Thetford and Brandon Letters 29th July 2009

Eastern Daily Press, Letters Section, Friday 31st July 2009

Redcastle Community Centre Article....

Thetford and Brandon Newspaper, Wednesday 29th July 2009 - Page 3. Here's the link to the story; http://www.thetfordandbrandontimes.co.uk/content/tbtimes/news/story.aspx?brand=TBOnline&category=news&tBrand=TBonline&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED31%20Jul%202009%2009%3A49%3A56%3A540

How to involve the community?

At this weeks planning committee meeting of the Town Council, the matter of the London Road bridge came up for discussion. I took the opportunity to comment on the fact that very few people in the town knew that the bridge was going to be removed. As a councillor, I get to hear about all sorts of things planned to happen - e.g. planning application proposals, and generally I am kept informed about matters of interest in the town. As a community worker, my instincts are to involve, engage and inform people. But yet with my town council hat, I have no capacity or resouces to share this information with the wider public and it is thoroughly frustrating. This blog is one avenue I use to share information, the other main one is facebook - I find it incredibly useful for informing people about matters which may be of interest or canvassing views on a given subject. For example, I think around 20 people used it to contact me initially asking what was happening with the bridge, and then to pass comment on what they thought of the idea. At the meeting on Wednesday, I explained that councils - County, District and Town and other agencies, such as the police, needed to put more effort into involving communities, and using a variety of methods to do so. Otherwise, can we really wonder why apathy rules in so many quarters? I would welcome any views from readers on methods of sharing information.

Sticking to an election pledge

When I stood for the Town Council by-election in July 2008, I listed three priorities on my main election leaflet. One of which was to campaign for more facilities and activities for children and young people in this town. We have a higher percentage of children under the age of 16 than any other place in Norfolk. 25% of Thetford is under 16, the national average is 17%. Imagine my horror therefore when I read the latest edition of Breckland Voice (the propaganda newspaper produced by Breckland Council, affectionately known as the 'bin-rag' by some, and worse names by others). I digress. Breckland Voice detailed two pages of activities for children taking place across the district, all free! great! Errrm. No. Not a single one taking place in Thetford. (Although, not many in Dereham either to be fair). I contacted Breckland Council and asked why. Because deadlines were missed. OK. What is happening? Activities at the Sports Centre provided by Parkwood? Hold on, Parkwood are a private company, they are charging for all their activities, one was £18 per child per day! Can parents across the Saxon Ward, and Thetford afford that? No. Furthermore, they are a sports centre, activities are sports related. Not all kids like sport. The activities detailed in 'Voice' were a mix, including arts and crafts related. So the bottom line is, it is not like for like. Once again, Thetford is being missed out. Don't children and young people in Thetford deserve something to do over the summer holidays? It would be worth mentioning Norfolk Youth Service at this point, part of Norfolk County Council, whom it would appear are also inadequately serving the needs of young people in this town. I contacted the Bury Free Press and shared my frustrations. They picked up on the story, and initially wanted a photograph of me to accompany the story, I suggested they speak to the parents who had contacted me initially asking about activities for children and hence the above lovely photo of bored children, has ended up on this weeks front page. Providing more activities for children and young people is of paramount important in this town and I will continue to do whatever I can to chip away at the issue. Here is the link to the story; http://www.buryfreepress.co.uk/thetford/Nowhere-to-go.5468253.jp UPDATE: From a parent who contacted me about the lack of childrens activities who's child I invited to be in the photo for the newspaper: "I couldn't believe it when I saw it, I went to buy it and noticed they got front page! I was really pleased because people will have to pay attention now :) if it gets the message through then its all worth it because our children are the future an they will determine what happens next; if Thetford is going to be a respectable place with many opportunites or whether it will be known for crime and anti social behaviour !! thanx mate for giving me the opportunity to play a part in what happens to my childs future :) xx

Pine Close ASB / Crime Roadshow - 13th July 2009

On Monday, we had an anti-social behaviour and crime related roadshow at the front of Pine Close shops. The idea being to encourage more people from the community to report crime and asb that occurs to ensure the figures represent the reality of what goes on in the area. A good number of people went along to it, could have been more, but the opportunity was there. Change does not happen overnight but you have to chip away at it. Click here to view our latest Barnham Action Group newsletter which was delivered around the estate prior to the event; http://www.terryjermy.btik.com/documents/2624576209.ikml

Abbey Centre wins regional award!

