On a damp day on Saturday 19th October, 14 volunteers helped to plant a significant amount of daffodil and crocus bulbs around the village. This project has been a huge success over the years with many people commenting on the beautiful daffodils as they drive through our village. Hopefully in the spring of 2014 we will have an even bigger display. Thank you to all those that volunteered.
Anti-social Behaviour and Crime in Mundford
As mentioned in the Chairman’s report, there have been a quite a few incidents of anti-social behaviour in Mundford recently. Some may think eggs being thrown at windows is kids just having fun and shouldn’t be taken too seriously, but the Council disagree. People can feel intimidated and scared, and often think they are being targeted. I have had a meeting with our local PCSO from Thetford and she is aware of the current issues in Mundford, however she made clear that it is important for people to report incidents to the Police on the 101 number as soon as they happen. This gives them a clear picture on what is happening in the village and may mean we get more Police presence in the village.
The Council are also disappointed to report that there has been a burglary in Swaffham Road recently. We are fortunate that Mundford has a very low crime rate, and we live in a lovely area, however we cannot afford to be complacent and if anyone sees anything they feel is suspicious please report this to the 101 number. I personally had my bicycle stolen from outside my house in early October and I reported this to the Police immediately. They were very thorough, and gave me some good advice for the future.
Community Speedwatch
I am delighted to say that enough volunteers have come forward to allow the Community Speedwatch scheme to go ahead. At the time of this going to press a meeting has taken place with the volunteers and a PCSO from the Safer Neighbourhood Team at Thetford to discuss the way forward with this project. A risk assessment will take place on the sites suggested for the speedwatch team and volunteers have been asked to complete security check forms. We are hopeful that this scheme will begin monitoring traffic speeds in December. I will ensure regular updates are mentioned in the newsletter. Thank you to those that have come forward to help, but there is still time to join the group! Please contact me at the below number if you are interested.
Website
The Mundford Parish Council Website www.mundfordparishcouncil.co.uk is regularly being updated and the Council would love you to have a look! There is plenty of interesting information on there for you to read and photos to look at, as well as Parish Council news and events in the village. Mundford resident Carol Lewis was a winner of our Pride of Mundford award in October and a photo of this plus previous winners are on the website. There are new photos of the village on the site and we are currently working on updating the home page. If you have any suggestions for the website or would like to add anything then please contact me and I will forward this to the Council.
On Sunday 4th August 2013, Mundford was chosen to be a location for one of the clues on Radio Norfolk’s Treasure Quest programme. The Parish Council were very keen to help Radio Norfolk with their task, and were told to not give the presenter any direct help when they come to find the clue and they have to find it by solving the previous clue with the help from listeners. The Council were also told to avoid telling too many people about the event in advance as they wanted to keep things as secret as possible!
Their presenter Julie Reinger came to Mundford quite late on in the programme due to previous difficulty with other clues, but thankfully quickly found the clue which was placed on the Jubilee Flower Bed. Unfortunately she did not have time to speak with anyone from the Council so Radio Norfolk called back after the end of the programme to speak with Evelyn Goad a long term resident of the village who was instrumental in the Jubilee Flower Bed project.
Below are photos of the visit from Radio Norfolk, plus two radio clips from the day.
Radio clip of Julie’s progress to Mundford (3m 56s) listen
Radio clip of Evelyn talking about the Jubilee flower bed (3m 02s) listen
Congratulations to Mrs Carol Lewis. She received her Mundford Pride Award from Stefan Eyres (Parish Council Chairman) at the October meeting. She was nominated by the Over 60’s Group.
About the Mundford Pride Scheme
The Mundford Pride Scheme was created back in the summer of 2007 as the Parish Council were keen to keep the community together, and appreciate the unsung heroes of the village.
This scheme is dedicated to residents of the village, and to recognise those handful of people that do something wonderful for their village, whether it is helping the elderly, making or donating gifts to village organisations, picking up litter and other jobs that help keep the village tidy or being instrumental in projects that help shape the village or any other genuine act of kindness or generosity to others.
For anyone to receive the award, they have to be nominated by other residents of the village. Once more than three residents have nominated a particular resident the Council will then consider the resident for an award. If the resident is successful then they are invited to a Parish Council meeting and then presented with the award. The successful resident will be presented with a trophy, certificate and a cheque for £50.
