Hethersett a norfolk village on the web

The final green light has been given to the new development in Myrtle Road. The revised detailed plan was discussed at South Norfolk District Council's planning committee. Additional conditions have been agreed concerning the future development of bungalows on the site adjoining existing properties and the future maintenance of the hedgerows surrounding the site.

Fantastic Fete

Anglia Television personality Helen McDermot opened the Rainbow Summer Fair at Woodside First and Nursery School.

And the fete proved to be a roaring success, raising over £2,000 despite rather inclement weather.

The school's new samba band helped to open the event and make it a colourful day with singing, maypole dancing, stalls, games and a barbecue. The event raised £2,443.24 which will go towards samba equipment and the ongoing campaign for a new all weather sports pitch.

Praise for School

Hethersett Old Hall School has been praised for its good teaching and care of pupils.

The Independent Schools' Inspectorate complimented the school on having strengths in almost all areas.

Pupils' attitudes, learning and behaviour were rated as "very good" while the premises provide valuable support for teaching and learning.

The report stated that pupils are happy and well looked after and the extended school day provides very good care for younger pupls.

Head Teacher Janet Mark said she was delighted with the Inspector's views.

Plans are now in place for the development of a modern library and resource centre and the school has appointed a new librarian.

Football Club's Annual Presentation Evening

The club's annual presentation evening took place for the fifth consecutive year in the Norfolk lounge at Carrow Road.

It was a special night for the Milne family who have been associated with the club for a number of years.

Sue Milne was elected the club's fourth honorary life member for her services to the club as vice-chair and manager of the women's team and also for her involvement in women's football at county level.

Husband Ray was awarded the prestigious Lee Thompson Memorial Trophy for his outstanding contribution to the club over the previous year, which included arranging the presentation evening.

But the Milne family success was not restricted to mum and dad. Men's A team player Andrew Milne received a trophy for completing 200 appearances for the club, daughter Sarah was named the women's team player of the year and there was also a trophy for the youngest member of the family Tom who plays for the Under-14s.

Over 600 players, supporters and guests attended the event with the individual team prizes being presented by former Norwich City player Peter Mendham, current youth team captain and reserve team player Matt Halliday and club vice-president and vice-chair of Norfolk County FA Stuart Dracup.

Parish Council

George Beckwith was re-elected chairman of Hethersett Parish Council at the annual meeting in May. Fred Watkins was elected vice-chair.

The annual parish meeting also took place in May with Mr Beckwith commenting on the council's disappointment that the appeal against development in Myrtle Road had failed.

At the meeting Mr Beckwith congratulated the High School on obtaining Science College status. A number of local organisations gave reports at the meeting.

The parish council has expressed its concern over poor car parking in the village. It has continued to receive complaints of cars and vans parking on pavements and grass verges. In addition a number of hedges in the village are also overhanging pavements and footways and proving a hazard to pedestrians and drivers.

Vandalism Concern

Vandalism continues in the village and was one of the main areas of concern to the village at the annual parish meeting. The parish council will be meeting with the Police and South Norfolk District Council to discuss what action can be taken. Any villagers seeing incidents of vandalism or anti social behaviour should contact Norfolk Police on 0845 456 4567.

The HEAT Is On

In June 2005 the Hethersett Environmental Action Group was asked by Woodside First School to help improve the grounds and to involve pupils in this. Volunteers subsequently attended the school on three days to clear and weed beds and attend to a potential wildflower area. Plants were brought in by both the school and HEAT and 40 pupils planted them. The group plan to return to carry out more work in the autumn with a monthly maintenance programme also being worked out.

For Cancer Research and the Envionment

Thirteen gardens in the village were open to the public on Sunday, 26th June to raise funds for MacMillan Cancer Research and Hethersett Village Environmental Improvements.

Numerous keen gardeners explored a host of contrasting gardens ranging frm exotic walled gardens containing tiny lemon and banana trees to large half acre orchards.