Last week I attended the 'What we are proud of awards' organised by the National Housing Federation. The Abbey Estate, and Abbey Neighbourhood Centre had been nominated in recognition for the huge amount of work that has taken place to improve the community, and for the way which the estate has changed over the years. We work closely with Peddars Way and other agencies on the Abbey Estate. I went with four volunteers from the Abbey community, and the PCSO for the Estate - Gavin Tampin. We were all delighted to have been shortlisted in the top 3 out of the 24 projects submitted. We had to give a 15 minute presentation outlining 'what we are proud of' and focus on what examples of partnership work had taken place and how the project helps housing association tenants. All of us attending gave short speeches as part of our presentation, followed by a brief video of some of the activities taking place. Giving a speech in front of so many people is no easy undertaking, luckily I have a little bit of experience of it now, but I was still very nervous, but those not used to doing it were very brave, and did a fantastic job and were clearly determined to make sure they got their good news story across. Despite the other two projects being of a very high standard, I am delighted to say that our project won, and will now represent the whole Eastern Region at the national awards ceremony in London. The victory was even more poignant given that the winner was chosen by votes cast from those attending on the evening, including attendees for the other projects. Here is the text from my speech on the night: Good evening, my name is Terry Jermy and I am a Community Worker with Keystone Development Trust and Manager of the Abbey Neighbourhood Centre. A community workers’ role is to work with, engage and empower local residents to address issues themselves and work together to improve their community. Therefore, you need a community, to have a community worker. And ultimately, the reason why the Abbey Estate has improved is not because of the money spent on it, or the greater attention from whichever agency, it is because the community, the people that live there, have wanted it to improve, and improve it has. The community centre now boasts a fantastic community café, open from Tuesday – Saturday, it really has become the hub for the community, the café is providing employment for people from the local area, and is providing training and support to a whole number of volunteers. We have a weekly youth group on a Tuesday, providing an activity for 5-9 years and then 10-15 years, over 60 children walk through the door every Tuesday for this. We have at least 6 volunteers assisting this project and all are completing child protection and first aid courses, and will soon complete basic youth work training, this will hopefully get them a foot in the door to paid youth work. We have two weekly bingo sessions, Wednesday afternoons and Thursday evenings. This is greatly appreciated by the older members of our community – for some it is the only thing they do each week. We’ve just launched weekly senior citizen lunches on Fridays, a home-cooked meal such as shepeherds pie, for just £2.50 per person. We also have a table tennis club on a Monday night for those aged 16-24 years and this is helping us to develop links with this age group, many of which have a chequered past having been in prison and experienced drug and alcohol misuse. Hopefully through something as simple as table tennis, we can start to help improve the lives of these young people as well. It is truly a community centre for the whole community, and I think symbolizes that this community has improved. For me, the most striking thing about the people you see here tonight, and others involved with activities in this community, is their commitment and dedication through adversity. They all have a whole variety of issues going on in their own lives, they could easily let these issues consume them, and have resentment against society, but they do not, they all muck in, do their bit, and through it, support each other, and are stronger for it. Brenda touched upon an issue sensitive to her just now, and many of the people involved with activities at the Abbey have their own personal situations which they strive to overcome. But they don’t let that prevent them from doing their bit in their community, and I like to think in return, they support each other, and I like to think that their community supports them. So to summarise, We know our community has improved, the people on the Abbey Estate know their community has improved, YOU here, have the power this evening, to help us send a message to everyone else that this community has improved. Vote for the Abbey.Here's the link to an article about it in the Bury Free Press; http://www.buryfreepress.co.uk/thetford/Neighbourhood-centre-wins-community-award.5445820.jp

Go Further Trips; Autumn / Winter 2009

Please click the link above to view the list of coach trips that I am running between now and Christmas 2009.

24% of people in Breckland think they can influence how things are run

I found the last statistic given in this article on the EDP website very interesting. "On the outskirts of Norwich, 82pc of people under Breckland Council, were happy with their area as a place to live; half were satisfied with the way the council runs things; 42pc felt the council provided value for money and less than a quarter, 24pc felt they could influence the way things were run". Indeed, I think we have a democratic defecit in Breckland.

Abbey Barns - success!

Have just heard, the Abbey Barns issue WILL be called in by the Secretary of State. Fantastic news.

KAVO Membership Form

My new role at Keystone is supporting voluntary and community groups in the Keystone area, called K.A.V.O - Keystone Area Voluntary Organisations. It provides advice to groups, help with funding applications, training services, networking opportunities etc. Click the link above to download and complete the KAVO Membership Form if you are put of a group and would like to join.

Community Football Project going very well!

Here is a picture from what I think is probably one of my favourite projects at the moment. Last year, a funding application submitted to the Football Foundation was approved and the Thetford Community Association was awarded £8,000 plus £2,000 from Norfolk Community Foundation to run football coaching sessions at the Ballpark on the Redcastle Estate for two years. We launched the project in March of this year, having first recruited three coaches - all of which live local. We worked through risk assessments, produced session registers, membership forms and we registered as an 'employer' for payroll and everything that goes with that. The sessions now take place every Tuesday and Thursday. There are regularly 25-30 youngsters aged 10-15 years attending - mainly boys. Tonight, there were 36 youngsters - too many in fact! This project has been achieved by a committee of about 5 people, absolutely amazing. Credit also to the three coaches, who are working hard to make this project a success. £10,000 for this project is peanuts in the world of funding, but look how far it can go - 180 sessions, 25-30 youngsters engaged for 2 hours at every session, new skills taught, addressing behaviour, providing suitable role models, improving confidence and self esteem, encouraging healthier lifestyles etc etc etc, this sort of activity is not rocket science, it should be happening all the time in a community like Thetford where 25% of the population is under 16. Let's hope for more successes in the future

Abbey Barns; Richard Howitt visit in Bury Free Press

Click title to read the article.

Thetford-West Result

Well, I was unsuccesful in my attempt to become the next Norfolk County Councillor for Thetford-West. Initially I was very disappointed, it is afterall something I have put a lot of time and effort into for a long while, but then given the national situation, and loss of 19 Labour seats in Norfolk, in hindsight it was rather inevitable! I may sound very anti-Conservative when I say this, but I was delighted that the seat was at least won by the Liberal Democrats. I do not think councils work well when they are hugely controlled by one political party, there is no room for debate or discussion, refining policy or ideas, just look at Breckland Council - 48 Tories out of 54 councillors. And now, Norfolk has 60 tories out of 84 councillors. However, I polled a respectable 706 votes on a turnout of 28% - I suspect out of the 72% of people that didn't vote there would be a large number of labour voters there sitting on their hands refusing to go and support the Government, and numerous voters around my age (18-30) who are just oblivious to the democratic process. I lost count in this campaign how many people I had to sit down and explain how to vote, i.e. simply how to walk into a polling station, what to do etc. As with the by-election last year, and again this year, I am very pleased to have managed to motivate people to vote who do not normally, or have never voted! I think at least 30 people voted for me last Thursday who rarely, or more realistically, never vote. I was pleased that I seemed to do far better on the Saxon Ward half of the Thetford-West seat. I assume anyway, can't know for sure. But the Labour vote was particularly poor for the Abbey Ward by-election, just 256 votes, so if people voted the same for the county election, it meant I got roughly 450 votes for the Saxon Ward half of Thetford-West and 256 on the Abbey half (Mike Brindle, Lib Dem, also won that seat so is now on the Town Council and Norfolk Council all in one go!). I live to fight another day, I'm still on Thetford Town Council, I am still employed as a community worker in Thetford, and I am as determined as ever to work to improve Thetford, and this will probably mean standing in future elections! It goes without saying, but I wish the two new Thetford County Councillors all the best, and our two new town councillors! Interesting times ahead :) All results here - http://www.breckland.gov.uk/news_declaration_of_poll_county_elections