Download a pdf about the scheme with names of past winners. View photos of past winners.
This summer, Parish Council Chairman, Stefan Eyres, had the opportunity to use a cherry-picker to take some aerial photos of the village from the roundabout.
Community Speedwatch Scheme
The Council have now had five residents come forward to help with the Community Speedwatch Scheme, with one potentially happy to become the co-ordinator of the scheme. The scheme needs a minimum of 6 volunteers to work, so if anyone is interested to come on board with this project then please contact me for further details.
Street Lighting
Much of the Village’s street lighting is deteriorating or obsolete and is in dire need of replacing. The Parish Council were given a wonderful opportunity earlier in the year to bid for money from Norfolk County Council to improve their street lighting. The Council are very pleased to announce that they were successful in their application and have been given a grant to subsidise 75% off the purchase of 30 LED street lights, the Parish Council will pay the remaining 25%. Councillors have walked around the village in the evening to see where these lights would be best utilised and areas have now been agreed at the last Parish Council meeting. The clerk will be setting up a meeting with the street light contractor shortly to arrange purchase of the lights. It has also been agreed that one light per month will be purchased separate from the above scheme to make sure that the street lighting provisions are improved over the next few years. Not only will residents see the difference in the lighting which will benefit many, but the lights are energy efficient and so will be saving the Parish money in electric and maintenance costs. I will update residents accordingly.
Community Speedwatch Scheme
The Council have had two people come forward to help with the Community Speedwatch Scheme,
with one potentially happy to become the co-ordinator of the scheme. To repeat what was placed
in the newsletter last month, the Community Speedwatch is a scheme in which members within the
area can form their own group to volunteer to carry out speed checks with speed detection
equipment. For a group to be set up, Mundford will need to recruit a minimum of 6 volunteers who
will be vetted, with sites assessed and agreed for working at, and then given training by the
Constabulary. There is no cost to the group as the insurance for the equipment and public liability is
covered by the Constabulary. All the Police ask is that the group spare an hour a week to carry out
sessions and only 3 of the volunteers need to attend any session. One of the volunteers has to have
computer access, and takes on the role of the co-ordinator and be in charge of the equipment, rotas
and sending in the returns by e-mail to the community speed watch mail box within 48 hours of
carrying out sessions. Speeding cars is one of the biggest concerns that residents raise with the
Parish Council and this scheme is already in use in hundreds of villages up and down the country,
and could be very effective in reducing speeds along our roads. If anyone is interested in the
Community Speed Watch Scheme, then please get in touch with me. It must be pointed out that
even though the Parish Council would fully support the scheme, it will not be run by the Council so
the co-ordinator will be in charge of the Mundford scheme. However, the Council would be keen to
have regular updates and support where possible.
Mundford Pride Scheme
The Parish Council started a scheme many years ago to acknowledge special residents that either
help others, or do something wonderful for the village. Any recipient has to have been nominated by
other residents of the village. The residents that have received this reward have all been very
surprised & delighted to have been nominated, but they are all truly deserving winners. The most
recent winner is Mrs Evelyn Goad who received her award at our last Parish Council meeting on 13th
August. She was instrumental in the development of many village projects that have commenced
over the years. These include the spring bulb project and more recently the Jubilee Bed, which as I
am sure you agree continues to look amazing! It is also right to mention that she helps with clearing
litter and helping to make the village look tidy. I will placing all this information on the website
shortly so please take a look at pictures of previous winners! However, if you know someone in the
village that you feel deserves a pride award then please send this information in writing to the clerk
for the council’s consideration.
Roundabout
The Parish Council have just been advised that the advertising signs on the roundabout have now
been approved. There had been a lengthy appeal as originally Breckland Council had refused the
application. The Parish Council wanted to point out to residents that the village will not benefit from
the money received in sponsorship for these signs as this, unfortunately, goes directly to Norfolk
County Council. There had been a previous deal agreed by the Parish Council where another local firm could have signage on there in return for taking responsibility for the upkeep of the
roundabout, however with Norfolk County Council’s scheme now in place and confirmed, this had to
be ended, and the Parish Council have to pay to keep the roundabout looking tidy by cutting the
grass every two weeks.
