December 2006 Newsletter

Happy Christmas to you All

This latest newsletter is linked to my website www.johnfuller.org.uk, which gives a huge amount of information about Bergh Apton, Brooke, Howe, Kirstead, Mundham & Seething.  If this is the first time you have received one of my newsletters, Welcome!  You can see previous copies at www.johnfuller.org.uk/news/newsletters

In this issue...

Top Marks for Brooke School
Use our Post Offices
Congratulations to the Kings Head in Brooke
Free Fire Detectors
Christmas is coming with a Mountain of Rubbish
Xmas Refuse Collection Times
New Electoral Roll Published
New Wireless HotSpot for Brooke.
Funding Secured For All Weather Pitch in Loddon
Broads Scrutiny
Blogging
Bergh Apton War Memorial
Concessionary Fares Scheme
Seething Control Tower evenings
Howe Christmas Tree Festival
Challenge Tim!
Traveller encampment in Bergh Apton
Parish Council Elections
The Political Bit

Top Marks for Brooke School

We must all congratulate and take pride in the fantastic performance of Brooke Primary School revealed by new league tables published this week.

Brooke scored 300 points out of a possible 300 with 100% results in each of Maths, English & Science. 

On a national stage only 209 schools the maximum possible score of 300 in the 2006 national curriculum tests in England: So this is an exceptional result for our local school.

Only Hemblington Primary, near Brundall had the same maximum score but as Brooke's Average Score Per Pupil was better, Brooke is officially in the best primary school in Norfolk.  Congratulations to Clare Cook and her team.

Interestingly, Seething & Mundham Primary is classed as a small school so meaningful comparisons with other schools could not be calculated and their results were not published.

'You can look at the results for Brooke yourself at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/06/school_tables/primary_schools/html/agg_926.stm

Use our Post Offices

Regular readers of my newsletter will know that I've been asking you to visit your post office more often rather than use more convenient online services via the intenet.  It's a case of use it or lose it.

People who want to close our rural post offices have no idea of social responsibility or cohesion.

Having a local post office isn't just convenient, it's a lifeline for those people who find it hard to get about or who prefer to draw benefits in cash.  This government don't seem to realise that people in rural communities pay as much tax as anyone else, but they cannot rely on the services and the way that they are treating village post offices shows how far from reality they are when understanding rural issues.

So I'm asking you to support your local post offices.  It only takes a few moments:
* Renew you car tax at Brooke Post Office instead of online.  It doesn't cost any more
* If you bank with any of the following banks Abbey; Alliance & Leicester; Bank of Ireland; Bank of Scotland; Barclays; Clydesdale Bank; The Co-operative Bank; First Trust Bank; Halifax; HSBC; Lloyds TSB; Nationwide Building Society; NatWest; Northern Bank; The Royal Bank of Scotland; Ulster Bank; Yorkshire Bank, You can with draw up to £200 cash from your bank account using your PIN... and there's no charge for withdrawls.  How convienient is that?

Of course, many of you will be sending Christmas cards and think about buying your stamps at a rural post office rather than the supermarket.

Congratulations to the Kings Head in Brooke

The King's Head is enjoying a new lease of life as a village pub with an excellent restaurant attached.  The restaurant seems to be doing really well and I often friends from far-flung places attracted by its growing reputation.  Here's an example of how a small village business can thrive and I congratulate Emma, Oli and her team.
There's also a well-designed website with details of the wine list, menus etc at www.kingsheadbrooke.co.uk.

Free Fire Detectors

At a recent Area Forum meeting, Guy McCurley, Norfolk Fire Service's Group Manager for South Norfolk, informed the meeting that 10-year battery smoke detectors were being made available free of charge, and could be fitted free by Fire Officers.

The Fire Service needed help to identify local residents who would benefit from this service, so please could you advertise this within your parishes.

For further details, telephone 0800 9178137 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Christmas is coming with a Mountain of Rubbish

In the UK we'll create more then three million tonnes of rubbish this Christmas - but some of that can be put to good use or recycled and I'd like to encourage you to put as much in your green bin as possible over the holiday season.

But there are other ways in which you can divert your festive fare from landfill.