Photography competition for children in Thetford

About the competition: You need to submit two photographs about where you live, one photograph should show what you like most about where you live, and the other about what you like least about where you live. Each photograph should also have a small amount of text explaining why you have chosen each picture. Competition for young people aged 5 - 11 years and 11 - 18 years. How to submit your photograph: You can email them to terry.j@keystonetrust.org.uk or you can post them to; Photography Competition, Keystone Development Trust, The Limes, 32 Bridge Street, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 3AG Deadline for all entries; Wednesday 10th June 2009 For more information, contact 01842 821643

Leaflets, phone calls and unhappy residents

I've been spending a lot of time out and about recently, mainly due to the need to deliver literally thousands of leaflets - (trust me to be standing in the second biggest seat out of all 84 in Norfolk!) Although, ever the optimist, it is really good exercise, it gets me out and about in the fresh air and sunshine and I can speak to people as I'm going around. Plus, I pick up lots of things to report to either Breckland Council or Peddars Way, never any shortage of this, as these two latest photos demonstrate - both now sent off to Breckland. Furthermore, have just finished working my way through the 11 voicemails on my landline, mainly from residents, oh joy. Some happy customers, some very rude - politics really isn't for the faint hearted.

Abbey Barns; Town Council opts for weak stance

At the Town Council planning committee meeting last night (Weds 20th May 2009), we discussed an item put forward by a representative of the Thetford Society concerning the Abbey Barns. Planning permission has now been granted again by Breckland Council - controversially, and people are being encouraged to write to the Secretary of State to 'call in' the matter and decide if it should be upheld. You would therefore expect that Thetford Town Council would of course add its weight to the campaign and exercise its duty to provide a voice for the town. It did not. They voted to send no letter, or undertake any lobbying of any kind, merely to 'support' the Thetford Society's efforts, what form that 'support' might take was unclear. Some councillors actually thought this was indeed the wishes of the town as the majority of people did not care about the Barns. Whereas, a great many people have spoken to me about them - as a councillor, and as part of the 'West Thetford consultation' which I am working on as part of my Keystone role. Surely our council is there to lead and fight for what is right with gusto and determination. Not sit mealy mouthed mumbling theirselves into insignificance. NOTE: I've attached an example letter which can be sent to the Secretary of State should anyone so wish.

Norfolk Homewatch Saturday 16th May 2009

On Saturday I attended the Norfolk Homewatch event at County Hall. I had been invited to be a member of the 'question time' panel representing 'youth'. Not an enviable task at a 'homewatch' meeting given that I am sure most people there had issue with 'youth' for one reason or another. The main two questions I answered were about how to get more young people involved in Homewatch and their community. The main jist of my answer was that new technologies; i.e. blogs, facebook etc should be utilised far more then they are now - improving accessibility and the other question was around addressing the issue of youth nuisance / anti-social behaviour, so I reminded the audience that Norfolk has one of the lowest funded youth services in the country and much of what takes places is very piece-meal and short-term, and therefore community & youth workers have little time to establish relationships with the youth people and address some of the issues which exist. All in all I rather enjoyed the event and it was good to give a 'younger person' an opportunity to be on the panel.

Mayor Making Ceremony - 13th May 2009

Last night was the annual Mayor Making ceremony for Thetford Town Council. Every time I mentioned the title to someone that I was going to this, I needed to explain what exactly was 'Mayor Making' - what a pity that so few people in our town are aware of the customs and traditions of the town council. I get the feeling that some people view me as some kind of 'revolutionary' with no respect for such things as customs and traditions, maybe its because of my age, but actually this could not be further from the truth. I am very proud of Thetford, and I do respect the role of the council and its customs (although of course, none of them are properly explained or discussed with new councillors). I may sometimes get frustrated when customs and traditions stand in the way of progress, but on the whole, I would consider myself respectful of such things. It was my first Mayor Making ceremony as a councillor and I must confess to being exceptionally nervous! Our new Mayor, is Pam Spencer who I am sure was also very nervous, but did a great job last night and I wish her well for her year ahead.

and the nominations are....

St Mary the Less .....

The photos below are of St Mary The Less Church on Bury Road, Thetford. It is the oldest church in Thetford and as you can see from the photos, it is in a very bad state. Like so many other buildings around Thetford, The Mary The Less is owned by a private property developer - (if you could say developer?). The owner bought the building from the church, has done virtually nothing to it, applied and obtained planning permission to convert it into a house and attempted to sell it at a far greater price than what it was originally purchased for. Easy hey? Well no, because nobody has bought it, and several years and neglect are really now showing, particularly the gaping hole in the roof which must surely be affecting and weakening the whole building considerably. As ever, our local district council seems entirely ineffectual at forcing the landlord to do anything in regards to protecting this building, despite its Grade I listed status. The planning permission has now lapsed, and I cannot imagine that if it was obtained, there would be anymore demand for it as a house then there was previously, particularly given the economic climate. Maybe the price will continue to drop and some other well intentioned organisation, or person, could purchase it, and make the improvements it so desperately need. What a fantastic beacon for Thetford this could be with enough thought and investment. Update: St Mary the Less is a grade II - not a Grade I.

St Mary the Less Church, Bury Road, Thetford (04.05.09)

Redcastle Estate

This morning, I delivered a leaflet around St Martin's Way, St John's Way and Prior Stephen Way. On my travels I spotted numerous things requiring attention which I have now reported to Breckland Council.

