Surlingham

Hello I’m George the head chef at Rockland new inn this Friday from 6–9 we are doing a pie and a pint for £12.50 with a choice of 3 pies

Information received from George Weston at the New Inn

For the past four months now we have been running online retreats for Buddhists across UK and Europe, and sometimes the world, using the online conferencing tool ‘Zoom’, as well live-streaming on YouTube. They have been largely successful and have allowed us to continue to reach out to those practising Buddhism in our movement.

Starting this Friday we will be hosting a 6 day residential retreat, in which there will be 10 men physically coming on retreat here at Padmaloka. We’ve spent the last few weeks putting together a risk assessment as well as rigorous hygiene and distancing protocals to ensure that neither we nor the retreatants will pass on infections to one another. One of these protocols is that the the men coming on retreat here will not leave the premesis for the duration of the retreat, so they won’t be walking around the village as usual. They have also been asked to use private transportation where possible when coming to and from the retreat.

We have a programme of another 5 retreats similar to this coming up later in the year, each with a limit of 12 persons attending. We are closely monitoring the updates from the Government and will be adjusting our plans as necessary.

Best Wishes,

Satyakirti

Retreat Centre Manager

SURLINGHAM PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the virtual meeting held on Tuesday 15 September 2020 at 7:30p.m

Attending: Councillors John Broom, Richard Atkins, Pat Scowen, Mike Stiff, Phil Reeve. Norfolk county and South Norfolk District Councillor Vic Thomson, Clerk Janet Rogers and one member of the public.

1. Welcome by the Chairman – Due to an issue with Zoom the start of the meeting was delayed and Councillor Atkins took the chair
2. Apologies and approval of absences – Councillors Mack and Swinborne sent their apologies
3. Declarations of Interest – There were none
4. To approve as accurate the minutes of the meeting on 21 July 2020 – Approved
5. Matters arising from those minutes – Item 6 positioning of the SAMs machine – JB responded due to work commitments this was delayed. Item 12 Removal of tree and dyke clearance – JB equipment is currently unavailable. Item 13 Disposal of old Parish Mower – JB to speak to Mr & Mrs Rix.
6. Progress reports Councillors/Clerk – Refund of VAT received £516. Email from Wheatfen Forest School thanking councillors for the reduction in hire fee. Also, thanks from the resident who asked for dog poo signs. Clerk thanked residents from Padmaloka who agreed to tidy the corner of the Covey. The cost of covid-19 PPE and cleaning products to enable the Parish hall to reopen amounted to £261 net. The application for SNDC Facilities Grant £250 to cover this expense was successful and paid on 7 August 2020. Parish hall risk assessment, special conditions of hire and hall booking form sent to all regular hirers these must be signed and returned prior to hire. The academy has a risk assessment specific for the school use of the hall. A copy has been provided to the clerk with a signed hall booking form. Hall Hire – The school will begin to use the hall from Monday 21 September 2020. Also Karate classes and Norfolk Hedge. The Extend gentle exercise class will not be returning and no longer wish their slot to be held for them. Clerk liaised with Sapientia to discuss lunch club use of kitchen – Sapientia agreed if training is completed access can be maintained. Confirmation sent to Lunch Club committee. Treasurer asked for advice re the insurance renewal. Clerk advised her to defer renewal of insurance until the club resumes. Due to issues with the new lawn mower a replacement was sourced from Ben Burgess and is proving satisfactory.

