time - but don't want to be 'tied' to a particular weekly time commitment? The Old Buckenham Community Car scheme needs more volunteer drivers. Supported by Breckland Council, the scheme is open to residents of Old Buckenham who do not have access to their own transport and cannot easily use public transport - for travelling to appointments at hospital, local GP surgeries or dentists/opticians etc. Those requesting a community car are asked to phone the drivers direct and even between them, not every request can be met. We need more drivers!

Book Club meets at Old School Bookshop

January saw the launch of the bookshop’s book club. Nine members met across a daytime and an evening meeting to discuss the beautifully lyrical book Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan.It was a popular choice and members commented on the beauty of the writing and discussed themes which emerged from the challenging topic of the Magdalene Laundries in 1980s Ireland. The group really enjoyed making new friends and discussing literature with like- minded people.

The book club are now reading Arthur & George by Julian Barnes which follows the true story of the Great Wyrley Outrages ready for a discussion on Thursday 8 February. New members very welcome – find out more by visiting the bookshop or at www.oldschoolbookshop.co.uk/book-club

Words wanted

Parish Council in January

These notes have been written by the blog editor from the draft notes and so may contain information that is amended at a later date.

Old Buckenham Parish Council met on Thursday 4 January in Old Buckenham Village Hall. Those present were Councillors Naomi Bailey (Chair), Pete Twissell, Stan Burton, Steve Gowers, Lesley Evison, David Taylor, Doug Irons and Ali McWilliam. Also attending were Jonn Hicks (Clerk) and nine members of the public. The District and County Councilor Steve Askew also attended for a short while. There were no apologies for absence.

The minutes of the meeting held Thursday 7 December 2023 were approved (4 in favour, 4 abstain).

Financial matters. The Community account balance was £25106.41. Payments for approval totalled £2358.07. These were approved (8 in favour) and covered Suggitt Farm Services £1800, hire of Village Hall £16.25, salary of Clerk and RFO £541.82 and John Frost for community car journeys £73.80.

Councillors’ reports. Steve Gower said the SAM speed sign has been relocated to Hargham Road. He was going to place it on Attleborough Road but the hedges there are over grown and need cutting back. He will speak to the contractor renting the land to ask for it to be cut. Future Community Speedwatch members are awaiting training later in January and then it will be up and running.

Doug Irons reported that the content has been sent to web designer and awaiting reply. He has also asked Parish Council about the renewing of policies but the Clerk has moved this to a February due to having to finalise the precept for the coming year. Also asked that the Parish Council should prepare earlier for the Remembrance Sunday service earlier this year as no road closure was put in place last time. The clerk has been reimbursed by Norfolk Police for road closure that did not happen. Stan Burton has a PA system he will lend for this year’s service.

Naomi Bailey said the Christmas tree light switch on was a success and thanks Stan Burton for the PA system and the switch. She has responded to correspondence with resident regarding the benches around the Ottomer Pond.

Steve Askew reported that there is flooding in all areas of the village with drains and ditches being overwhelmed due to the large amount of rainfall this month. NCC Highways have the road drains in the village on their schedule but we must be patient because, due to the severity of the weather, they are extremely busy. The pothole issue on Grove Road will be rectified once the weather dries up.

Green Report. Both Naomi Bailey and Steve Gowers were contacted by numerous residents on Christmas Eve regarding the flooding situation of Ottomer Pond. Sandbags were delivered and an appeal was posted on social media asking for residents to help fill them and place around the pond to try to contain it. They were very disappointed with the response of the village to help those in need. Thanks go to David Keable (our village postman who lives in Attleborough) for his help and Mark Ward for supplying the sand bags. It was also reported that there was an emergency meeting to discuss the situation and how we could prevent the problem in the future. A submersible pump has been borrowed and will be running for a week to try to reduce the level in the pond. It was also discussed about locating the overflow pipe from the pond which has been unsuccessful in the past and replacing this with a new pipe running from the pond across the Green into the ditch by the High School. This suggestion was then put to the Parish Council and was agreed. All voted in favour of investigating further. The clerk is to speak with contractors to gain a price for the works and then to seek funding from NCC and Breckland. If it is needed to borrow the monies this will have an effect on the precept for the following year.

Planning applications. Westward, The Green. Proposed change of use of existing barn and outbuildings to single residential use (3PL/2023/1204/F). The Clerk to ask for an extension of time to comment as details of application had only just arrived. This was agreed (8 in favour).There were no amended applications, planning decisions by Breckland Council or planning appeals.

Precept. The Clerk presented the figures and the Parish Council voted to keep the precept the same as year 2023 (8 in favour). The Clerk is to fill in request and submit the forms to Breckland before the end of January.

Public participation. This was not on the agenda due to the Parish Council having to discuss the 2024 precept and the issues of flooding within the village.

Items for next agenda. These would include final precept figures, flooding, policies, the Solar Farm, Green issues update and the footpath from the Village Hall to Chapel Green School.

The next Parish Council meeting will be on Thursday 1 February starting at 7.30pm in Old Buckenham Village Hall.

Ottomer pond is still full up but looks much better with the sun shining on the many protective sandbags and the ducks enjoying themselves.

Enliven your Sunday mornings

Do you miss listening to 'Treasure Quest' that was on Radio Norfolk every Sunday morning for many years. It visited the village lots of times. Well two of the participants from that programme are now producing a podcast about the Norfolk countryside that can appear on your computer each Sunday morning. Even better, if you don't have a computer you can get sent a CD version of the talks for free.

Look up and listen to Chris Skinner's Country Side podcast to get a bit of Sunday back...

Pleasant way to start the year

At least eighty people of various ages and several dogs gathered at the Village Hall this morning to enjoy their New Year's Day Walk. The weather was crisp and bright so ideal for the walkers and at least one young cyclist to explore Old Buckenham. Then back to the hall for soups and rolls, plenty of chatting with other villagers, while raising some funds for St Martins.