North Norfolk District Council's proposals for local development (Local Development Framework) are soon to enter their period of consultation with the general public. The decisions arrived at will affect this area over the next 15 years or so. The Public Consultation takes place for six weeks commencing midday on Monday 25 September and closing midday on Monday 6 November.

There will be an exhibition held at various locations where you'll be able to see if their proposals will affect you directly - Fakenham's exhibition will be on Thursday 19th October, from 10am to 6pm via a mobile unit in Bridge Street Car Park.

You can view further details and the consultation documents online at www.northnorfolk.org/ldf

The Town Council have offered a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of vandals responsible for the destruction of 28 trees and shrubs in the Millennium Park in Queens Road. The attack is believed to have been carried out on Thursday evening (6th July) and those responsible actually used a saw to cut through the trunks.

Anybody with information should contact Fakenham Police, or Mrs Christine Harrow of the Town Council.

Residents who live along the A1067 between its junction with Norwich Road and the Smiths Lane roundabout are to be canvassed on their views about the speed of the traffic and whether the limit should be lowered.

The town council were approached by a Williams Road resident, who was concerned about noise levels during evenings and weekends, as well as the apparently excessive speed of  motorbikes.  A reduction from 70 to 50mph is being sought.

Members of the Fakenham Town Council are trialling a monthly surgery, where the public will be able to ask questions of council members face to face and in private. This is in addition to the existing 15-minute public questions period at the end of council meetings.

Held at their offices next to the Community Centre in Oak Street, the first will be on July 11 between 2pm and 4pm, followed by another on August 8th.

The trial will be extended if the service is used by the public, so you're encouraged to do so! For more details, ring Town Council clerk Christine Harrow on 01328 850104.

I thought that site visitors (especially those in the US) might be interested in a very nice piece in the New York Times travel supplement from last Sunday, which carries some photos and info about the general North Norfolk region from a visitor's perspective.

Link HERE

Although it concentrates on Burnham and Wells, it's all good stuff relevant to this area!

The North Norfolk Local Development Framework is NNDCs stage-by-stage strategy of reviewing, identifying and consulting with the community on how specific areas of this region should be developed.

They have asked community websites like this to help highlight the ways the public can get involved in the decision-making process of the LDF, so watch out for news items on the site in the future.

In the meantime, you can get detailed information on their website - www.northnorfolk.org/ldf . NNDC have also issued their Spring/Summer newsletter, available here in PDF format.

North Norfolk Primary Care Trust has decided after a review that the Community Health facility at Cranmer House in the town will remain open, along with others in Kelling, Cromer and North Walsham. However, other cost cutting measures, including job losses in unspecified areas of the local NHS service, will be implemented.

NHS users in the area are likely to suffer delayed non-urgent surgery and mental health services may face cuts in funding. The reason for the cutbacks is a 9 million pound overspend, which NHS management is seeking to address.