Gardens involved were in Cartmel, Churchfields, Haconsfield, Grove Road, Lynch Green, Meadow Close, Park Drive, Central Close and Priory Road. Refreshments were also available at many of the stop off points.

Pupils Sleepover

It was an all-nighter when pupils from Hethersett Old Hall School became part of a record breaking sleepover attempt.

Thirty eight girls and four teachers joined 35,000 children nationally in the BT Giant Sleepover. They were raising money for Childline and the Quidenham Children's Hospice.

The previous world record was set in June 2004 when 8,280 children nationwide participated in the first Giant Sleepover.

Those taking part were aged between seven and 11. They enjoyed a barbecue and treasure hunt and games and had a midnight feast. There were 27 sleepovers across Norfolk.

Landscaping

Work is to start shortly on a landscaping project for the land adjoining the Village Hall. This will include soft landscaping and a path from the car park to the skatepark. A number of seats and benches will be put in place with the cost of the work being largely met from funds raised at the time of the Millennium, although additional funds will be necessary.

Questionnaire Feedback Poor

Feedback to a questionnaire printed in the May edition of the Hethersett Newsletter was so poor that only one reply was received.

The questionnaire asked for views on facilities for youth in the village and also asked for support for the youth forum.

Writing in the June edition of the parish council newsletter, clerk Ian Weetman says "We received just one reply from a village the size of Hethersett. I leave you to draw your own conclusions."

Further Dualling of A11

The go-ahead has been given for the dualling of the Attleborough by-pass which will be good news for residents of Hethersett.

Work on the £25million improvement scheme will start in 2006 and will put another piece into the jigsaw for dualling the entire A11.

The new work will dual the stretch from Breckland Lodge to join the existing dual carriageway close to the Besthorpe junction.

It will mean that only a short section of the A11 south of Thetford and running through Elvedon to Barton Mills remains undualled.

Park and Ride Opens

The new park and ride at Thickthorn has opened providing a cost effective and easy way for Hethersett residents to get in and out of Norwich.

The site is beside the A11 and A47 Norwich Southern Bypass close to the existing Thickthorn Services. The site has space for 736 vehicles and is the sixth park and ride to ring Norwich.

Double decker buses ferry motorists into the city centre and the site is very close to the £3.4million Cringleford link road to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

The park and ride will run from 6.40 a.m to 7.30 p.m Monday to Saturday, except Thursdays when the last bus will leave the city at 8.30 p.m. Buses will also run on Bank Holidays except for Christmas and New Year's Day.

All day parking will cost £2.80 per vehicle and £1 on weekdays after 12.30 p.m.

Appeal Launched

St Remigius Church is launching an appeal to raise money to carry out a number of improvements to the building which will:

Provide easy access to the building for the disabled and elderly

Make a place where worship for adults and work with children can happen at the same time.

Enhance and bring the building to a wider public.

Provide a centre for community activity, both secular and religious.

Carry out urgent structural repairs.

The new plans will complete disabled access into the church, provide access to a previously constructed room from a gallery, provide an area specially for children and provide additional meeting room.

In addition repairs will be made to the church roof and part of the stonework. It is estimated that the total cost of the project will be £440,000.

The CHUrch Development And Repair Appeal (CHUDARA) will be officially launched at a cheese and wine party on 23rd April when guests will include the Bishop of Thetford.

In addition to raising funds for themselves the church is also hoping to make donations to a sister church in a Johannesburg township.

Message Not Getting Through

The message isn't getting through regarding unauthorised articles being placed around graves and cremation tablets, according to village Rector, the Rev Di Lammas.

Writing in the April edition of the Good News magazine she once again points out that many of the items are illegal and against national regulations.

"Yu may only introduce into a churchyard items for which you have a specific authorisation from the rector of the parish," she points out.

Illegal items in the churchyard at present include pebbles, paving, stones, grit, chippings, plastic or wooden surrounds, lawn edging, fencing, toys, plants in the ground.

