Parish Council Meeting of 19th March 2015

Written by Anne Rayner.

The Parish Council meeting on 19th March 2015 was attended by Councillors Brian Frith, Beverley Humphreys, Gilly Barnes and Jackie Bowers. Also present were District Councillor Bob McClenning and nine members of the public. 

Some of the main items discussed at the meeting are mentioned here. Full minutes of the meeting will be available here - in draft form until agreed by the Council at the next meeting (16th April).

The following planning applications were discussed:

  • 2015 / 0272 : Near the Crossroads, Cheney’s Lane, Forncett St Mary – Single storey side extension and two storey rear extension.
  • 2015 / 0520 : Apple Cottage, Long Stratton Road, Forncett St Peter – minor amendment to existing plans already approved.

Both plans were discussed and, as no objections were raised, were recommended for approval.

A fantastic response was received to the request for suggested road names for the former CPS site. Seventeen names were suggested by parishioners and former residents and these were discussed at the meeting. Parish councillors unanimously favoured “The Old Sale Yard” as the name that not only reflected some of the history of the site but also as being instantly recognisable to anyone with local knowledge of the area. This is the name that has been put forward to the developers, so we shall wait and see if it is accepted. Thank you to everyone who took the time to submit a suggestion.

In January the parish council submitted three bids to the Highways department under the parish partnership matched funding scheme. The works, which would normally be prohibitive for financial reasons, can be undertaken as the County Council match 50% of the funding. The good news is that Forncett have had all three of their bids accepted, which means that work will begin on two new pathways near the school during 2015/16 and the village will also have a SAM2 machine, which will hopefully improve the situation with people speeding through the village.

A reminder with regard to the forthcoming election. Anyone wishing to consider becoming a parish councillor will need to submit their forms to South Norfolk Council between 23 March and no later than 4pm on 9 April 2015. Please contact the clerk if you would like any information on how to fill the forms in or if you would like to talk about what is involved in being a parish councillor. 

On 16th April, starting at 7 pm, we will have the Annual Open Parish Meeting (at which we will receive reports from various groups and organisations in the village.  This will be followed at about 8 pm by the normal Parish Council meeting. The agenda will be published about a week before the meeting, but if you have any matters to bring to the attention of the Parish Council in the meantime, please contact the clerk, Anne Rayner, on 01508 570700 or by email