Thank you to our volunteers...

Our last Parish Council meeting, on Monday, 12th April began with a 2 minute silence in memory of Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh. Councillors and the Clerk also wore black/black tie/black pin to show their respect for the life of service he gave our country. The village flag remained at half past for the period of mourning and was raised again the day following his funeral service.

The ongoing issue of potholes was raised in the meeting and continues to be one of the most popular reasons for members of the public contacting the Parish Clerk. It is a nationwide problem and whilst we always report issues promptly to Norfolk County Council who are responsible for our highways, remedy doesn't often come as quickly as it could or indeed should. We will continue to chase our local highways department for action, so please do continue to let us know when and where problems are occurring. The matched funding that the Parish Council applied for to improve highway safety has been agreed by NCC and we hope to have news soon regarding work on the trod to run from the Doctors' surgery to Norwich Road and of the new road markings to be made outside of the playground. The funding requested for a further SAM2 sign is still being considered but we were advised by our County Councillor that this too should be forthcoming - update to follow.

The Community Speed Watch scheme is now well under way and Councillor Turner met with Norfolk Constabulary this week to decide on locations in the village to be approved as sites for the Speed Watch. We have a few volunteers who are now carrying out the online training required but would really like some more names from villagers who are concerned with the speeding problems in Swanton Morley. The more people who volunteer, the less time each person will have to give. Please do get in touch with the Clerk if you can offer any time at all to the Community Speed Watch scheme. Thank you to all who have volunteered so far.

We also need to say a big thank you to all of the volunteers who have help to plant 210 saplings that were donated to the village by the Woodland Trust. All suitably socially distanced, the volunteers have done a great job and we hope that the village as a whole will enjoy the additional planting for years to come. Areas that have been planted include the village hall, the church and the village green (behind the houses where the old village hall stood).

On the subject of the environment, complaints continue to be received about dog poo not being picked up or perhaps even worse, being picked up, bagged and then hung on a tree or hedge for the poo fairies to collect (?!). Please, please, if you own a dog - do the right thing and clear up after it, disposing of the waste responsibly. The countryside and our village is for everyone to enjoy. We have also seen an increase in the amount of littering in the village and surrounding lanes and have therefore produced a series of posters for villagers to print and use - including one to colour in, to help remind others of the need to responsibly dispose of litter.

These can be found on our new Litter Campaign page, under the News heading - please help yourselves.