Faster and better Broadband Campaign

If you live/work in East Anglia and you have a broadband connection, it is quite likely that it is either slow and/or unreliable. (the East of England Development Agency) – they have money which they are supposed to be using to establish the level of demand for broadband in the region to allow preparation of  a bid for funding to support regional broadband initiatives. EEDANow is your chance to register your requirement with

The EREBUS web site is their initial attempt to measure that demand, so it is important that as many people as possible register – tell them where you live/work by putting in your post code and then say what you want and why you want it.

Trading Standards Team

Spent a day with some of our Trading Standards team learning more about the work they do.  As ever, amazed by the breadth of the work NCC does around the county. 

First of all I went to the Library in Great Yarmouth (which by the way looks fabulous since it has been refurbished).  The Library were hosting a social event for their WRVS workers .  They have added a community library service to the other work that they do, by delivering books to those who cannot get out to do this themselves.  Doesn’t matter what your circumstances are!  If you genuinely cannot get to the Library yourself, they will deliver the book to you!  Amazing. 

At these annual get-togethers a speaker is invited, so this year it was the turn of Trading Standards.  A good opportunity for them in turn to pass on lots of information about rogue traders, illegal money lenders and now their Trusted Trader and No Cold Calling schemes.  Sadly you dont have to be elderly & frail to be taken in by all sorts of scams and the additional help of these WRVS workers will prove very useful. 

In the afternoon I moved over to the farming team and went on an inspection visit to a small-holding.  Again really interesting.  All sorts of animals being kept, for breeding, showing and for sale/slaughter (turkeys for Christmas, for instance).  Trading Standards need to check that both the animals are being well cared for but also to ensure the paperwork is correct and up-to-date. 

I have often heard that the amount of paperwork is huge, and I can confirm it! extraordinary amount of paperwork needs to be kept.  On sales/purchases, movements, drugs administered etc. 

What did I learn? Goats dont like the rain but like being photographed… 

OK, so why did I have to come out of the warm?

Having managed to get the goat from her  shed to somewhere nice and dry underfoot, and after making faces at her owner,  

Ok, then I can do it!

she went quickly into photogenic mode and started posing for the camera! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you drive around the county you are only half conscious of all the large farms that are there but there are hundreds of small holdings too.  They all have to be checked, some more than others of course. 

 

I also learned that show animals include circus animals, donkeys on the beach and any other animal you might see performing.

 

Going back to paperwork ….I now know that county-wide & fast broadband is critical for this sector too.  With only a dial-up system the data takes ages to transfer -  bearing in mind all the checks are there to help prevent the spread of disease and ensure that only animals safe for human consumption can enter the food chain!!

 

Another time I shall spend some time in the Trading Standards laboratory…. there is only one other similar lab within a local authority and they are second only to a national one.  Measuring down to .000000 decimal points weighing and measuring i.e. even measuring evaporation! and having equipment that can “sniff” lead in paint.

New Hostel for Solo Housing in Diss

Really pleased to have been invited to the opening of the new hostel in Diss for the Solo Housing tenants.

The Old Post Office has been really nicely converted by architect Sarah Roberts from Gazes.

Solo are specialist landlords providing supported housing for single people in both Norfolk and Suffolk.

Richard Bacon MP & me at the opening of the new Solo hostel

 

Our local MP Richard Bacon introduced the project to everyone on the official opening day last Friday.

Thanks were given to everyone for helping.  There has been positive support from the neighbours and builder Pete Elkins came in for particular praise.

Scole Bypass – surface repairs

You are probably wondering why all the cones are there but no work appears to be happening?!  Well the road is due to be resurfaced next year because the concrete surface is beginning to fail ……….. and that is equally the answer. Some holes have been appearing, so some piecemeal repairs are taking place.

Rubbish in the Waveney

The Environment Agency put the responsibility on the adjacent landowners to keep the river clean.

One of the many bags originating from Morrisons along the river bank

i.e. (assuming your garden/land leads down to the waters edge) any rubbish against “your” bank of the river is your responsibility – what happens to the stuff in the middle presumably is a joint responsibility?

Anyway………..along the Waveney there is occasional rubbish but mostly – in Diss –  it seems to begin with the superstores Tesco & Morrisons. 

