Welcome
to the official website of the Parish Council of Ashby St
Mary in Norfolk.
It provides
not only the records of the Parish Council's proceedings,
but also more information about Ashby St Mary including its
features, history and much more. The Parish Council
hopes visitors to this website find it an interesting
and informative experience. Most documents in this website open in .pdf format which
requires Adobe Reader.
Click on the Adobe icon in the left column to download Adobe
Reader.
LATEST PARISH COUNCIL NEWS
(This replaces the update of 12th September 2023 - To
view previous updates, click HERE)
LATEST
NEWS - the headlines
- minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of 8th November 2023
- rainfall data updated
- Emergency Advice information circulated
- Ashby Emergency Group introduced
- a Helping Hand for South Norfolk residents
- 100 club winners
COMMUNITY CAFE - CAROLS
IN DECEMBER A reminder
the Community Cafe is open on Monday 11th December
from 2-4p.m. at which for the festive season the
children of Thurton School will be singing carols.
NEXT PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
The next parish council meeting is
scheduled to take place on Wednesday 10th January
2024 at 7.00 p.m. at Ashby & Thurton Village
Hall, Ashby Road, Thurton.
DRAFT
MINUTES OF THE LAST PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
When
published, the draft minutes of the last meeting will
appear in the appropriate HERE link on the
MANAGEMENT page. All Council Meeting Minutes
can be inspected at any reasonable time by appointment
with the Clerk.
EMERGENCY ADVICE
The Parish Council's emergency advice leaflet has
now been delivered to each village household.
It is hoped parishioners never have to use any of
the services referred in it but it is hoped, if required,
the information will be of assistance.
INTRODUCTION OF THE ASHBY EMERGENCY GROUP Ashby
St Mary parish council has introduced a method of
messaging all parishioners in the event of an impending
national or parish emergency e.g. extreme weather,
pandemic, danger to life etc.
It hopes you agree to become part of an Ashby Emergency
Group for this purpose. All parishioners should have
received hand-delivered notices about this new service.
Without your details it will not be possible to be
included.
(For your reassurance, the requested details will
be used by the parish council soley for the purposes
of emergency messaging or to keep you informed of
important matters within the parish).
A
HELPING HAND FOR SOUTH NORFOLK RESIDENTS
South Norfolk Council recognise how important it
is for our elderly residents to stay in their own
homes for as long as possible and sometimes a small
change can make a big difference.
The Council’s Handyperson+ scheme supports
residents with a wide range of small household repairs
and minor adaptation work.
The
experienced team can help with many tasks including
fitting key safes, fall prevention adaptions, smoke
alarms, grab rails and better lighting. They can
also offer advice on staying warm during cold weather.As
well as small works, the handyperson will chat to
residents during a visit to see if they would benefit
from any additional help.
They have an in-depth knowledge of grants, allowances
and services a resident may be eligible for.In
addition, the team can direct residents to relevant
community support, including social clubs or events
in the local area to help combat loneliness.
You may be eligible for the service free of charge
if;
You
are over 65
Have a long-term condition or disability AND
Receive either Housing Benefit, Guaranteed Pension
Credit or Universal Credit.
You
may be eligible for our handyperson service with
an hourly charge of £10.32 if;
You
are over 65 AND
Have a long-term condition or disability
You
may be eligible for our handyperson service with
an hourly charge of £20.78 if;You
are under 65 you have no long-term condition or
disability.
This
does not include the cost of any materials.
To contact the Council to request the Handyperson+
service please call 01508 505284, or email: handyperson.snc@southnorfolkandbroadland.gov.uk
VILLAGE HALL 100 CLUB WINNERS March D Mickleburgh no.74; April E Bircham
no.33; May J Hawes no.51; June J Byrne no. 49; July
M Millward no.34; August J Lambart no.40; September
J Wilson 73; October G Gibling no.20; November J
Baugh no.83; all £40.
£120 Superdraw November C Brown no.31.
ASHBY & THURTON WALK AND TALK
The Walk and Talk event took place in August while
local children were on holiday which undoubtedly
contributed to the terrific turnout.
About 30 took part and the amount raised for Thurton
& Ashby Preschool garden project was £70.
Look out for local announcements of future Walk
& Talk dates.
CYCLIST
IN ASHBY OR THURTON?
Interested
in joining a friendly, village cycling group?
