St Peters Church, Brampton

(One of Norfolk's round tower churches)

News!!

Please note that at the moment this website does not necessarily represent the views of the Parish Council.

BRAMPTON VILLAGE HALL TRUST - Your village needs YOU !!

The village hall is now administered by a new trust which will be registered as a charity and be able to raise grant funding for renewal and renovation.

• The trust met for the first time in late June 2008 to elect officers etc and discuss the way forward. Mr Youngs was elected as chairman.
• Brampton Parish Council wish the new trust every success and at its meeting on June 3rd called for wide support and innovative fund raising within the community.
• It is vital that there is a sustained effort to fund raise if we are to retain and renovate the hall. The new Trust has called on the whole village and the wider community to help. If you have any fund raising ideas or are able to help in any way please contact the website or the Trust chairman.
• Fund raising can work in Brampton as instanced by the magnificent result of the open gardens day which raised over £1,000

ROSE COTTAGE - an apology

The website has been contacted by "Jackie" who has asked us to publish the following apology. After a pause for reflection we are happy to publish Jackie's email to us in full. Jackie writes -:

On my recent visit to Brampton I was horrified to see the present state of house and garden at Rose Cottage. I would like it to be known that the sale of property to the present owner was not my wish and would like to pass on my apologies to all in the village for the current state the House and Garden are being kept in.

Plans to remove BT phone box

BT plan to finally close and remove our phone box. This is a village landmark and is still used by residents and visitors. The Parish Council are investigating to see if there is any way that they could take the box on and run it for the community. Please let us know your views.

NEW building work at Rowen House

At a special meeting of the Parish Council on 24th June the Council heard of plans submitted to build a new covered walk way and change the fencing at Rowen House. The Council are questioning the need for these changes although they don't reject them outright. Concern was expressed about the possibility of more dangerous cases being housed there and sought reassurance on behalf of the parish.

Footpath by the River Bure (UPDATED)

• At its meeting on June 3rd the Parish Council heard complaints about notices put up by the land-owner across the path by the river at the "Island". It is reported that at this site the original footpath route is now impossible to use and that the path replacing it has been used as a public right of way for at least 70 years (it may be the original tow path). The council will investigate.
• If you have any footpath concerns or questions plwase do not hesitate to get in touch,
• IMPORTANT UPDATE - The county council are referring this matter to their legal department to formally establish a right of way. If you have any evidence of its use, anecdotally, directly or photographically please contact the clerk or the website and we will forward it to strengthen the case. We already have personal testimony about use over the last 70 years but the more we can obtain the stronger the case.

Move to outlaw heavy lorries through the village

• Following another incident where an articulated lorry got stuck on our narrow and winding road through the village the Parish Council have called for a weight restriction of 7.5 tonnes.
• There are signs which say that "The Street" is unsuitable for heavy traffic but these have been ignored and invariably damage is caused to verges and trees when these vehicles enter the village. In the past this damage has extended to walls and parked cars. A weight restriction will be legally enforcable thereby creating an offence if it is ignored.
• Any restriction imposed would not apply to delivery and service vehicles with a genuine need to access the village.
• The request has been sent to the County Council as only they, as the highway authority, can impose such a limit.

LITTER !!!!

The Parish Council is concerned by the increasing quantities of litter around the village particularly in and around the lay-by in Lower Brampton. If anybody has any information relating to this matter please contact the website.

Roman artefacts from Brampton go on exhibition

• From May 12th (until December 13th) there will be a special exhibition of Roman finds from several sites in Norfolk including a number from Brampton.
• The exhibition will take place at The Ancient House Museum, Thetford.
• In addition to those from Brampton there will also be finds from Kilverstone and Hockwold.
• Also the British Museum have loaned half of the so called "Thetford Treasure" for the event. 

Revised Planning application to operate a ROAD WASTE RECYCING PLANT at Hall Farm on a limited basis : Parish Council debate

• A revised planning application has been submitted to change the use of an agricultural building at Hall Farm  and includes the operation of a road waste recycling machine subject to strict restrictions.
• The process is designed to recycle inert waste and the machinery employed will not cause a noise nuisance and will not be audible in Burgh or the village of Brampton except for the cottages (and they assure us that can be solved) . There will be very few additional vehicle movements (and none through the village) & extra employment wil be created athough we have few details on numbers etc.
• The application was accompanied by a noise assessment and details of proposed working restrictions.
• This was discussed by the Parish Council at its meeting in the Village Hall on 25th March 2008 from 8pm. Members of the public also attended.   
• The Parish Council decided not to object to the application but have asked that strict conditions should apply limiting use to weekdays only. They have also asked that the noise abatement measures highlighted in the assessment should be installed in full.
• The application is for use on a strictly limited number of hours per annum and the Parish Council have also asked that this be monitored.

POST OFFICES : Marsham to close and Buxton to stay open

The Government has announced another round of local Post Office closures which will leave some rural areas bereft of services. Locally Buxton is to remain open but Marsham and Banningham are scheduled for closure.

Website - The Future

Firstly, an apology - the webmaster was ill over Xmas and New Year and quite frankly didn't feel like doing much at all so there were no updates. This is now being put right and the site should be upto date again very soon.