Funding boost for Abbey Youth Club

I am delighted that our community garden idea at the Abbey Neighbourhood Centre was launched this week. The idea of the project is to link with the very popular youth group which takes place on a Tuesday night, attended by approximately 60 kids and get them involved in growing and caring for their own plants and vegetables. ANCHOR (Abbey Neighbourhood Centre Helping Our Residents) obtained funding from O2 (£1,000) and Keystone / Breckland Green Grants (£750) and on Tuesday the project was launched with a cheque presentation from O2. Full credit to the fantastic Youth Club team for all their efforts as usual. Fingers crossed for some more good news in the near future. And it made front page of this weeks Thetford and Brandon too!!

Redcastle Community Centre

The question I raised at the meeting the other night regarding Redcastle Community Centre has made it into this weeks Bury Free Press, not that they acknowledged how they came to know about this, i.e. because I raised the point! - see here - http://www.buryfreepress.co.uk/thetford/Community-centre-at-threat-of.5200076.jp Let's hope however that this extra publicity will support the community centre. There is a Redcastle residents meeting at 6pm on Monday 27th April which I will be attending.

21st April 2009; Public Meeting at the Carnegie Rooms with Breckland Council

On Tuesday evening, I attended the 'Thetford Neighbourhood Forum' which is basically an opportunity for Thetford to keep the pressure on Breckland Council to actually deliver a reasonable level of service in this town - this was the third meeting, with the first being initiated by the Thetford Society and then the event became consumed and stage-managed directly by the Council. I found the 'you said, we did' presentation particularly interesting for a variety of reasons. Anyway, I too the opportunity to ask two questions, 1) Would Breckland Council commit to keeping the Redcastle Community Centre open for community use when the lease expires at the end of July as at present - the centre will be closed from August and will be a great loss to this community and 2) Would the Council support groups such as the Thetford Ballpark whom, like so many other organisations and facilities in this town and so greatly under-supported and constantly at risk. These were the only questions asked, out of approximately 30 questions, to prompt the Leader of Breckland Council - William Nunn, to jump up and answer, rather than the Chief Executive Trevor Holden (more about the questionner rather than the questions??) A fairly wishy washy answer to both parts resulted, but nethertheless, I did raise the point and hopefully some good may come of it. The main bone of contention on the evening, as expected, was the Abbey Barns. A day earlier Breckland Council's Development Control Committee had controversially agreed to grant planning permission to turn this historically significant site into housing. The state of St Mary the Less Church on Bury Road was also discussed. We have serious issues in Thetford with buildings, some historically significant (E.g. Abbey Barns and St Mary the Less), others just visually significant (E.g. Pine Close shops) just being left to rot, and sit as a severe risk to the health and safety of the community. Breckland Council has a statutory obligation to ensure the protection of these buildings and safeguard them. They fail miserably in this respect. Breckland Council claimed at the meeting to be doing all they can to force landlords to protect buildings, this is simply not the case. I reminded the Chief Executive that if a local authority was to serve an 'Enforcement Notice' on a landlord, demanding work is carried out, if such a notice was ignored, other authorities would undertake this work, and then promptly issue the landlord with the bill for it, with failure to repay resulting in court action. This is a power available to Breckland which it does not utilise. Breckland has no budget for 'works in default' and as I stated on Tuesday; "it will not be enforcement ACTION if there are no teeth, behind the words".

Pine Close problems make front page of this weeks Bury Free Press

'Vandals are creating a ghost town' By Lindsey Newton The centre of Thetford's Barnham Cross estate has been branded a ghost town and eyesore after becoming a target for vandals. Now residents are calling for something to be done about the smashed windows, graffiti and dumped rubbish. Flats above shops in Pine Close have been empty for 18 months and, despite the owners spending thousands of pounds securing the site, anti-social behaviour continues and residents want the area to be regenerated. Shaun Pickering Merrett, of Pine Close, said: "It's a real state and something should be done to clear it up. "It would be great to see some of the shops reopened, as it looks awful with all the shutters down." Other residents said the area was 'an eyesore' and looked like a 'ghost town' because of the empty shops. Terry Jermy, Keystone Development Trust community worker for Barnham Cross, said: "The flats are a real mess and something should be done, rather than leaving them to rot. "A recent tour involving local agencies took place where residents expressed concern at the area being such an eyesore." The Barnham Cross Action Group and other agencies had managed to get funding to secure the site, but the gates had been broken, added Mr Jermy. "There is a lot of good work going on in the area but this damage is really dragging down the community," he said. The landlord responsible for the affected flats and shop units did not want to be named but said: "It's a real problem but there is nothing we can do about it. "I look after the properties for the owner, who wants to get them up and running again, but they keep being vandalised and it is so expensive to keep repairing – I've spent between £20,000 and £30,000 on them." A Breckland Council spokeswoman said: "Two of the flats have been boarded up and we are in discussions with the owner, while another two are being refurbished and are nearly completed. "We are aware of the flytipping problems and we have spoken to the owner about the bins, while a lot of time has been spent at Pine Close by our environmental services team." Rachael Ashley, a Thetford PCSO, said: "We are consulting with the shop owners on a daily basis. They are working with us to help to identify the individuals responsible for this spate of criminal damage. "The neighbourhood policing team is conducting extra high visibility reassurance patrols in the area and is encouraging anyone who has any information about the vandalism to contact the police."