"Realising that grief is a very painful experience we have tended to be lenient about items being placed on graves in the first year until the ground has settled. However, people are installing permanent items for which no permission has been granted. So reluctantly we are going to have to take action as the regulations have been consistently ignored," she added.

And her message is direct: "We will start to remove illegal items from plots in Hethersett Churchyard on 1st June, 2005."

Simply Champion

Hethersett Hawks Cycle Speedway Club has two new Norfolk champions. Philip Adams retained his Under-13 title and Josh Wilcox captured the Under-10s crown. Roger Carter and John Gilbey won the club's best pairs event held over from 2004. The club also successfully staged a round of the British Youth and Junior League and the team are hopeful of reaching the national rounds again this year.

Graffiti Problem

A recent outbreak of graffiti has annoyed the parish council which has referred to it as "unsightly and unpleasant and the result of the mindless behaviour which brings a real cost to residents in cleaning the affected areas."

The council is urging residents who have information on those responsible to contact Norfolk Police on 01953 424242.

Middle School Changes

Things are changing at Hethersett Middle School.

Residents will notice a considerable amount of building work taking place over the next few months.

A new changing room for disabled pupils at the swimming pool is just about ready. This will improve accessibility to the pool.

Work is due to begin to provide a separate entrance to the school for pedestrians. This will further enhance the safety of the school for children and visitors. New bike sheds will be provided to encourage more children to cycle as the weather improves.

A major project will also be launched to change the main school entrance from the side to the front of the building. This will include moving the school office and Head's study.

"The building work is aimed at giving a proper focal point to the school and also improving the safety for everyone," said Chair of Governors Peter Steward.

In addition interactive whiteboards have been installed in half the classrooms so that children can use the latest technology in their lessons.

Bus Concerns

The parish council is urging parishioners experiencing problems with the village's bus service to contact First Buses.

The plea follows concern with the quality of the service in the village, particularly in the morning and evening peak periods. Buses often arrive at Churchfields full and do not stop. The parish council has written to the bus company expressing concerns only to be told that they are unaware of any problems.

Those experiencing difficulties are asked to write to L. Hargreaves, Customer Services Manager, First Customer Services, 17-19 Castle Meadow, Norwich, NR1 3DH or telephone 0845 6020 121.

Footballers Celebrate

Hethersett Athletic held its annual presentation evening at Carrow Road on Saturday, May 22nd with over 500 players, supporters, friends and club officials attending

The evening heard that the club's Under-14s had been crowned league champions. Awards were made to players completing 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 games for the club. Paul Martin became only the second player to complete 250 league and cup games.

The golden boot award for top scorer went to Under-14 player Chris Marshall with 35 goals. He became the club's top scorer for the second season in a row. The prestigious Lee Thompson Memorial Trophy was awarded to Ray Milne for his organisation of the presentation evening. It was a family affair with wife Sue Milne being made an honorary life member in recognition of her outstanding contribution to both Hethersett Athletic and women's football in the county.

The awards were presented by Norwich City Youth Team captain Matt Halliday, vice-chair of Norfolk FA Stuart Dracup and former Norwich player Peter Mendham.

For more information on Hethersett Athletic visit the club's official web site by clicking here.

IN BRIEF: Fund-raisers

A concert in St Remigius Church on Saturday 9th April featuring the Jay Singers raised £628 towards the Church Repair and Development Appeal.

Margaret Morrad raised £162 for Cancer Research UK by taking part in the national Race for Life event.

Jenny Clutten who is chair of Hethersett Youth Parish Council has been elected as a deputy member of the youth parliament. Jenny is also chair of the South Norfolk Youth Action Group.

Hethersett Hawks Cycle Speedway Club has another Norfolk champion. Jazzy Abbott won the Under-16s title at Eaton Park.

Christian Aid week in the village raised £3,387.46. 90% of homes were visited and 52% of envelopes returned.