• Compost:  Composting is great for the garden and vegetable peelings from Christmas dinner will make nutritious compost to help make your garden bloom!
• Batteries:  Buy rechargeable batteries this year for all your children's toys and electrical goods, and help save on the millions of batteries that go to landfill each year.
• Glass jars & bottles: Make use of your mini recycling centres to recycle all the glass jars and bottles you use over the festive period.
• Christmas trees:  Take your tree to your local Household Waste site at Bergh Apton, where it will be shredded and turned into compost.
• Old Christmas cards:  Support the Woodland Trust Christmas Card Recycling Scheme by taking all your Christmas cards to your local Tesco or WHSmith who will send them to be recycled. The scheme starts on the 2 January and runs up to the 31 January.

Why not make a New Year's resolution that you can keep this year - recycle or re-use more stuff, more often! Kerbside collections, mini recycling centres and Household Waste sites are making recycling even easier so you have a good chance at sticking with it!

Xmas Refuse Collection Times

Christmas & New Year collections Refuse Collections

Normal Date	Green Bin	Black Bin	Green Bin	Blcck Bin
Monday 18 Dec	Wed 27 Dec	Wed 3 Jan 07	Tues 9 Jan 07	Mon 15 Jan 07
Tuesday 19 Dec	Thurs 28 Dec	Thurs 4 Jan 07	Wed 10 Jan 07	Tues 16 Jan 07
Wednesday 20 Dec	Fri 29 Dec	Fri 5 Jan 07	Thurs 11 Jan 07	Wed 17 Jan 07
Thursday 21 Dec	Sat 30 Dec	Sat 6 Jan 07	Fri 12 Jan 07	Thurs 18 Jan 07
Friday 22 Dec	Tues 2 Jan 07	Mon 8 Jan 07	Sat 13 Jan 07	Fri 20 Jan 07

New Electoral Roll Published

Every December, a new electoral roll is published and I'm pleased to welcome 163 new voters to the ward, about 7.5% of the total electorate of 2099 in total.  This tells me that our village is a an attractive and vibrant place to live

I don't know about you, but when I was first elected I was surprised that so many new people were moving in and out of our villages but in each of the last four years there have been about 150 new local residents each year.

The village-by-village break-down of the new electoral roll is as follows

Parish	NumberOfVoters	NumberOfHouses	NewElectors
BerghApton	366	179	28
Brooke	1067	536	84
Howe	48	27	0
Kirstead	19	97	11
Mundham	144	68	15
Seething	279	147	25

If you're new to the village you're in good company and don't forget that there are about 40 clubs and societies in our villages listed on my website.

New Wireless HotSpot for Brooke.

South Norfolk has 119 parishes and about 20 of these will shortly be equipped with a free wireless Internet hot-spot.  Thanks to pressure from myself, Brooke will be one of the villages to benefit from one of the free hotspots.  I had hoped that there would be a 1000m range but tests in Poringland [The Railway Inn] have shown that about 200m is the maximum practical distance.  I believe that the transmitter will be placed in the Brooke Village Hall Area

The speed will be limited to 256K download and each session lasts an hour but you can renew a second session right away.  It's taken me three years but at last the EEDA broadband money is being spent in Brooke so I'm pleased with this result.

Funding Secured For All Weather Pitch in Loddon

Decision: To note that the report regarding the All Weather Pitch at Loddon, is deferred to the October 2006 meeting of the Cabinet.

Broads Scrutiny

I don't often tell you about what I do in my spare time [What Spare Time?] but sailing on the Broads in my classic RiverCruiser Swallowtail is something I enjoy immensely.  In September I participated in the Yare Navigation Race, the country's premier race for classic yachts over 35 miles: Brundall to Breydon Water and back.  Like most competitors we ran aground and this is a safety hazard as well as a nuisance.  It turned out that dredging had been neglected by The Broads Authority over many years and this could affect towns like Loddon, which rely on the tourist imcome from boats mooring at the River Chet staithe.

