A message from Brian Frith, Chair of Forncett Parish Council

Written by Brian Frith.

Come along and see what goes on! The Parish Council meetings usually last just over an hour. The date of the next meeting (with agenda when published a few days before the meeting) is listed here on the forncett.info web site. We usually have four or five members of the public present, but there’s room for (and we would welcome) many more!

At the AGM of Forncett Parish Council I was elected Chairman, following Bev Humphrey’s decision to step down from the post after several years.  I am delighted to say that Bev has accepted the role of Vice-Chair and I (and the rest of the Council) will be able to continue to benefit from his vast knowledge and experience of Forncett matters.  The Council were unanimous in supporting a vote of thanks to Bev for his work as Chair during what have sometimes been challenging times for the Council in recent years.

Although the Parish Council is the third tier of Local Government (after Norfolk County Council and South Norfolk Council) and many powers ultimately rest with higher authorities, the Parish Council is perhaps the most accessible of the three authorities.  All seven Councillors live in the village and meetings are held (usually on the third Thursday of the month) at our own Village Hall on Low Road.  Members of the public have the right to attend meetings and, although they do not have an automatic right to speak at Parish Council meetings there is always a time where the official meeting is adjourned to allow members of the public to raise any issue they think relevant, or to comment on items up for discussion on the agenda.  Only on very rare occasions will members of the public be excluded!

We have five notice boards dotted around our extensive parish: all have recently been ‘tidied up’ and have up-to-date notices in them listing the names of Parish Councillors and of the Clerk, Sarah Berwick, with her full contact details. Also listed are (provisional) dates of meetings for the next few months.  ‘Official’ Parish Council notices (elections, agenda etc) will be posted in the notice board at the Village Hall.