7. To receive reports from the County and District Councillor – Councillor Thomson reminded parishioners of the new covid-19 instruction of the rule of restricting groups of no more than 6. Update on the covid-19 outbreak at Banham Poultry 127 of 735 staff were found to be positive, through track and trace 2000 people were tested. 108 staff have returned to work with the remainder due to return shortly. E scooters are due to arrive in Norwich shortly like the Beryl bikes already being used in the city. Hazardous Waste dates for Ketteringham recycling Centre are 25/26/27 September 2020. Kettering recycling centre will relocate to Harford Bridges in 2021. Both councils will shortly be looking at their budgets for 2021/22. NCC is looking at an overspend of £40milliion and South Norfolk £8million. Clerk offered her thanks to Councillor Thomson on behalf of the 5 businesses in the village who had benefited from the installation of foot operated hand sanitisers.
8. Footpath1 – Councillor Atkins reported that a meeting was arranged with NCC for 17 September to discuss Footpath 1. Councillor Atkins asked for the Parish Council’s support to request NCC to release the details of their investigations, mapping etc to enable the details to be considered by an independent third-party organisation. Agreed
9. Public Question Time not exceeding 15 minutes – None
10. Decisions Approved via email – Councillor Scowen asked that when decisions are necessary outside of the monthly meetings councillors should respond to ‘all’ so individual councillors can share their comments as would happen in the meeting. It was also mentioned that when the clerk requires a quick response, a reply by date is added in the subject field of the email. Agreed
11. Cyclists using footpaths – Councillor Scowen asked what action the council could take to deter cyclists using the footpaths around the RSPB reserve. Councillor Atkins to check if signage is in place and report back.
12. Planning – 2020/1560 Manor House, Bramerton Road, Surlingham, NR14 7DE.
    Proposal: Erection of entrance gates/boundary wall to existing access. Councillors agreed to Object to the new plans. Having previously supported the original application for wooden gates and hedging to 1.2mtrs. Councillors agreed that the 1.825 brick wall was too high and would be neither in keeping with the rural environment or improve the street view. Agreed.
13. Finance – a) Projected September Quarterly Statement – Agreed. b) Small Business Grant £10k. Discuss managing funds. The parish council had covered running costs of £2k for the hall this can be repaid from the grant and the balance moved to the reserve account making a total of £15k to use as a contingency fund. Agreed c) Authorise Payments – R Hardingham £125, Expenses 16.85, J Rogers £295.95, Household expenses £15.15 Travel £39.15. HMRC £222, AWA £508. Via Debit Card invoices for numerous purchases for covid-19 totalling £290.75, dog bin and signs £133.63 – Authorised
14. Play Park – Next steps? A picnic table made from recycled plastic to be purchased using the remainder of the funds donated by Surlingham Combined Charities. The play park safety check delayed due to the pandemic to be arranged. Agreed
15. Correspondence: Number of emails processed by the clerk 155 of those 51 circulated to councillors to 8 September 2020
16. To note items for inclusion on the next council agenda – New village sign, footpath 1
17. To confirm the date of the next meeting 20 October 2020
18. A resolution to exclude the public and press from item 19 because their presence would be prejudicial to the public interest due to the confidential nature (Public Bodies Admission to meetings Act 1960) – the member of the public left the meeting
19. HR – Clerks Annual Appraisal and Salary Review (2018) – Clerks appraisal had been completed and circulated to all councillors by Councillors, Broom, Reeve and Scowen with contributions from Councillors Atkins and Swinborne. Councillors thanked the clerk for all her hard work over the past two years. Clerk’s salary increase, with effect from 1 April 2020 Agreed

Community Action Norfolk Thinking Fuel: collective heating oil buying and combating fuel poverty

Community Action Norfolk want to raise awareness of ThinkingFuel, the collective heating oil buying service that combats fuel poverty across the county.

Heating oil – helping the community

Because heating oil is not a price-regulated commodity like electricity and gas, consumers are vulnerable to the fluctuations of market prices.  Thinking Fuel has long supplied low-priced heating oil to thousands of Norfolk residents who know and trust that we are able to supply oil at competitively and consistently low prices. And that’s an important factor in combating fuel poverty and economic deprivation across the county.

People who buy oil from us also know they are helping CAN support community development and local projects across the county.
The CAN Team

This week’s zoom cafe is being led for us by Revd Kate Belcher, who’s introducing us to two works, among others, by Matisse. These are ‘The Dinner Table’ and ‘Harmonie en Rouge’ (see below)

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84153883367?pwd=K3BBODdrRGlLOTkwZnVwVzVwOXdydz09

or use meeting ID: 841 5388 3367 Passcode: 328738

We look forward to seeing you then.
Best wishes, Rev Nick Garrard

Deep Talk presents the opportunity to explore life and beyond through storytelling. We invite you to join this introductory session (via Zoom) hosted by The Barn, Rockland St Mary

For further information and bookings please contact
The Revds Nick and Helen Garrard
Tel 01508 538014 or broadsidecurate@aol.com

No charge is made for this event, however donations towards the Ministry of the Barn gratefully received.

Dear All,