A fitting acknowledgement of Thelma's hard-work

Page 3, Thetford and Brandon Newspaper 15th April 2009

New Road Signs for Barnham Cross Estate

The signs are good on estate By Lindsey Newton Walking to school is now much safer for pupils living on Thetford's Barnham Cross estate, thanks to a new road safety scheme. Pupils from Queensway Junior School took part in a competition to design road signs to display alongside those warning of a 20mph zone which has just been introduced. The project, which has been welcomed by parents, pupils and residents,was made possible by a collaboration between Barnham Cross Action Group, Norfolk County Council, Norfolk Police, Keystone Development Trust, Sure Start Children's Centre, Queensway infant and junior schools and Charles Burrell Humanities School. Charlie Wilson, eight, who had two of her drawings turned into road signs, said: "It's really important to get drivers to slow down to make it safer for us going to school. "I drew a school with children coming out to make people think about their driving and I thought the competition was really fun, because it's great looking at my pictures on road signs." Katie Stevens, eight, Georgina Baldwin, nine, Jiorjia Flint, nine, and Rebecca Grimmond, 10, have also had their drawings turned into road signs. Tim Lovejoy, chairman of Barnham Cross Action Group, said: "The school's previous headteacher, Ralph Headley, set the ball rolling by getting all the various groups together and getting funding together through the school travel plan. "It has been a great project to work on, as it has brought everyone together for a worthwhile cause." The full article contains 241 words and appears in BFP Thetford newspaper.

Talking on the Politcs Show about migration in Thetford

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Whats new?

Been a very busy few weeks with all sorts going on. Saturday 28th February; Worked on the Charles Burrell Garden & Sculpture project, took the group of children involved to Didlington Nursery to purchase some plants and then we all planted them into the garden which is coming along well. Monday 2nd March; Met with Elspeth Barnes, from the Matthew Project which seeks to tackle drug and alcohol issues in Thetford. In the evening it was our first session of the new Abbey Table Tennis Club for 16 - 24 year olds, went well for a first session. Tuesday 3rd; Youth club from 4pm - 6pm then had to leave before the second session really got going as I attended the Moving Thetford Forward meeting in the Carnegie Rooms, mixed views on this! I will post my whole letter as part of the consultation seperately. Wednesday 4th; Met with Sadie and Abi to talk about 'Transitions' a possible new Keystone project looking at supporting people during the recesssion and addressing life problems, a much needed project! Then around mid-day, I was interviewed by BBC Politics on Migrant Workers in Thetford and how this affects the local community, I was rather nervous! In the evening I met with Dennis and Colin to progress with the Thetford Labour Party Spring Newsletter Thursday 5th; In the morning I met with Tim Lovejoy to progress with Barnham Cross Community Worker and then in the evening it was the monthly Thetford Labour Party meeting. Bit of a special one tonight, selections for Norfolk County Council candidates!! Will blog seperately about that. Friday 6th; Met again with Tim, and Elsie Coleman the Barnham residents group Treasurer to review the groups finances and plan ahead. At 2.15pm it was the monthly ANCHOR meeting which went well. Spent the evening with Dave H looking at my Go Further website and sorting out the bloody wireless internet which has been a pain to get set-up, sorted it in the end!! Saturday 7th; Another gardening session at Staniforth Road Monday 9th; Annual leave from work, hurrahhh!!! Just as well, was feeling awful, so did not get to make the Abbey Residents meeting at 6pm or the Croxton Road meeting at 7.30pm Tuesday 10th; Felt awful still, spent most of the day in bed, dragged myself to the Barnham Action Group meeting for 6.30pm, lots of residents present tonight which was very encouraging. After this, at 8.30pm, had another Labour Party meeting, finished about 10pm, no wonder I'm feeling exhausted!! Thursday 12th; Tour of Pine Close shops as part of STAG, will post seperately on this as well! what a total an utter disgrace this whole matter is. Monthly Safer Thetford Action Group meeting at 10am and then after this, the Fireworks committee met at 12pm. Due to lack of funds forthcoming, it was agreed to postpone the fireworks event until 2010. To be fair, not a great deal of effort went into a 2009 date and raising funds, but all round, a 2010 is best so I did not fight this. Friday 13th; Annual leave again, rested!! Monday 16th; Barnham Cross Regeneration group meeting at 10am, was interesting, and then a Thetford Community Association meeting at 6pm with Paul Dives and Dean Roberts progressing with the risk assessments for the new football coaching project, all very exciting. Tuesday 17th; Had a trip for my business to London, took 24 to see Oliver and Joseph. Went very well. Few issues with the coach so will be meeting the coach company seperately, but encouraging trip with good feedback. Got home at 12.30am! Wednesday 18th; Had the morning booked off for a lay-in, then went in around lunch-time and progressed with some work. Town Council planning committee in the evening, Moving Thetford Forward on the agenda, got the impression only a handful of us actually wanted to spend any time talking bout the plans for Thetford... not sure why, I would have thought it was a fairly important matter. Thursday 19th; Progressed with Barnham Cross work at Fulmerston, attended Thursday night bingo at the Abbey PM. Saturday 21st; Had a SW Norfolk Labour Party meeting at 11am at the Sports and Social Club, then went out as a group delivering the Thetford Party Spring Newsletter, managed to cover most of Cloverfields Estate today so good going, lots more areas to get done.

Democracy.... Breckland style!

Breckland councillor storms out in free speech row 12 March 2009 15:58 An angry councillor stormed out of a meeting at Breckland Council this morning branding the authority a “disgrace to democracy”. While members of the full cabinet were approving minutes of previous meetings Keith Gilbert wanted to reignite a debate about contracting out planning and building control services which had been discussed at the cabinet meeting on February 24. He felt there had not been enough consultation on the subject and that it had not been open. But chairman John Labouchere told him that if he had “nothing new or pertinent” to say then there was not enough time to go over the subject again considering they had already given it a two hour debate at cabinet. William Nunn added: “Most of the points you are raising were raised at cabinet and we would not look to raise them again here.” Mr Gilbert walked out of the chamber saying that Mr Labouchere had refused him free speech. “I want it noted that the council has refused a debate and is therefore a disgrace to democracy,” he said. After the meeting Mr Gilbert told the EDP that it was his job as an opposition member to offer constructive criticism but he felt that anyone with negative comments was being gagged. “I have spoken to several members who are very much against this idea of giving a private company a say in planning issues which is a core service that Breckland Council should provide. “The way the council is working makes my position worthless and I feel like full council meetings are now just a self-congratulatory rubber stamp. I just could not stay in that meeting after being told I could not say what I wanted to say.”