The Ashby Amblers group was formed in Easter
2022 and continues to flourish. Gentle riding
is assured!
All ages and abilities are welcome no matter
which type of bicycle you own and ride.
The Ashby Amblers currently now have over 20
members from Ashby, Thurton, and even as far
afield as
Heckingham, Thurlton and Norwich.
We meet every Tuesday at 09.30 opposite the
Thurton George & Dragon pub.
See more in Gallery on the HISTORY
page!
Email ashbywebmaster@gmail.com for more details
BIN COLLECTIONS - NEVER MISS ONE AGAIN! Download the
free Bin Collections app to keep up to date with
your bin collection days and find out about recycling.
Search Bin Collections South Norfolk on the App
Store or Google Play. Or go to https://www.southnorfolkandbroadland.gov.uk/sncbinapp (It really works!)
BUSES - NEVER MISS ONE AGAIN!
Ever wondered when your bus was going to arrive?
Now you can.
Go to bustimes.org, select the
map and you can see the bus. The square with a number
is a bus. (It really does work! But be advised, it
updates about every minute so there is a delay in
showing an actual bus position.)
ASHBY
RAINFALL As usual the latest rainfall figures for
our parish can be found via the link on the HANDBOOK
page. _______________________________________________
REMINDER - NHS DENTIST - A CAUTIONARY PIECE OF ADVICE The
text about this subject can now be found in Latest
News Archive on this page, below.
REMINDER
- NORFOLK COMMUNITY WATCH - 'WATER BOARD' SCAMS Norfolk
Against Scams Partneship is working with National
Trading Standards and Anglian Water to address the
global and growing issue of scams and fraud.
They know of cases where criminals have posed as
Anglian Water employees in an attempt to gain access
into someone’s home and they are committed
to protecting customers against scammers and fraudsters.
How do I know if a caller is genuine?
The
text about this subject can now be found in Latest
News Archive on this page, below.
Acknowledgment: Norfolk Community Watch Sept 2023 https://members.ourwatchmember.org.uk/AlertMessage/Attachment/4317B91E18EC1FB37BE68A1D0D21B160
REMINDER - HIGHWAY RANGERS Ashby gets announcements in advance of
visits to be made by the Highway Rangers. Councillors
usually have some parish matters to report to them.
However if any parishioner notices any of the following,
please get in touch and report it to our council
chairman who liaises with the Rangers about matters
that require their attention.
- Potholes
- Regular incidents of standing or flooding water
– additional inspection of gullies and grips
at these sites
- Signs – ensuring visibility and good condition
of Highway signs, removal of illegal signs
- Paths – siding out and ensuring a safe surface
for the user
- Public Rights of Way – maintaining clear
access within the village boundary
(If any pages, their
contents or links do not function as they should,
please accept our apologies and inform us promptly
via the Contact Us tab at the top of this page.
If any sections 'overlap', try viewing
our website using another internet browser.
ASHBY ST MARY PARISH COUNCIL
Email: clerk.ashby@gmail.com Website:
www.ashbystmary.org.uk
Latest News Archive Until otherwise advised all Latest News
will appear on this Home page so make a note to
check it regularly. For speedier access in the future
why not add the link to this Home page to the Favourites
folder of your Internet Browser?
Latest News for approximately the previous 12 months
from the date of the Update above can be found HERE.
ASHBY ST MARY PARISH
COUNCIL PUBLIC NOTICES
In line with statutory provisions, formal notice
of forthcoming Parish Council meeting agendas, latest
meeting minutes for public view and every parish
election are displayed on at least one of the Council's
three noticeboards - at the junction of Mill Road
and Mill Common; the junction of Sandy Lane and
Spong Lane; and close to the junction of Chapel
Lane and Chapel Road.
DIARY (including other Meetings or Events
held in the Parish or that may interest Ashby St
Mary residents) - FUTURE PARISH
COUNCIL MEETNG DATES
Please note meetings are aimed for being
held on Wednesdays where possible, subject
to the Village Hall availability.
Unless otherwise stated, all Parish Council meetings
take place at Ashby & Thurton Village Hall commencing
at 7.00 p.m.
Confirmed meeting dates: To
be determined - please contact the parish clerk
for assistance.
Click HERE
to show the location of the hall. Always check
Latest News for advice of meeting date/time changes.
- ASHBY ST MARY FUNDRAISERS
There are currently no / no other Ashby St Mary
fundraising activities or announcements concerning
Ashby St Mary which the Parish Council has been
requested to advertise.
