A MESSAGE FROM YOUR RECTOR…

Dear all
What strange times we live in. Two weeks ago life was almost normal and now
we are living under severe restrictions.
I am writing to let you know of some of the changes which the Church of
England has brought about in order to follow the government advice to help
to keep everyone safe.
Very sadly, all church buildings are to be closed. There are to be no more
Sunday services and no daily prayer can be held in church. There can be no
weddings or Christenings and funerals may only be held at Crematoria or in
the Churchgrounds with the very closest family attending. This will cause
pain we know, and many will have to change plans but we are all sharing the
burden of disappointment, for there are so many family events which now no
longer can take place. Our church fundraisers which are important to bring
people together will also not now happen.

This is being displayed in many church notice boards:

Churches not being closed
Buildings are being closed
YOU ARE THE CHURCH
You are to remain active and open

Be assured that the clergy are active on your behalf. They are available to
shop and collect prescriptions if you need. The Facebook page – Launditch
and Upper Nar is there for you to join and to enjoy the fun posts and to
share prayers and other thoughts. Anyone with the facebook app on their
computer can join – get your grandchildren to show you!! You can also join
the Wednesday evening bible study by a conferencing facility. Contact Terry
Huggins to join in. terryhuggins@mac.com We are telephoning all members of
our congregations on a rota basis just to keep in touch and chat. And of
course you are held in the prayers of many. The bishops, clergy and your
fellow Christians pray for you. You are never alone.

Hebrews 13
….. for God has said,
“ I will never leave you or forsake you”
So we can take courage and say,
“The Lord is my helper, I will not fear”

Church and Village Magazine

It has been decided that to be safe and to protect the deliverers, many of whom are of a certain age, that the April edition of Church and Village Magazine will not be delivered this month.

It has been printed and and quantities of the April C&V are in the Litcham & Mileham shops, Neil Foster has the Lexham quantity. Some will be put in the Wilgress shop next week.

LITCHAM ALL SAINTS – ANNUAL PARISHIONERS MEETING

The Annual Meeting of Parishioners will take place on Wednesday 15th April 2020 at 6pm in the Church and will be followed by the Annual Parochial Church Meeting.
Anyone who lives in the Ecclesiastical Parish may attend and may vote in the election for Church Wardens.  Those entered on the Church Electoral Roll are entitled to vote both in the elections for Church Wardens and for members of the Parochial Church Council. 
Karen Moore, PCC Secretary  

LITCHAM PARISH COUNCIL

January Extract

At the January Parish Council meeting which was attended by six Councillors, County and District Councillor M Kiddle Morris and one member of the public the following was considered:

Planning: Applications. No objection was raised to the application for a single  storey side extension to form utility room at 8B Church Street or to the application for a ground floor side extension at 7 Weasenham Road.

Decisions: There were no decisions to report.

Highways: The sign for Litcham Close had been replaced. The flooding at the bottom of Pound Lane, Mileham Road and at the Bull crossroads had all been reported and Norfolk County Council had confirmed that these had been inspected and would be resolved. The potholes on Mileham Road outside the entrance to the Bull car park had been reported and these will be repaired. The raised kerbstone outside the Primary School had been reported. The flooding on Druids Lane had been reported and this had been inspected but no action is to be taken at present. The County Councillor will discuss this with the Highways Engineer.

A parishioner had cleared the brambles from the ditch alongside the footway on Church Street and he is to be written to thanking him for his public spirit. The County Councillor is looking at the verge on Tittleshall Road to see if marker posts can be placed to stop vehicles driving on the verge so that pedestrians have a safe are to walk on. The reinstatement on Tittleshall Road after the burst water main and the trench across Church Street are to be checked by the County Councillor and reported to the Highways Engineer.  

County and District Councillor Reports. The County Councillor reported that the Boundary Review could not be consulted on whilst there was an election. Some proposals had been leaked. The Vattenfall Offshore Wind Farm has been delayed by the Secretary of State for further information from Norfolk County Council and the applicant.