Fireworks article in Bury Free Press

Call for return of town's fireworks Published Date: 13 February 2009 By Lindsey Newton Fireworks could once again light up the skies over Thetford as a town councillor heads up a campaign to bring the once annual event back to the town. Cllr Terry Jermy, who is one of Thetford's youngest councillors, is calling on the town council to hold a bonfire event to give something back to the town's residents – and he wants local people to register their interest online. Cllr Jermy said: "Many years ago, there was an organised event in this town which was very popular. However, this finished and, for a long while, Thetford has been without a bonfire and fireworks display. "A town-run event would mean residents wouldn't be disturbed for weeks on end, it would be safer than home firework displays and it would bring the town together." Cllr Jermy has set up a group on Facebook, the social networking website, entitled The Bonfire and Firework Event in Thetford 2009 and has more than 250 members, many of whom have posted messages of support. Alison Arnold said 'Great idea Terry! I used to love the huge bonfire that was built on Melford Common when I was a kid' and Kaye Bloomfield said 'I think it's about time Thetford did this again, the last one I can remember in Thetford was at the high school and that was some years ago'. Liz Staight wrote: "I think we should definitely have one in Thetford again, we always have to travel to the surrounding villages for fireworks and if somewhere as small as Barnham can put on an excellent display, then why cant we? "It's good to know that someone is trying to cut through the red tape and give something back to the people of Thetford." The event is also supported by Thetford police and fire service. The idea was first addressed by Cllr Jermy at November's town council meeting, where some councillors objected on the grounds of cost, disturbance to local residents and lack of demand. Cllr Derek Mortimer said: "My personal view is that it would be money going up in smoke. "The event would cost a lot of money, then there's insurance, health and safety assessments, crowd control and a suitable location would need to be found. "I haven't heard a great deal in favour of it and I think there are much worthier causes which could benefit from that sort of money." If you would like to register your support for the event, become a member of the group at www.facebook.com or email terry.jermy@googlemail.com

Thetford Bonfire & Fireworks Event

In November 2008, I requested an agenda item for the Full Town Council meeting at the end of that month. For weeks leading up to Bonfire Night in November, many local residents asked me why there was no organised display in Thetford and to be honest, there was no answer that could be given. I therefore proposed at the November meeting that Thetford Town Council should take the lead on organising such an event in 2009. The reason being that other towns and small villages organise their own displays for their residents so why could Thetford not have a display? Also, much work has taken place over many years primarily by the Fire and Police Services locally tackling illegal and dangerous bonfires and fireworks. Without an organised event, it is difficult for these organisations to address this issue. Many members of the Town Council supported the concept of having a display but were sceptical of the practicalities, cost, noise, location etc. The Town Manager - Susan Glossop, was asked to produce a report looking at the options available which she did, and this was presented to full council at the end of January. The report indicated a lot of support from agencies and residents groups around the town and Serjeant Steve Burke from Thetford Police was at the meeting to confirm their support. Some councillors still had issues with the project and were reluctant to 'underwrite' the cost and wanted other groups/organisations locally to financially commit to the project. The Town Council have no money available this year as it is heavily supporting the Thomas Paine events. The council agreed to defer making a decision on the idea until more information was gathered. In the meantime, to address the question posed by some councillors that there may not be support for this idea amongst people in the town, I decided to set-up a group on Facebook to see how many people from Thetford would join to show their support. Amazingly, over 350 have joined in just 48 hours!!! I am not sure what my fellow Town Councillors will make of this but I am greatly encouraged by this and firmly believe that involving the people of this town is vitally important for all organisations and all community projects. The next few weeks will be interesting!

Letters section, Thetford & Brandon - 28.01.09

Updates on developments with me.....

Well as you can see by the picture uploads, it has been a busy week! Last Tuesday (20th Jan) I attended the Obama Inauguration event in Cambridge hosted by Richard Howitt MEP and attended by Jon Prescott MP. It was a thoroughly enjoyable event, attended by myself an 10 other people from Thetford, and literally hundreds of Labour Party people from across East Anglia! who would have thought it... hundreds of Labour Party people in East Anglia! Whatever next! Then on Friday, we had the annual Thetford Labour Party Social Event, attended by more people this year then any other year I can remember. Feedback was great, people loved the food and the venue! Which was great considering branch members requested it was held at the Abbey Neighbourhood Centre (where I am now Centre Manager) and I was pleased they liked our humble little centre. Richard Howitt attended, and as someone commented on the night, we certainly get out fair share of Richard's time given the vast geographically area he covers. I managed to talk to him for quite a while as I sat next to him on the top table - oooooooo get me! On Saturday, I went to County Hall in Norwich for a meeting of the Norfolk Labour Group and planning for the 2009 County Council elections! - which no-body still knows if they are happening or not! Then today, I worked all day on various bitsand pieces, and this evening attended a meeting of the Recastle Action Group, was designed to rejuvenate the group and actually went very well. It has always been the estate that misses out because local people have not wanted to come forward and volunteer and take part, hopefully that will change, tonight was certainly encouraging......

Thetford Labour Party New Year Dinner

On Friday, we had the annual Thetford Labour Party Christmas/New Year Social event which I organise each year. It is normally a Christmas event but this year we opted to try a 'New Year' event. It was very successful with 34 members attending. We were joined by special guest Richard Howitt MEP - who is probably the hardest working MEP in the whole of the UK!

Obama Inuguration; 20th January 2009

On Tuesday I attended an event in Cambridge hosted by Richard Howitt MEP, with John Prescott MP as the key-note speaker. There was 11 of us that went from Thetford and it was a very enjoyable, and memorable event. Here are some photos...

