Parish Council Meeting of 15th October 2015

Written by Anne Rayner.

The Parish Council meeting on 15th October 2015 was attended by Councillors Brian Frith, Beverley Humphreys, Gilly Barnes, Graham Gale and Andrew Coleman. Also present were County Councillor Bev Spratt and six members of the public.                   

Some of the main items discussed at the meeting are mentioned here. Full minutes of the meeting are available here - in draft form until agreed by the Council at the next meeting (19th November 2015).

There were no planning applications to discuss this month.

Residents will be aware that the parish council has taken part in the parish partnership scheme for the last two years, with the village benefitting from some new sections of pathway and also speed awareness machines to try and improve the problem with vehicles speeding through the village. Norfolk County Council will be running the scheme again in 2016/17 and if anyone has a good idea for a project relating to highways, please do contact the clerk. Unfortunately funds will dictate that significant changes will probably not be affordable but if there is an area of the village that would really benefit from a small section of pathway, for example, please put your idea forward for consideration.

Dawn Welsby joined us this month as a new parish councillor. Dawn has lived in the village for some years and is keen to make a positive contribution. Welcome Dawn and we hope you enjoy being a parish councillor.

Our tree warden and footpath warden have both been very busy this month. Robert has attended two meetings, one at the East Anglian Tree Warden Forum which was mainly to talk about the devastating impact ash dieback is expected to have on the landscape of the UK. Estimates are that 95% of the 2.2 billion ash trees in the UK may be lost to this disease, however, it is important that communities do not start felling ash trees as a matter of course. The disease appears to be more prevalent in dense woodland environments so sporadic trees may survive. With regard to footpaths, John has replaced several finger posts this month and also advises that crossfield paths which have been planted should be clearly marked and accessible by the end of October.

New legislation governing parish councils means that the parish council needs to have its own website. This will by no means replace the excellent village website - 'forncett.info' - provided and maintained by Richard Ball. It will be a method of displaying parish council information only. In the future, if you wish to look for agendas, minutes or councillor contact details please visit the new site at : http://forncettparishcouncil.norfolkparishes.gov.uk

The next meeting will be on Thursday 19th November 2015. 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