Lynford Water – Anti-social behaviour
It has been brought to the attention of the Parish Council that there has been an increased amount
of anti-social behaviour in this area. It seems that the hot weather has meant that some people are
camping, making BBQ’s, swimming, fishing and basically ignoring safety signs and orders prohibiting
some of these activities. More worrying it has been reported that some people have been intimated
by people that have asked for cigarettes and throwing beer cans. The Parish Council are appalled
that this beautiful area has started being used in this way, and have spoken to both the District and
County councillors for the area. Cllr Ann Steward has met with Police and the Fire Brigade and the
Police are keen for residents to contact them if they see any anti-social behaviour at the time so they
have the opportunity to see it for themselves. The Parish Council have written to the Forestry
Commission asking them to take action and are awaiting a reply. Please call the police on number
101 to report anything.
Parish Archive Update
As part of the work on the Parish website, we have reorganised the Archive into three sections:
audio, documents and images. We have also added tags and descriptions to all the images. Now you
can click on a tag to see all the images associated with that topic. Unfortunately, we have been
unable to date many of the pictures. You are invited to have a look and help us fill in the gaps. If you
have anything else to add to the archive, then please get in touch.
On Saturday 1st June, villagers and members of Mundford Parish Council gathered on the village green to bury a time capsule, full of items and information relating to the village in the Jubilee year.
In 2007, an initial time capsule was buried on the village green to signify 1000 years of the village, placed under a 1.3t boulder. Gavin Cater of Northwold kindly used his heavy-lifting equipment to move the boulder, allowing councillors to dig down and bury the new capsule alongside the original.
Items placed inside the new capsule included a 50 page folder, full of pictures of the village, a review of Mundford’s Jubilee celebrations, minutes of a recent Parish Council meeting, a copy of the current register of electors, a review of the recent STANTA tour, & details and photographs of the church, village groups & organisations & shops. Some people contributed personal views of village life and their families, and there was information and newspaper cuttings highlighting the Football Club’s victorious season, when they gained promotion into Senior football for only the second time in their history, and played at Carrow Road, the home of Norwich City.
Thank you to all those that contributed items for the time capsule, and to the volunteers including council members that took the time to make this such a memorable event.
View more images of of the time capsule burial here and a pdf report with all the images here.
On 23rd April 2013, a beautifully sunny Tuesday evening, 110 residents of Mundford were treated to a tour of the Stanford Training Area. With only a small number of tours arranged each year, demand from residents had been high and two coaches, with guides, took us around the area. Around 30,000 acres in size, it was established in 1942 through the evacuation of the villages of Buckenham Tofts, Langford, Stanford, Sturston, Tottington and West Tofts. Virtually every soldier who crossed over to France on D-Day would have been through Stanta at some point. Since then, those serving in Northern Ireland, the Falklands, the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan have followed. £366 was raised for the STANTA charities, and just a sample of resident comments are shown below.
“Fiona and I just wanted to say a big thanks to you and the council for the tour last Tuesday evening. We thoroughly enjoyed it and found the whole experience very informative. It gave us an insight into what’s happening on our doorstep and helps us to understand what all the noise is about when they are practising live manoeuvres. If possible, please pass on our thanks to Mez and all who allowed us to visit the site.” Sam & Fiona Peate
“Dear Fran, just wanted to say how much Dave and I enjoyed the trip around the Battle Area, and we learned such a lot. Please pass on our thanks to the Officer (Mez?) for his clear and detailed history and descriptions of the area. A great trip, thank you.” Dave and Jennie Warren
“We just wanted to say “Thank you” to you and everyone else who arranged last night’s STANTA tour. It was really interesting and we thoroughly enjoyed it.” Liz & Colin Clifford
“Thank you for facilitating the superb visit to STANTA. We both learnt so much and enjoyed an evening with fellow villagers.” Sally & Tony Rode.
View a pdf of this report and more images of STANTA from the archive.
28th October 2013, a further 22 images have been added to the archive.
The Council are aware that the grit bins are either getting low or have run out of grit. We are waiting to hear from Norfolk County Council Highways on when another delivery will take place to re-fill the bins. Obviously there is great demand for these services so please understand that it may not be done for a few days. Please be very careful when walking round the village.