The District Councillor reported that the Local Plan had passed through the full council and been adopted. There is a 5-year housing supply in place until October 2020. The Planning Inspector had advised that a review of the Local Plan is needed and a full review will take place which will take 3-4 years and this will incorporate revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework. Grants are available for VE Day, VJ day and the Battle of Britain commemoration. Community Match Funding is available up to £5000 and the Breckland Lottery and Community Fund will also grant a further £1000.

Precept: This was set at £10500 an increase on £500 on the previous year an increase of £2.30 per annum for a Band D property which equates to 4 pence per week.

The next meeting of Litcham Parish Council is due to be held on 2 March 2020 at 7.30 p.m.at the Jubilee Hall. All parishioners are cordially invited to attend and the first part of the meeting is set aside for parishioners to raise issues with the Parish Council. The full minutes are available for viewing by any parishioner by contacting the Clerk on 01362 861112 or on the Litcham website, www.litcham.org.  

Litcham Parish Council : SEPTEMBER EXTRACT

At the September Parish Council meeting which was attended by five Councillors, County and District Councillor M Kiddle Morris and one member of the public the following was considered:
Planning: Applications. There were no applications to consider.
Decisions: There were no decisions to report.

Highways: The finger post near to the Jubilee Hall has been repaired and painted. The bollard on Pound Lane that had been knocked over and reported since the last meeting had been repaired. The footway on Lexham Road had been cleared. The hedges on Butt Lane, Pound Lane and Tittleshall Road had all been cut. Back Lane had been sided out. The sign for Litcham Close had been reported and Breckland Council had confirmed that it             would be replaced. The following will be reported: -There has been flooding at the bottom of Pound Lane, Druids Lane and Mileham Road, the pipe under the road at the Bull crossroads which is blocked, the potholes on Mileham Road outside the entrance to the Bull car park and the school sign is not

visible in the hedge on Pound lane. The landowner is to be written to regarding the hedge on Mileham Road opposite the Limes and also the landowner on Druids Lane as the school sign is not visible. The County Councillor confirmed that a section 81 notice had been served on BT to repair the ironwork on Dereham Road but this had not been repaired as yet.

Access onto Church Street from the new properties to the rear of the Post Office: All residents in then properties to the rear of the Post Office had been written to. Further consideration is being given to signage at this point but it is unlikely that Norfolk County Council will grant permission for any further signage.

County and District Councillor Reports. The County Councillor reported that The County Council is consulting on proposals for the 2020-21 budget and this is available on the NCC website. Norfolk Fire and Rescue service are consulting on the draft Integrated Risk Management Plan 2020-2023.  By law every fire service must produce an IRMP which sets out how to achieve goals of improving public safety, reducing the number of emergency incidents and saving lives. The draft IRMP is available to view on the NCC website and responses can be made via an online form.

District Councillor Report. The District Councillor reported that the Planning Inspectorate have returned the Inspectors Report on the examination of the on new Local Plan.  The Inspector concludes that the plan provides an appropriate for the planning of the District providing that several Main Modifications (MM) are made to it.  The report and details of the MMs are available to view on the Breckland website.
Breckland is consulting on a scheme which will change the way Council Tax is calculated for people claiming Universal Credit. The proposed scheme will not recalculate Council Tax for people who claim Universal Credit unless their income varies by more than £15 weekly or £65 monthly.  £100k per annum has been set aside from Council reserves to fund a Community Match Funding grant scheme.  Grants of up to £5k will be available to help fund locally identified projects. Breckland have set up a fund of £30k to support community celebrations of the 75thanniversary of the end of the second world war. Grants of up to £500 will be available to communities to celebrate the events which will be held nationally on Friday 8th May (VE) and Saturday 15th August.  Grant funding will also be available to help celebrate the 80th anniversaries of the Dunkirk evacuation (26th May – 4th June) and the Battle of Britain in September. The rapid car charging points in Dereham and Swaffham are      operational.  The Dereham points are at the Cowper Road car park and in Swaffham are located at the Pedlars Lane car park.
The next meeting of Litcham Parish Council is due to be held on 6 January 20209 at 7.30 p.m.at the Jubilee Hall. All parishioners are cordially invited to attend and the first part of the meeting is set aside for parishioners to raise issues with the Parish Council. The full minutes are available for viewing by any parishioner by contacting the Clerk on 01362 861112 or on the Litcham website, www.litcham.org.

