Cringleford Parish Council

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Newsletter 29

VACANCY FOR COUNCILLOR

The position of Parish Councillor has become available and the Council is looking to fill the vacancy by co-option. The Council meets every month except August and our meetings are held in the evening at The Pavilion in Oakfields Road. At present Local Government Review is at the forefront of our minds and the next few months could show a radical change in Local Government if Unitary Councils are approved by the Government. This will have a big affect on Parish Councils as we will be given more chances to take on services should we wish to do so.
One way this has proved successful in the past is the Agency Agreement for cutting the grass verges in the village. This task used to be undertaken by Norfolk County Council 3-4 times per year. The Parish Council were not satisfied with the level of service and enquired if they could run the service. The County Council agreed and now the village gets its verges cut 10 times per year for the same amount of money.
The other exciting project underway is the development at Round House Park. It is not ideal that so many houses should be built in one village all at once but we must embrace the situation and encourage our new parishioners to feel welcome and take advantage of all the wonderful things they can take part in at Cringleford, whether it be Cubs, and Brownies for the children, WI and Mothers Union, Horticultural Society or Amateur Dramatics for the adults or the vast array of sporting activities on offer. We will be having a new park and a brand new Community Centre as well as a new school and shops. There will be so much to do in Cringleford and you never know, we might even get some sheltered housing and even a pub!
If you feel you would like to join the Council and help shape the future of our village please ask the Clerk for more details.

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS 2007/08

Income
Precept 64811
Agency Services 2982
Miscellaneous 3709
Recreation Ground 18305
Interest 2199
TOTAL 92006

Expenditure
Salaries 43085
Agency Services 2688
Administration 13073
Recreation Ground 16614
Street Lighting 10117
TOTAL 85577

If any parishioner would like a full copy of our accounts they are available on our website or from the Clerk for a small charge.

POST OFFICE CLOSURES

Many of you will know by now that Post Office Ltd intends to close Cringleford Post Office. Debbie and Graham, Jo and Terry would like to reassure you that the General Store will remain open for business whatever the outcome of the Post Office closures. They offer a wide range of services from general groceries, newspapers and magazines to off-licence drinks, as well as dry-cleaning. Please show them your support during this difficult time. Don’t forget – Use it or lose it!

COLD CALLING

The Parish Council has been informed that bogus callers have been in the area and are trying to gain access to your homes claiming to be from one of the utility companies. The Police can give you advice on cold callers and many other subjects of concern to you and your neighbours. The mobile Police Unit visits the village every month and can be found at the Recreation Ground, Oakfields Road, Cringleford. Their next visit is Tuesday 15 July from 13.40 to 15.10. Please make use of this service.

CRINGLEFORD CHILDREN’S PLAY-AREA

The Play-Area on the Recreation Ground at Oakfields Road is very well used by local children but sadly the equipment is looking rather old and out of date. The last update took place in 1987 and the Parish Plan questionnaires highlighted the area as in need of renovation. The Council was also pleased to receive letters from Cringleford School children in support of an update for the area. The Parish Council is planning to remove 4 old pieces of equipment and replace them with a new nest swing, see-saw, springing animal and a large piece of equipment called a Zibal which incorporates a climbing wall and climbing frame with special places to sit. All the pieces of equipment will be suitable for disabled children and should attract all ages up to 16. This is just phase 1 and to complete the project Phase 2 will be the installation of an aerial runway in the wooded area at the bottom of the field. The Council has applied for grant funding and should know by the autumn if they have been successful.

ROUND HOUSE PARK

The children at Cringleford School were invited to enter a competition to name 10 of the roads and we are pleased to say some of these names have already been chosen. We welcome to the village the residents of Dragonfly Lane, Jasmine Walk, Lobelia Lane, Poppy Close, Fern Drive, Kingfisher Close, Nightingale Drive, Brambling Lane, Woodpecker Lane and The Pines.

You might have been aware of recent concerns over the balancing ponds on the Round House Park development. The Parish Council would like to reassure parishioners that this is not stagnant water and the sites, when handed over, will be managed and looked after by South Norfolk Council.

Chairman’s Annual Report 2008

I can’t believe it has been a year since I took over the chairmanship of the council. I thought that we had an interesting year ahead and I was right it has certainly been an interesting year. I also thought that Ian Bartlett would be a hard act to follow as chairman and I was right there as well.