So I was able to arrange for the Chief Executive [John Packman] and Chairman of the Broads Authority to attend 'parliamentary select committee' public scrutiny session at South Norfolk Council to explain how they would give more attention to protecting the navigation of the waterways.  Shallow rivers hold less water so sea-surges mean that salt-water travels further into the broads, killing fish and destroying the soil structure of the marshes.  Shallow broads soon clog-up with weeds and are lost very quickly.

I am pleased to report that Mr Packman made a strong commitment to dredging the Broads and the point of this story is that if there's something that you're concerned about it's my job to shine a light on it.  Councils will soon have more powers to hold public bodies to account and investigate 'community calls for action'.  If you have an issue of wider public interest that you think should be investigated, speak to me. 

Blogging

I registered a blog address a couple of years ago because I wanted to be sure that I could have my johnfuller name reserved.  But I haven't activated it yet.  I've always tried to keep ahead of the times and I was one of the first Councillors to have a web site and I suppose now is the time I ought to start my blog up.  But would you read it?  If you'd be interested in reading a blog, email me and tell me.

Bergh Apton War Memorial

We have so much to be thankful for and nothing demonstrates this more than the appreciation of our war memorials to those who were killed in two world wars.

And in Bergh Apton, John Ling & Chris Johnson have led a program to restore their memorial, with further work to re-carve the names, which have faded over time.
85 individual donations have raised £2,818 and, boosted Gift-Aid, the fighting fund totals £3,439
The restoration was unveiled on Remembrance Day and stonemason Matthew Beesley's work is quite exceptional.  With my young daughter Laura, I was privileged to plant a cross in the remembrance garden during the moving service led by Richard Collier of Poringland.  Decendents of the fallen were also present making an important link between now and history.

But now, nearly 90 years after the memorial was erected in 1919, there's a fascinating postscript with the discovery that the names of six more men born or raised in Bergh Apton but who fell in the wars who do not figure on the memorial!  The Parish Council and PCC will review these names in January and it's hoped that the carving work can be completed by the spring to add their names and to recognise their loss.

It's small projects like this restoration that make our villages such a special place to live.  When you visit the neglected and overgrown churchyards of other villages.

Seething Control Tower evenings

Last week I attended one of the monthly Seething Control Tower evenings in Brooke Parish Hall [First Tuesday of the month in winter, 7.30pm].  Well over 100 people of all ages were present to hear Wing Commander Tom Neil, a former Battle of Britain pilot, entertain us with a variety of stories from the 1939-1945 war, including his time in Malta. 

The Tower 146 Association does some splendid work and, in a different way to the Bergh Apton War Memorial, provides a living remembrance to the past.

Concessionary Fares Scheme

We can all welcome the decision to give free off-peak bus travel for the over 60's but you shouldn't be surprised that the uptake has been much greater than expected by The Government.  The Government told Councils it would pay for the forecast costs of the scheme but seem surprised to have learned that when you make some thing free people consume more of it   Guess what, the Council Tax payer is funding the shortfall .  Standby for an increase in the Council Tax to pay for Gordon Brown's "Free" travel scheme.  Not quite so free after all.

Nevertheless, if you are over 60 or registered disabled, I'd encourage you to apply for your bus-pass by calling the council on 533633.

Challenge Tim

Tim Hirst has written to me about his South American Challenge  - to finally (with the help of the Jagged Globe team) defeat Aconcagua at the 3rd attempt this Christmas.

Cerro Aconcagua, 22,834 (6,959 meters) has the distinction of being the highest mountain in both the Western and Southern Hemispheres, making it also the highest mountain in the world outside of Asia. Its name is native in origin and may come from the Inca word Ackon Cahuak which means Stone Sentinel . This spectacular mountain is located in the heart of the Chilean-Argentine Central Andes, at a latitude of 32 degrees 40 minutes South.

Aconcagua was first climbed in1897, up the Northwest side of the mountain by Swiss Mountain Guide Matthias Zurbriggen. This route has become the most popular way to climb the mountain, and is known as the Ruta Normal or Normal Route. The extreme altitude, severe winds, and cold temperatures make an ascent by this, or any other route on this mountain, very challenging but this is the very reason that Aconcagua has one of the highest mountain death tolls in the world:

In 1934, a second route was pioneered up the east side of the mountain, by a Polish team. The Polish approached the mountain up the Vacas and Relinchos Valleys to Plaza Argentina, and summited via what is known today as the Polish Glacier.

