Hickling Parish Council

CHAIRMAN'S REPORT AUGUST 2005
The Parish Council did not have a meeting in August, so the election of new Councillors will not take place until the next meeting on 5th September. There are now two vacancies, as at the July meeting Ross Donaldson tendered his resignation due to his other commitments and felt he could not devote the time or energy to the role as he would wish. There is still time to apply if you interested in becoming a Parish Councillor. For more information, contact either Shirley Chapman on 598882 or me on 598410. The Parish Council would like to thank Ross for all his hard work and commitment to the council and wish him all the best for the future.
If you are not aware, our two shops have now closed, but the Pleasure Boat have converted a building for the papers and groceries. Darren and Julie are doing a great job delivering the papers, so if you would like your papers delivered to your door early each day, please put your order in. Once again, the message is "Use it or Lose it!". There have been discussions and plans to keep a Post Office in the village and hopefully these will eventually be successful.
Peter Berrie has volunteered to take the Village Plan forward, but we do need volunteers to help with this - even a few hours per month would be most helpful. This is something that should be carried out so that the village can move forward - the views and concerns of parishioners are very important. It will also help the Parish Council to apply for grants for projects like landscaping the village pond or refurbishment of the children's playground, etc. So if you feel you could give some help of any sort, please contact Shirley or me.
On the subject of volunteers, we still require more for the grass-cutting rota. This is saving several thousand pounds per annum so it is important that we make a success of this project. For an informal chat about the time required, please contact David Pugh on 598691 or Shirley or me. The Parish Council would like to extend their thanks to all the people in the working party who tidied up the Staithe area. It really did make a difference.
Norman Lamb, our local MP, is bringing his travelling constituency surgery to Hickling on 5th September. He will be at the Village Sign, opposite Hickling Stores, at 4.30pm.
We will be having another bottle bank placed at the Pleasure Boat car-park in the next few weeks, so if the Chapel Pit banks are full please do not leave bottles around the bins, but take them down to the Pleasure Boat. It is dangerous and very untidy for bottles to be left outside the bins. Please contact Shirley on 598882 when the bins are full and she will arrange for them to be emptied.
The Mobile Police Van will be at the Chapel Car-Park on Friday, 23rd September from
10.15am-12.30pm. Please continue to support this valuable local service as we don't want to lose Hickling as a regular stop.
You can always drop in with any concerns, suggestions - or just to say hello.
The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Monday, 5th September, in the Community Hall at 7.15pm. You are all welcome to attend.
Viv Tallowin, Chairman Tel: 598410