Ponies on Litcham Common

Once again we have to make a plea for people not to feed the ponies anything at all, not even carrots or apples.  Dartmoor ponies thrive on a low nutrient diet of rough grazing, such as is found on the common.  At the moment they are too fat and we need them to lose a bit of weight over the winter months.  Too rich a diet can cause laminitis in ponies, which is an extremely painful and potentially crippling disease that can prove fatal.  Three of our animals are at an age when they are more susceptible to laminitis and we know that people have been feeding them.

PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE PONIES ANYTHING!
Feeding the ponies could result in immense suffering. 

Litcham Common Conservation Group
We are very grateful to Litcham Parish Council for a grant of £300, which will go towards the cost of the renewals of tools, insurance and other expenses.
The next conservation task will take place on Saturday 14th December starting at 10am and meeting in Litcham Common car park.  Newcomers will be welcome and tools and protective gloves provided.  Contact Tim Angell on 01328 700045 for more information.

LITCHAM COMMUNITY FETE & DOG SHOW

Dog Show 2019
The Dog show took place on 12th May at Chalk Farm by kind permission of Colin, Judi, Paul and Glenda Archer.  Our judge was Nadine Fletcher who runs the Pawfect Manners and Pawfect Agility and she was assisted by Sharon Moore.
We had around 65 dogs take part in our show and we had a visit from BBC Radio Norfolk Treasure Quest again this year.
The weather was perfect and we are pleased to say that we raised a staggering £1,427.30 which was £200 more than last year.  We are so grateful to all our sponsors, everybody who came to support us on the day and who bought cakes and refreshments.  We could not have done it without your support.
By the time you read this we will have had a meeting to discuss arrangements for next year and if you would like to get involved please do not hesitate to contact us, you can email on litchamcommunityfete2019@gmail.com

Litcham Community Fete 2019
The Litcham Community Fete took place on 22 June on the Litcham Secondary Phase field on the Mileham Road.
We started the fete with music from the Fakenham Ukes and were also entertained by the Litcham Primary and Secondary Phase orchestra, Busybodies Dance Studio and Alice and friends.
There were plenty of stalls where the crowds could spend their money, including various tombolas, raffle, sweets, car boot stalls, strawberries, other sideshows and for the under 16s there was a bouncy castle.
The whole day was a great success and there was no rain!
There was a lot of work done behind the scenes to make this day a success but the day could not have gone ahead without the work of the committee, the stallholders, the entertainers, the Secondary Phase for the use of their field, Mike for the BBQ, Sue for the beer tent, Abacus for the hire of their marquee, David Wheel and Mark Kiddle-Morris for the use of their marquees but most of all everybody who came to support it.  We are pleased to announce that the fete raised £538.60 (this does not include the money from the dog show – please see separate note) which will be distributed to the  7 organisations involved.  With the money raised at the dog show and fete each group received £325.
Litcham Community Fete Committee
The Future of The Dog Show and Fete
As you will be aware the fete and dog show has been running for 10 years now and has raised thousands of pounds which have been distributed to various organisations within the Litcham area, but unfortunately, we do not have a secretary at the moment.  Do you have a few hours you can spare to help us?  Then please contact litchamcommunityfete2019@gmail.com for more information.
The role will involve preparing minutes, arranging sponsorship for the dog show, booking in stalls, checking emails, etc.  If this is something that you feel that you could help with please get in touch or come to our next meeting which is on Monday 13th January 2020 at Litcham Bull.