- OTHER LOCAL FUNDRAISERS
None.
ASHBY HEATING OIL
SYNDICATE Do
you use Domestic Heating Oil? If so, why not join
the Ashby Heating Oil Syndicate?
It’s free to join and you could make real
savings.
· Your parish council has set up the Ashby
Heating Oil Syndicate.
· The Ashby Heating Oil Syndicate makes worthwhile
savings for residents after compiling a bulk order.
· It works! The syndicate’s bulk order
regularly saves 2 – 4p per litre over a typical
1000 litres amount.
· Come and join the increasing number of
residents who have already benefited.
· This is a free parish service.
· Like to know more? Email webmaster@ashbystmary.org.uk
for a fact-sheet.
- This is an Ashby St Mary Parish Council initiative
for serving the local community.
RECOMMENDED - A useful site that includes oil price
trends between one week and five years ago can be
found HERE.
Ashby Heating Oil Syndicate-
an update and for oil users interest
If you are a parishioner who is an oil user and
have not joined (free) the parish council-run village
syndicate, you may be interested to learn a bulk
order was made just before the spike in price in
early September due to well-publicised world events
involving two countries. Via personal negotiation
the Syndicate regularly achieves 2p or more per
litre less than the cheapest available on Boilerjuice
and the village delivery can be within just 5 working
days - not up to 25 days via Boilerjuice. Now
are you interested? Contact webmaster@ashbystmary.org
for more details or a free factsheet.
During the buying process, the syndicate organiser
was advised by one supplier to warn oil users not
to let their stock get too low. An instance recently
occurred where a boiler failed and upon a necessary
service inspection the jets were found to be blocked.
Originally it was thought to be due to the quality
of oil but it was felt much more likely that when
oil is pumped from the delivery vehicle into a domestic
tank low on oil, sediment is inevitably stirred
up and problems can arise. For interest, premium
oil (i.e. higher grade and arguably 'cleaner' and
longer lasting) usually costs about 3p more per
litre and is the product of an additive to the standard
heating oil at the point of delivery.
ASHBY HOMEWATCH / ASHBY WEBSITE UPDATE SERVICE
Ashby's Homewatch service is provided free and is
available to any resident.
For more information, please go to the HOMEWATCH
page on this website.
The Ashby Website Update service is also included
as part of its free service and is available to
any Ashby resident.
If you know an Ashby resident who you think should
join this free information service, why not tell
them about it?
All that is needed is for the recipient to email
a few details.
The Parish Council's homewatch representative does
the rest - keeping residents informed when a Police
Connect alert message affecting our area has been
received (including certain national alerts e.g.
scams etc), when our parish website has been updated,
plus occasional news of the Ashby Heating Oil Syndicate.
Messages are usually issued once per month. For
full details look on the HOMEWATCH page.
This is a free parish service.
Contact the webmaster (click on the Contact Us tab
near the top of this page) for a fact-sheet.
This another Ashby St Mary initiative for serving
the local community.
Ashby Broadband Speed Test In a bid by the parish council to assist
the Better Broadband campaign for rural Norfolk,
Ashby residents were asked to test their broadband
download speed. Residents undertook tests in 2015,
2017, and 2019.
By 2020 it seems faster broadband has at last arrived
in some areas of Ashby - but we like to keep a check
on the claimed speeds. If you live in Ashby and
are willing to help for the first time (or to check
your speed again) just carry out the very simple
test below.
1. Click on this website link https://broadbandtest.which.co.uk/
2. Make a note of the 'Download' and Upload figures,
the time you did the test and email the details
HERE
For your interest the last reported download speed
test figures achieved by a resident in Ashby in
November 2023 was only 19 Mbps and an Upload speed
of just 2 Mbps. In March 2022 Downloads were 14.6
and 12.5 Mbps and Upload speeds were 3.8 and 3.3
Mbps. A test by another resident in March 2020 was
54.7 Mbps, and Upload speed 18.4 Mbps. These differences
could be explained by the distance from the nearest
cabinet, the internet provider used and whether
it was a wifi or ethernet cable connection. 'Super-fast'
fibre broadband is available throughout Ashby via
both the cabinets at Chapel Road and Mill Common.
BT has told a parishioner 'ultra-fast' fibre broadband
is achieved when a fibre connection is made from
the cabinet into a property.