We started the year with parish council elections. There were not enough candidates to force an election. Three long standing councillors Elaine Tucker, Chris Mackinnon and Mark Farrar retired and we were joined by Chris Branson, Geoff Champion and Frances Holmes. Chris Kemp and Gary Wheatley were re-elected as our district councillors. Sadly in September our dear Elaine died and she is greatly missed.

For personal reason Frances Holmes and Chris Branson resigned during the year and we welcomed Roy Christian and Richard Burbage to the council in their place.

Early in the year we had the first suggestions of Cringleford being enveloped into an extended Norwich Unitary Authority and this has been an ongoing issue throughout the year and continues to be discussed and myself and other councillors have attended various meetings at SNDC and will continue to so and be involved. The Boundary Committee are due to announce their draft proposals in April. I think that is where the fun really will start.

At about the same time as the talk of extending Norwich the Parish Council were invited to attend the official opening of Round House Park and we have watched it grow apace with interest ever since. Around Christmas the first Round House Park residents moved in.

In January this year the developers put forward a proposal for 1000 houses plus 40 sheltered housing properties and 25 bungalows. This has been an opportunity to re-negotiate the section 106 agreement and give the council extra funding for the new community centre.

Road safety issues in the village have been high on the agenda with the County Council starting compulsory purchase on land in Keswick Road to make improvements to the footpath at the Keswick Road/Intwood Road Junction. We are also in the early stages of discussions with the County Council on the parking difficulties in Intwood Road close to the Oakfields Road Junction and I am pleased that the residents affected have formed an action group and collected signatures on a petition which was forwarded to the County Council. The Parish Council are pleased to work with them.

A new initiative of Neighbourhood Forums was set up to incorporate members of the District Council, the County Council and Parish representatives and I was pleased to be elected as a parish representative from the Cringleford area. Cringleford hosted one of the forum meetings.

Our wider village interests have flourished as well with the Scouts using their new building to full advantage and they have now settled all their required planning conditions. There is still the outstanding issue of the pathway repairs but that is in hand.

The junior football club have been an outstanding success due to the vision and hard work of various parents and volunteers.

The Tennis club are in the process of replacing the grass courts for all weather courts and re-aligning their floodlights.

During the year the Parish Council were approached by Miss Blake, Head Teacher of Cringleford School, to see if we could assist her and the governors in getting the issue of a single school for the village re-opened. The argument was that things had changed considerably both politically and educationally since the first consultation on 2004. We were pleased to support their request and with the help of Judith Virgo, our County Councillor, we succeeded in re-opening the consultation process.

I want to finish my report with a mention of the parish council staff. As councillors we are all volunteers and some of us have the “day job” to manage as well as our council duties. We would find it very difficult to manage the village without our superb staff.

I want to thank Mandy Farrow for her management of the bookings and the pavilion. I am also delighted that Chris Meeson has now joined the permanent staff and the grounds and village areas are certainly showing the improvement that we anticipated when he decided to work for the Parish Council again.

And last but not least I must mention Anne Barnes, who despite a constantly breaking parish council computer nevertheless does an excellent job. She is the focal point for the council. Whatever information the councillors want, it is to hand. When anyone from the County or District Councils or one of the village residents wants something they know who to ask – and the answer is usually available.

As I said at the beginning of my report I anticipated an interesting year - and we certainly had one. I am sure that next year will not be any less interesting but I am equally certain that as a Council, with the backing of the staff we have, we are ready for whatever is to come.

Susan Mackinnon
Chairman of Cringleford Parish Council
10th April 2008

COUNCIL MEETING DATES 2008

12 June 9 October
10 July 13 November
11 September 11 December

PAVILION BOOKINGS

If you would like to book Cringleford Pavilion for a class, a meeting or a party please contact:
Mrs Mandy Farrow
01603 502452

PARISH CLERK

Mrs Anne Barnes - Parish Clerk
Cringleford Parish Council
16a Newmarket Road
Cringleford
Norwich
NR4 6UE

Tel 01603 250198

email: cringleford.pc@tiscali.co.uk

www.cringlefordpc.co.uk