Don't ask me why I in my dotage want to spend Christmas in the hostile environment of Aconcagua but I do and for three reasons -

1. Its beaten me twice and I hate being beaten
2. To raise monies for my chosen charities - Quidenham Children's Hospice and Unique
3. To visit Argentina again - a country rich in culture and history not to mention breath taking mountain scenery.

So , will you help me help those who cannot help themselves ? - if so , would you please complete the sponsor form and forward to me at the addresses shown. Its as simple as that.   Tm Hirst This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Howe Christmas Tree Festival

On Friday 15-17th December, the first Howe Christmas Tree Festival will be taking place in the St Mary the Virgin Church, one of our historic round-tower churches.  Last year, the Howe Bonfire party was cancelled so it's nice to see that this tiny village, where I lived before we moved to Brooke, has a new community festival to bring people to the village.  If you can't face even more Christmas Shopping next weekend, you know where to go!

Traveller Encampment in Bergh Apton

A group of Travellers appeared without notice in late September at the former Whitings Brickworks in Bergh Apton.  They left on 1st December and are presently camped in Framingham Pigot and Harford Bridges.

I'd like to pay tribute to the quiet and efficient way in which the Whiting Family and our council officers, particularly Tony Cooke dealt firmly but fairly with the travellers.  In other parts of the district there has been a hysterical hullabaloo when travellers move-in, which has been wholly counter-productive and has attracted yet more people to the encampment.  But in the case of Bergh Apton the matter was dealt with discreetly and in a timely manner.  Yet again, the rest of the district can learn from the lead set by this remarkable village

Parish Council Elections

In my last newsletter I highlighted the fact that Parish Council elections will be taking place next May.  I want to keep-up the pressure on you all to consider whether you would like to stand for election.  Last time in 2003 only 12 villages in the whole district had enough candidates for a contested election and Brooke & Bergh Apton were amongst them.
Having elections is important even for parish councils.  It tells the outside world that people are interested and committed to their communities and most parish councils meet for an evening only every 5-6 weeks or so.  Could you give something back to your community in the form of your valuable time and experience?  I can help you or you could speak confidentially to an independent expert at the Council, Chris Walton [01508 533628].

The Political Bit

We're all being encouraged to reduce our carbon emissions and we're doing our bit in the Fuller household.  Although we're well into December, we still haven't turned on our central heating yet although we've been putting coal on the woodburner.

Last month a planning application for a domestic wind turbine in Howe was refused but we'll shortly be asked to consider an industrial-scale wind turbine farm in Woodton and Hempnall.  About ten giant turbines are planned in a village that borders the south-west corner of Brooke & Kirstead parishes to generate energy from the power of the wind.

I work in Great Yarmouth and our offices overlook the Scroby Sands windfarm.  I can count the days when I have seen ALL the windmills are working at once on one hand and Government figures show that, although the turbines are out to sea, they disappointingly produce enough electricity for only about 12,000 homes.  Evidence shows that land-based turbines have to be large to be practical but are even less efficient than marine ones and have a much greater impact on our rural environment. 

On the other hand, the two turbines at Swaffham are quite graceful and if a company wants to generate wind energy, I suppose we should be encouraging them.

This is an issue that will affect us and the special nature of our rural area all in one way or another and I'd be interested to know how you feel about the balance between preserving our rural views and the requirement to generate electricity.  Do you feel that the electricity generated outweighs the effect on the landscape or do you feel that such turbines should be kept off-shore?  Tell me what you think here.

Contact Me

Do you know anyone else who might like to receive this letter?  Please feel free to print this and give it to them or you can ask them to register their email address with This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and I will add them to my distribution list.

Cllr John Fuller
The Old Hall Coach House, The Street, Brooke, NR15 1LB
01508 558280 telephone; 01508 558301 fax  07860 101335 mobile   skypeID  johnfuller
Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; www http://www.johnfuller.org.uk

The legal bit - Promoted & Published by John Fuller The Old Hall Coach House, The Street, Brooke, NR15 1LB