Local councillors have tried to persuade the stores to clean it up but they seem too big also for the Environmental Agency to tackle.  Latest initiative for action to be taken by the stores is from local MP Richard Bacon.  Fingers crossed!

Recycled plastic bottles

A great idea for reusing  plastic bottles …………. these have been cut in a circular motion and draped over street lights in Durham as part of their Lumiere Festival.

Looks like a jelly fish, but very effective!

Norfolks ultimate Charity Quiz

The Lord Mayor & Sheriff of Norwich held a joint fundraising quiz in aid of Voluntary Norfolk last week………….with proceeds going to good charitable good causes in Norwich.

I was with the Lord Mayor in her “Here Come The Girls” team …………. not a winning team but not last either!  Some truly strange questions but also some interesting ones, so well done to the winning team from Norwich City Council no less called “Got your Number”.  The runner-up team, led by our newest and youngest local MP – Chloe Smith, lost by just half a mark!

Brian Horner from Voluntary Norfolk

Over £3,000 was raised and many thanks must go also to the sponsors, Domino Pizza’s in particular who magiced 100’s of hot pizzas in at half time, and to Hong Kong Fusion restaurant and Harper Wells fine wines for the prizes.

Norfolk’s Festive Drink Campaign

Following on from very many successful road safety campaigns in Norfolk (which have almost halved the annual number of road deaths) we have now launched a timely Christmas Greetings reminder………….i.e. please dont drink and drive!  You may not kill or damage yourself and all the terrible consequences that will then ensue………but what usually happens is that it is the innocent bystander that is hurt and it is their family that bear the consequences.

Sign up for the Norfolk THINK!  Festive Drink Campaign

Diss Community Website

Another 1st for Diss…………….we are the first town in Norfolk to have an NCC initiated Community website.

It follows on from the blog initiative that some of the Councillors took up, and being one of those – I got this in Diss first!

Launched last night at Diss Library, which is the host for the site, some of the local community groups were introduced to it.

The community website family is norfolkhomepage.org.uk, so for ours just add Diss at the beginning i.e  diss.norfolkhomepage.org.uk 

Bit of a long name but eventually icons and favourites etc can be set up.

The aim is to bring feeds from all the other local websites into the one site, so my blog is there – for instance – hiding under the tab of “Politics”, the Diss Express and Diss Mercury are also feeding into it, as it the town council.  Pictures can be automatically uploaded too.  If you have a nice one of Diss put it on to Flickr and use the word Diss in the title and, again, it will automatically feed to the community site.

Very clever, and will eventually become really VERY useful.  It also has a calendar which again is updated by the Library staff.  As you probably know they put up posters in the entrance area for local events, they have also always kept a paper diary.  Well anything of which they are notified now will also get put on the web diary!!

 All community groups are being urged to go along to the Library to have their details included.

Cycle Route No. 30

If you drive along the A143/A146 near Beccles/Gillingham you will no doubt have noticed the odd little bit of cycleway that has appeared on the corner of Raveningham Road.

No sooner than it appeared it seemed necessary to dig it up and

then dig it up again  

and then dig up the corner of the road opposite!

Having wondered myself what on earth is going on (NCC not really having spare cash to lay cycle tracks for 30 feet in the middle of nowhere) I enquired of the workers.  Ah they said, not our path but it is a BT hole in the path.  A blockage in the pipe running under the road which took 3 goes to clear…………but at least that’s now done.

And the path?  well that is an extension of National Route 30, which  (if you travel by bike, or foot) takes you along a very picturesque route along the Waveney valley.

 Really difficult find the correct link but the Discover Suffolk  site is useful.

Finally, on the Sustrans site I found the Regional Route No. 30 - BUT (un)helpfully their page starts off with a statement about their site having received a BAD PRESS…………and not surprising the links go nowhere – just error 440!!!

The route (when/if you find it) actually comes near Diss – it goes through Palgrave.  I only know that because some odd signs appeared at Diss railway station a couple of years ago, signing what appeared to be “to the town” signs away from the town, but were directing travellers to Palgrave – not Diss!  I was told (eventually) that they were to sign cyclists, arriving by train at Diss, how to reach Route 30.

Diss Town Centre is to the Right!

Would be nice to get some comments on this……..obviously someone has spent hours and £0000’s designing and labeling the route…………is it used??  Does it all make perfect sense if you are on a bike?