CHAIRMAN'S REPORT MAY 2006
The Annual Parish Meeting, held on 22nd May, was attended by our District Councillor Simon Partridge and representatives of the various organisations in Hickling, who also supplied written reports. If anyone wishes to have a copy of any of these reports, please contact Shirley (598882). The following is my report at the meeting: During the last year, we have co-opted two councillors, namely Deborah Mayhew and Brian Noye. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ross Donaldson for all his help with the village plan and helping David to organise the grass-cutting. This is probably a good time to thank all the volunteers who help cut the grass on a rota basis and save the Parish a considerable sum of money.

On 21st October, a beacon was lit on the recreation ground to celebrate the Bicentenary of Nelson's Battle of Trafalgar and church bells were rung. Our thanks go to Tony Woodman for organising this.

During the year, the Old Village Hall was sold and the Trustees have met with members of the Parish Council, indicating their willingness to co-operate with the Council in getting back the lost facilities in the village, ie, the snooker club.

The Stubb Road sign has at last been reinstated after an absence of two and one-half years, following countless letters and phone calls to various people, including our District Councillor who did help to get this sorted. We are now on the case of chasing up all the other signs in the village that are in need of repairer replacement.

The Village website (www.hickling-village-norfolk.co.uk) is very popular with 10,936 pages visited in the last twelve months. The Village News Sheet and the Minutes of the Parish Council are just two of the items available on the site. Many thanks to Brian Sainsbury for running this on a voluntary basis and to everyone who has supported the site.

Hopefully, you have all noticed a new planter (in the shape of a horse trough) in front of the village sign, which has been built and donated by Mike Young. I would like to thank him on behalf of the village for his hard work and generosity. I would also like to thank the Hickling Wl for supplying and planting all the lovely plants and offering to maintain them during the year.

On the Parish Staithe, there are a few dry berths vacant, so if anyone is interested, please contact Shirley (598882). Also, the wet berth waiting list is getting shorter, so once again anyone wishing to enter their names please contact Shirley - but please note there is a maximum length of 20ft.

The Gwen Amis Memorial Board has been well used but unfortunately two panes of glass have been broken and have had to be replaced.

The bottle banks have again brought in a considerable sum - the ones near the village pond raised £961.29, and the one at the Pleasure Boat raised £34.39 - thank you to Darren and Julie for donating this to the Parish Council. Thanks to all the parishioners who use this facility, and please do continue to recycle your bottles and jars. Unfortunately, there are still bottles and panes of glass left outside the bank, so could everyone please make sure they place them in the banks. If full, please take them home and call Shirley so she can arrange to have them emptied.

The village marquee needs a home and storage- if anyone can make use of this- or store it- please contact me.

I would like to thank Shirley, the Clerk, for all her hard work and support during the year and all the members of the Parish Council for all their help. They all put in a lot of effort and give up a lot of time for the benefit of the village. The Parish Council would like to thank Peter Sparks for storing all the bench seats over the winter period and for the refurbishment of them.

The village plan update from Peter Berrie was an overview of how many questionnaires had been delivered and collected, and what happens next. We are hoping to have some data ready for a meeting(s) in late June/July - so keep an eye open for dates. I would like to thank him for all the hard he has spent -and will spend - on this important project.

The next Parish Council meeting is on Monday, 5th June at 7.15pm in the Community Hall.
VivTallowin,598410