Steep fall in Conservative Party membership

A revealing story in today’ News of the World - Gone-servative Party - appears to show that David Cameron’s honeymoon is over. Mr Cameron has lost over 40,000 members of the Conservative Party since becoming leader. There is a long term decline in membership of all political parties but even taking this into account, to lose tens of thousands of members whilst projecting yourself as the “heir to Blair” is bound to attract comparision. When Labour were challenging the Conservatives in the mid-nineties, membership went up by more than 100,000.

Breckland Councillors' Pay Rise

Breckland Councillors pay set to rise again. See Thetford and Brandon article. Councillors allowances at present.... Breckland Council £4,950.00 Broadland Council £3,810.00 Great Yarmouth £3,483.00 Kings Lynn & WNBC £4,974.64 North Norfolk £3,906.96 Norwich £5,275.00 South Norfolk £4,350.00 TOTAL 335 £1,483,993.76 Councillors allowances are an interesting subject. I don't disagree that councillors should be paid an allowance. Most councillors attend a large number of official council meetings and other community meetings/events/activities/functions. However, there is no legal requirement for District Councillors to attend anymore than 1 meeting once every 6 months, this is what I, and many other people have issue with. Also, how can it be fair that a councillor in Breckland is paid an allowance of £4950 per year, and a Great Yarmouth councillor only gets £3,810? Also, the council's themselves can vote on how much they pay their Leader of the Council, Chairman of Committees etc. The total amount paid for 'special responsibilities' for a number of councils is shown below; Breckland Council £148,728.40 Kings Lynn & WNBC £89,655.54 North Norfolk £55,481.57 South Norfolk £38,715.00 Why should the 'leading' councillors of Breckland, get paid over 3 times as much for the equivalent in South Norfolk?

What's been happening?.....

It has been very busy over the past few weeks with lots going on! 1st Dec; Normal full day at work plus meeting of the Thetford Community Association / Ballpark group at 6pm at my office. 2nd; Had another meeting of the CDRP funding panel in Swaffham at 10am, debated a whole list of projects. The £4500 we requested for the Table Tennis Club at Abbey NC was approved, despite the Breckland Rep saying that Breckland Council did not support the bid, partly because they do not support projects which reward bad behaviour, which is not what the project is about at all. In the afternoon I attended a meeting regarding Pine Close shops and then led the Abbey Youth Club from 3.30pm - 8pm. 3rd; ANCHOR committee meeting at 4pm till 6.30pm then straight to Town Council Planning Committee for 7pm 4th; Had a coach trip to London as part of my business today, took 25 people to see Dirty Dancing and Mamma Mia, went very well with some good feedback. Got to put more effort into promoting the business for the New Year and get the office properly set-up! 5th; Had a little lay-in! The helped deliver some of the newsletters for the Barnham Action Group. Thetford Sports & Social Club booked a half page advert which was mutually beneficial for the group as money coming in to help pay for printing and good publicity for the club. On Friday night I helped to man the ANCHOR fundraising stall at the Christmas Lights Switch-on, we managed to raise £50. 6th; Helped Abigal with an event in the Town Centre as part of META. We ran an ANCHOR stall again, selling tickets for the Christmas Hamper Raffle. Gary Winter was there sinking which went down very well, (pictures to follow). Managed to raise over £100 for ANCHOR today. 8th; Had the normal update / admin session with Tim Lovejoy at Fulmerston at 10am. Pine Close newsagents now closed and probably will be for some time. Helped out at the Charles Burrell Garden & Sculpture Project workshop from 6.30-8.30pm. Had 14 kids attend which was encouraging. 9th; Got ready during the day for the Barnham Action Group AGM, helped set out tables and chairs and set-up display boards. Displays included; CB Garden Project, Community Arts work, Pine Close shops, road traffic and parking, Ingleton Wood, Fulmerston Family Project and Thetford Toy Library. Event was well attended. 10th; Nothing special today, other than a Personell Committee meeting at Charles Burrell at 2.30pm 11th; Monthly STAG meeting at 10am then helped out at Bingo at ANC from 6.30pm 12th; Attended the Mayors annual Christmas Do for staff and councillors and former Mayors. Got to play 'old' games such as kerplunk etc. Was quite good fun! 13th; Had a bit of a lay-in in the morning then helped out at the Christmas Thanksgiving Service at the Abbey from 3.30pm. Was a weird event, but I think it pleased the people that attended. 15th; Met with Tim at 10am 16th; Led youth club from 3.30pm - 8pm 17th; Finance and Buildings Committee at Charles Burrell at 2.30pm, had a meeting at the Town Council offices to discuss Sports Provision in Thetford at 3.30pm, then a Staniforth Trust meeting at 6pm and Planning Committee at 7pm - lots of meetings today! 18th; Had the Christmas Quiz Night at the Abbey tonight, went well. My team won! Me, Colin Armes, Dennis & Yvonne Sully. Decided to donate out £50 prize money; £20 to the Thetford Labour Party, £20 back to ANCHOR and £10 to a lady called Mrs Pink who we had heard that the day before had been mugged at Bury Bus Station. Christmas Hamper Raffle was also drawn tonight, in total raised approximately £450 for ANCHOR. 19th; Attended the Keystone staff and tenants Christmas do from 2-4pm Saturday 20th; Had a lovely long lay in, then walked (!) to my office at Bury Road - Dad borrowed the car to drive to Dover to see Ricky before Christmas - got quite a bit of work done, then went clubbing in Norwich Saturday night, got in at 3.30am! eek Sunday 21st; A lay-in again! Then had a rest day, pottering around doing bits and pieces, oh - and wrapping Christmas presents! (and updated my blog which I've been lacking!) 22nd; Will be going to London with James, Jana and Mark for James's birthday. We've booked to go ice-skating at the Tower of London 23rd; Got a meeting with Tim and Elsie (BAG Treasurer) at 10am, then will be getting ready for the children's Christmas Party at the Abbey. Got over 50 kids booked and should be a very good night!!! Had a very useful meeting at 10am, met with representatives from Norfolk Community Foundation re: how to access money which they have available for community projects, I will certainly be encouraging groups to apply ASAP.

