Swaffham Newsletter

From the Mayor’s Parlour
Happy New to One and All for 2018
December for most is quite a busy one,
Christmas for me is pretty predictable
but this year it excelled with even
more meetings and events which I loved.
The Lions provided a great Christmas dinner
at the Convent early on in the month, people
having a door to door service provided by the
volunteers.
The Town Carol Service was lovely as always
and we were treated to a delightful Nativity
by children from the Convent, some little
angels only four years of age. We all enjoyed
refreshments afterwards, it was a really good
evening.
The Town Christingle was the first one I’d been
to, can’t think how I’ve missed it, the Church
was packed and all the children received a
Christingle, they were delighted.
Saturday 23rd was taking mince pies and port
to the market holders, this was a jolly event
helped along by our very own Town Crier, always
popular and very colourful.
Christmas Day it was off to the nursing homes
ending up at the Cottage Hospital and Christmas
Dinner provided by Iceni at the Assembly
Rooms, I was fortunate to have some of my
grandchildren in tow, it did remind my children
of their trips on Christmas Day with their Dad.
It never ceases to amaze me the generosity of
people’s volunteering in this town , the people
who deliver our Newsletter are a really trojan
force, thank you so much and at this point to say
that if anyone feels able to join this band there
are still streets that need delivery.
We have a new project manager for our
Neighbourhood Plan, I really think this time we
will get it off the ground.
A big thank you to Sue Gattuso who gave up her
time to come to the council meeting to give us
a history of the Antinghams, it’s definitely given
us food for thought.
As you can imagine there’s plenty going on in
the council, we have our budget to work on
and trust that we’ve got it right, I’m hopeful we
have.
January and February always seem a bit dreary
and an anticlimax, however, I have noticed the
evenings getting lighter and before we know
where we are those bulbs will be coming up.
With every best wish for 2018
Jill
In Touch With Your Town
‘In Touch with your Town’ is put
together by the Town Clerk
Richard Bishop or occasionally
by the Deputy Town Clerk
Claire Smith. It deals with some
of the most topical items of the
day and the odd item where the Council want to
share information with the Town.
BUDGET
It is the Budget season at Swaffham Town Council
with the annual budget meeting taking place on
22nd January, so all will be revealed in the March
edition of your Swaffham Newsletter. Always a
lot to get through as the pressure is applied on
the public purse year on year, and your Town
Council try to achieve good value for money, in
times where cuts in services are still happening
at Principal Authorities such as Breckland Council
and Norfolk County Council’s. So, some issues will
take a while to filter through as either the service
or the expense is often picked up at the Town level.
There is usually media interest in the level of
Council Tax that will be charged, as the Council
set their Precept on 22nd January for the new
year ahead starting on 1st April 2018. Not usually
many public in attendance at the Budget meeting
though, not the most riveting of meetings, even
though it is probably in terms of what it means
to every Council Tax Payer in the Town, the most
important meeting we have.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS – MAY 2019
Something for you to ponder on over the next year
is the fact that by the time you are reading your
Newsletter this month, your current Town Council
will only have some 15 months left of their fouryear
term. The six-month call is around the time
of when turn on the Christmas Lights later this
year on Sunday 2nd December. So, this is when we
start to ask whether YOU want to become a Town
Councillor? This time will fly by as we already
are heading into the second month of the year, it
doesn’t seem 5 minutes ago that we were talking
about the opening of the Skatepark and MUGA,
this was way back in September. Anyway, please do
give it a thought, if you need to know any details
please get in touch with us at the Town Hall. We
will obviously raise awareness as we progress
through the year, but this really is your chance to
have your say, it is a four year term from May 2019
through to May 2023.
GRIT BINS, LITTER BINS & DOG BINS
We have many queries every year about Grit Bins,
Litter Bins and Dog Bins, particularly on new estates
in the Town. The problem with new estates, is that
we have new residents long before the public areas
get handed over to the local authorities, whether it
be County Council, Breckland Council or your Town
Council. So, we get this transitional period where
it appears as if nothing is being done. The reality is
much different, as the three authorities are usually
preparing the ground for the transfer to happen,
what is often not clear is the timetable and this is
down to the developer, and how fast the houses
are built and sold. In general, the Town Council
welcome thoughts from all parts of the Town for
suggestions of bins, for grit, litter and dogs. It is
better to know where there is a problem, than not,
but we have quite a few outstanding issues already
in various parts of the town. Then it is down to
whether there is a budget and whether permission
can be granted at the locations suggested, all
these things and the red tape associated with it,
take far too long, but rest assured, we are on the
case behind the scenes, it is what we must do to
make it happen.
Please consider signing up for our gritting scheme
as a volunteer, thank you to all who have so far.
At the time of writing the forecast for the next 10
days is very grim, so the snow may have already
been and gone. It could return with a vengeance
though in January or February, as we have a good
part of the Winter months still to come. Please
contact us at the Town Hall 01760 722922
Email enquiries@swaffhamtowncouncil.gov.uk
OTHER SNIPPETS
There have been recent consultation events for Air
Quality in the Town, as the AQMA steering Group
get to grips with producing a plan for the future
which will deal with improving the air quality
particularly in Station Street. There are talks going
on in respect of Norfolk County Council’s Network
Improvement Strategy, another mouthful, but this
is using a budget of £20,000 allocated to Swaffham
to produce a plan to cope with the expansion of
the Town in the coming years. Discussions are ongoing
with Breckland Council in respect of their
Market Town’s Initiative, which will be looking
to make their mark in each of the five Breckland
Towns. Breckland have also recently announced a
trial period of enforcing the two-hour parking in
the Town, this will commence in May 2018 for sixmonths.
DATE FOR YOUR DIARY
The Annual Town Assembly this year will be held
on Wednesday 27th April, 6.30pm at the Town
Hall.
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