Freethorpe Parish Council, serving Freethorpe and Wickhampton: A meeting took place on Monday 15th July at 7pm at Freethorpe Village Hall. Our District Councillor reported that Broadland’s services have been carrying on alongside the work of the general election. An officer from Broadland will attend September’s Parish Council to discuss a Neighbourhood Plan. Opportunities for further support for the parish from Broadland are being explored. Parish Councillor Mike Blake reported on management and name changes at the school’s federation. Parish Council finances are stable. A new parish council website will be launched in August.
Parish Council approved extra one-off grass cutting and line marking for the football pitch to combat the problem of exceptional grass growing weather. These are funded by savings made on insurance this year. A tree surgeon will be working on the silver birch tree near the swings next week. The Parish Council is bidding for minor Highways improvements, such as extra signage and ways of making the 30mph speed limit more obvious to drivers entering the village. Bid to be finalised in autumn.
Parish Council noted the ‘Celebrating Nature’ event at Acle on 8th September. It has requested a Housing Needs Survey to establish the level of affordable housing needed for our community to thrive. A World War I War Horse bench has been ordered for the Village Hall. A Tree Preservation Order on the Green was supported. Significant repair work has been completed to some of the play equipment at Wickhampton and Freethorpe play areas. A management plan for Wickhampton Pond was approved. Thanks to the Broadland Tree Warden Network, work is planned to start in the autumn with controlled removal of an invasive species, crassula helmsii. This will take several years to clear, but the long-term aim is to tidy up the pond and encourage biodiversity, enhancing the pond as a community asset.
The flowers planted by Parish Councillor Andrea Rowlands and helpers have made a lovely sight at the Village Hall and Flying Field Memorial. Further flowers and bulbs will be planted through the year. Parish Council is very grateful to the children of Freethorpe Community School who tidied up the Pump. A volunteer has also come forward to keep the Pump tidy. There are other tasks that people used to do in an unofficial capacity, such as mowing the front of the Village Hall and around the Flying Field Memorial. As the people are no longer able to do this, anyone who would like to take some of this on, either voluntarily or as paid work, should contact the clerk.
People are encouraged to use the bottle banks, paper bank and textile bank at Freethorpe Village Hall. This raises useful funds that are spent on facilities in the parish. People are asked NOT to put dog waste in the general bins at the Village Hall. There are dog bins in the vicinity on the Green and Chapelfield for this purpose. People are reminded that dogs are not allowed on the Playing Field at Freethorpe to protect the health and safety of adults and children who use it.
Speed management figures are for June 2024. On the Green near the Manor, 85th percentile speeds have crept up from 30.6 to 31.2mph on higher volumes of 32,487 vehicles, of which 6,010 broke the speed limit. Better news at the Common near 111, where 85th percentile speeds were down from 31.8 to 30.5 mph with 19,371 vehicles. 84% of people kept within the 30mph speed limit. THANK YOU FOR DRIVING SAFELY IN OUR VILLAGE.