Daniel Cox finds new County Council seat

Deselected council leader gets a seat SHAUN LOWTHORPE 29 November 2008 11:06 Norfolk County Council leader Daniel Cox has secured a new seat formerly held by one of his predecessors. The Tory councillor, who was deselected from his Wymondham seat last month, has been chosen to contest the Humbleyard division, just outside Norwich, at next year's county council elections in June - should a poll go ahead. The seat was previously held by former council leader Alison King, and more recently by Judith Virgo, whom Mr Cox defeated for the job at a selection meeting on Thursday. Like Mrs King, the council leader has faced problems with recalcitrant Tories, including Breckland's Cliff Jordan, which is believed to be at the heart of his losing Wymondham. But Mr Jordan, who as chairman of the mid-Norfolk constituency oversaw the deselection of the leader, insisted that rules were properly followed and there was no plot. The decision sparked a row within the ruling Tory group at County Hall and claims that it was part of a putsch organised by districts upset at the county council's stance on the unitary issue. Other councillors who have also been deselected include fellow cabinet member John Gretton, Christopher Lloyd-Owen, Janice Eells, and David Rye. While another county councillor, Heather Bolt, is appealing the process after being offered a different seat - in Gaywood Central, a Labour stronghold. More recently there have been suggestions the controversial county farms issue has also added to the discord within the Tory group. Mr Cox was not available for comment last night, but in a separate move Mr Gretton confirmed he was appealing his selection process with Tory central office after losing a local appeal decision. Mr Gretton believes he has enough evidence to demonstrate the constituency has breached a series of selection guidelines, and the rules chosen have marginalised the views of local branches, which previously had a say in which candidate was picked. “I do not have any faith in what they have done because they have very deliberately sliced grassroots conservative democracy out of the picture,” he said. “What they are effectively saying to the local branches is that it is okay for you to raise money for us but you have got no influence over the political process.”

District Councils lose court bid to halt unitary (haha!)

Councils lose court bid to halt review Upbeat: Nick Daubney SHAUN LOWTHORPE 29 November 2008 06:00 Councils fighting plans to overhaul Norfolk's town halls lost a legal battle to derail the process yesterday - at a cost of hundreds of thousands of pounds to ratepayers. A top judge refused to stall plans for local government reorganisation which could see all seven of the district councils, along with the county council itself, consigned to the history books and replaced by a new super council including Lowestoft. He also ordered the authorities bringing the challenge - Breckland, South Norfolk, and King's Lynn and West Norfolk - to pay three-quarters of the legal costs incurred by the Boundary Committee as well as their own fees, adding to the spiralling multi-million pound bill even before any final decision has been made. Mr Justice Cranston, in the High Court, ruled their challenge was “premature” but they came away with a slim hope after he said it would be impossible to complete consultation on the affordability question by a December 31 deadline. That leaves alive their hope that the tight schedule set by ministers to get Parliament to approve a new council and get it up and running by 2010 could fall because a general election is due. Despite what appeared to be an overwhelming ruling against them, the three councils were still sure they were heading for victory and the challenge was vindicated. Last night the councils said they would lodge an appeal to challenge the ruling next week and even hinted at taking out an injunction to ensure the process was given more time to look at the affordability issue. Nick Daubney, leader of King's Lynn and West Norfolk Council, said he was upbeat, adding: “The judge is dismissing the case, but still saying we have got to have more time. We will put in our appeal next week. We are talking to financial experts to allow them to do a proper job. “I think it's well worth it. There is a cost to this, but I think because of the overall cost to the public, it will be worth it. Compared to what Norwich City Council and the county council have spent we are talking peanuts.” John Fuller, South Norfolk council leader, said he was delighted. He said: “We didn't win the main points but we came away winning the one we wanted. The public did not have information to see whether it was worth spending £100m on a reorganisation at a time when the country can least afford it." The committee's proposals were due to be submitted to communities secretary Hazel Blears by December 31 but Mr Justice Cranston's ruling means that deadline will probably have to be put back. The independent Boundary Committee, which is carrying out the review, also welcomed the ruling and said it was business as usual as its members put the finishing touches on their final recommendations. And with a recent decision to put back the county council elections by a month until June, supporters of the process believe there is still time to get a new council under way. Mr Justice Cranston accepted the committee's plea that it was not obliged to "make a comparison" between the benefits of a unitary authority or maintaining the status quo. "A comparison with the existing two-tier structure was never on the cards", he ruled. He also dismissed the three councils' criticisms of the way the consultation process was being run, and said the committee had "well and truly embarked" on consulting all the affected local authorities about the affordability of the proposals. The committee had provided "sufficient material" to the councils so they could make a "considered response", he said. Tim Leader, deputy chief executive of Breckland Council, said: "The inevitable consequence of today's hearing is that the secretary of state will not now be able to receive the Boundary Committee's advice on local government reorganisation in Norfolk in December, as originally planned. We will now be writing to the Committee to clarify how long the extended consultation period will be. "Our decision to take legal action has been vindicated. Our desire throughout was simply to ensure the people who will pay for any reorganisation of local government in Norfolk would have a proper say on what the reorganisation might be." However James Eadie QC, for Ms Blears, told the judge: "We would not wish anyone reporting this case to leave court with the impression that the claimants have won in any way, shape or form". He said the councils had lost the case "on all the issues of principle", though Ms Blears would now consider a "short extension" of the December 31 deadline. Daniel Cox, leader of Norfolk County Council, said: "We note the High Court judgment and await the publication of the Boundary Committee's final recommendation for change. We will now need to wait to hear what effect this may have on the consultation period."