The domain name and hosting for this website has been renewed slightly ahead of our first anniversary. It ensures that the site will continue until at least Feb 2009. Until now this has been a project conducted by the webmaster alone. By the next anniversary it would be good if this could become a truly democratic community site - let us know what you think. 

PARISH RATE TO RISE

• At its meeting on 22nd January Brampton Parish Council voted to request a 9% increase in the Parish Council Tax precept. This will see the annual income from the Council Tax rise to £1,075 or, put another way, just under £22 per household.
• Prior to this the council had held the rate for two years so in real terms the rise represents 3% per annum over the period.
• Although the council has reserves of just over £2,000 the decision to increase reflects rising costs of insurance etc and the need in the next 12 months to undertake work on the village hall.
• Let us know what you think.

KEYS FOUND

Two keys on a ring have been found in the churchyard. They are old style keys (not Yale type) and one has a rubber band around it. There is a very identifiable tag on the ring which can be used for identification purposes. If you think these keys are yours please contact the chairman of the Parish Council or webmaster@bramptonnorfolk.org.uk

COUNCIL call for 30 mph limit in Brampton is finally heard by the County Council

• The Parish Council has  again called for a 30 mph limit throughout the village. They wrote to the County Council in January and sought the support of the Police.
• David Harrison (see below) attended the January Parish Council meeting and expressed his support for this limit. 
• At it's meeting in late March the Parish Council were told that the County would consider our request but could not look at it until the 2009/10 funding year.

NEW County Councillor

The new County Councillor is David George HARRISON (Lib Dem) who won by a very comfortable margin in the Nvember by-election. with the Tory in second place and the Labour candidate a poor third (but at least they stood in this election). David does not yet have an email link on the Norfolk County council site.

A greener village - Parish Council  discuss an energy saving initiative

• The energy saving trust are looking for a community that they can help become the most energy efficient in Norfolk. They call it "Village Green 2008".  
• They are looking for a vilage that is enthusiastic and motivated to apply for the project which will involve each and every household.
• Further details can be found here
• The PC considered whether to apply or not at its special meeting on the 18th September and decided to submit an application on behalf of the village.
• We have now been advised that we were unsuccesful in our bid.

Have Aliens arrived in Brampton?

• Aliens arrived in Britain in the Summer of 2004 but have they reached Brampton yet?
• The alien is a ladybird not normally native to the UK called - The Harlequin.
• There are 46 species of ladybird (Coccinellidae) resident in Britain and the recent arrival of the harlequin ladybird has the potential to jeopardise many of these. The Harlequin Ladybird Survey will monitor its spread across Britain and assess its impact on native ladybirds.
• Please check out the survey website and report any sightings to them. This is a research initiative designed to assess and control the spread of the newcomers.
• If you see one in Brampton please also let us know. The survey themselves have advised this website that they would be suprised if the Harlequin is not here as it appears to be thriving in Norfolk generally.
• The picture below shows a Harlequin Ladybird but please note that there can be colour variations and some confusion with native species. The website has an identification guide.

Community Field

• The Brampton Community Field is now ready for use. It is situated on The Street between upper and lower Brampton.
• It is suitable for young children to run around in and play games to use up some of their energy - unfortunately there is no play equipment due to the extremely high maintainence and insurance costs associated with it.
• It can be used for family picnics.
• Two benches have been provided for villagers to sit and rest or simply to enjoy one of the best views in the village. Thanks to Messrs Spinks for their assistance in setting these up.
• It is for all the village and there are hardly any rules. Those that do exist are common sense and are listed below.
• This is an important development for the village which was first discussed as far back as 1947 - please enjoy it.

COMMUNITY FIELD RULES

0. No dogs
0. No horses
0. No motor vehicles
0. No fires or barbeques except by prior arrangement
0. No litter (take it home with you)
0. Show respect to the fields neighbours and other users
0. Opening hours (Summer) 08:00 - dusk
0. Vandalism etc will not be tolerated

(The view from the Community Field benches taken 20th June 2007)

Village Skip

• We have been asked when will the village skip re-appear. This is the skip which comes for a few days over a weekend every so often.
• The answer is soon but we are unable to announce the exact date on-line in case it is read outside of the village and the facility is abused as it has been before.
• Please remember that the skip is for household waste only. It is not for garden, or industrial waste nor is for building rubble.
• Abuse of the skip system will lead to it being withdrawn.

Aylsham St Michaels Hospital under threat of closure

• Norfolk PCT are trying to rationalise their intermediate care and have now announced proposals which will lead to the closure of Aylsham Hospital.
• Aylsham Hospital is more central than the Hospitals that will remain and is also a war memorial - in our view it should remain open.
• The intermediate care proposals will mean that most of those patients, predominantly elderly, currently treated in Aylsham and the other hospitals will now be cared for in the community. It is unclear that the PCT has a sufficient infra-structuyre in place to allow this to work.
• It is still not t late and we must continue the fight to save Aylsham Hospital.
• We understand that there will first be a campaign centred around protest letters. Copies of a suggested draft are being circulated arund Aylsham and (we believe) the neighbouring villages.
• The PCT have agreed to fund 5 beds at another location in the town but there are currently 30 full beds - where will those people go. It could be your relative that next needs one of those beds - or even you.
• Please support the campaign.

Speeding

• People are still travelling to fast on our narrow lanes. Please remember that they are used by walkers, children, horses cyclists and other motorists.
• This website will name and shame if required