Reepham Life

By Cllr Greg Peck

After the period of purdah caused by the general election, which was then followed by a long Christmas and New Year break, activity at County Hall has ramped up quickly.

The last three years of uncertainty caused by a hung parliament and the endless arguments and indecision caused by the debates and disagreements over Brexit is thankfully over. It is hoped the government will now be able to focus on other, pressing issues.

Everyone in local government is also hoping this will lead to the long-awaited green paper on adult social care being published; it has already been delayed for more than a year.

We are actually spending more than ever on adult social services but, with an increasingly ageing population in Norfolk, the pressures continue to mount.

Although Norfolk County Council has welcomed the £17.6 million share of the government’s additional £1 billion for social care, which is intended for both children’s and adults’ services, it will not fully meet the needs of either; increased pressures on adult social services are £34.6 million for this year alone.

The recent government decision to raise the national living wage increases the council’s care market costs, which means an extra £1million will have to be found to cover this next year. Every penny added to the national living wage hourly rate adds £200,000 to the council’s care market costs.

We are now in the process of finalising our budget, but you can see that delivering a balanced budget, which we have statutory duty to do, is no easy task.

We will have some difficult decisions to make and we will need to take a balanced approach to meet all our residents’ needs within the finite resources we have.

Of course, the county council, the leader and cabinet members are pressing the new government to increase funding of local government in general and Norfolk County Council in particular.

Cllr Greg Peck, Norfolk County Council, Reepham Division
Tel: 07972 230282
Email: greg.peck.cllr@norfolk.gov.uk

By Cllr Greg Peck

The development of a Norwich Western Link, to connect the Broadland Northway, formerly known as the Norwich Northern Distributor Road (NDR), from the A1067 to the A47 west of Norwich, is one of Norfolk County Council’s top infrastructure priorities.

Since construction began on the Broadland Northway there have been sustained calls to fill in the “missing link”.

With cross-party support, the County Council has supported the development of a Norwich Western Link for a number of years and council members agreed in 2016 to include it as one of the county’s top three major infrastructure priorities.

The Council published four shortlisted road options for a Norwich Western Link, designed to improve travel between the A47 and the western end of Broadland Northway and tackle transport problems in this area.

A public consultation on four shortlisted options for a Norwich Western Link was held between November 2018 and January 2019. Since then, a great deal of work has been carried out – and continues to be carried out – with the aim of identifying a preferred route.

Analysing the responses received to the consultation is one of the elements that will inform this decision, but there are many other important factors that need to be considered, including: the results from ecological surveys and environmental information; the routes’ effectiveness at improving traffic issues in the area and meeting the other project objectives; and costs and the ratio of those costs to the benefits they are likely to create.

We still have work to do, so we don’t have a preferred route yet. However, we hope to make a decision on this in mid-July.

Cllr Greg Peck, Norfolk County Council, Reepham Division
Tel: 07972 230282
Email: greg.peck.cllr@norfolk.gov.uk

By Cllr Greg Peck

At County Hall we will have some tough decisions to make this year as we struggle to balance the budget.

The many services Norfolk County Council run include ensuring children and young people have the best start in life, providing the fire and rescue service, protecting vulnerable people, maintaining a safe road system and helping to improve the local economy; we spend more than £1 billion pounds a year providing public services.

The use of such services, particularly by those becoming older, is growing every year. Demand is rising, but the amount we receive from central government is declining: we now receive £204 million less each year compared with 2011/12.

We have developed a financial strategy to overcome these challenges, but this means we must continue to make some difficult decisions about how we spend your money.

If you have any questions about County Council policies, or indeed any other matter, please contact me for advice or support.

Cllr Greg Peck, Norfolk County Council, Reepham Division
Tel: 07972 230282
Email: greg.peck.cllr@norfolk.gov.uk

By Cllr Greg Peck

Last week, as we came to the climax of the commemorations of the end of the First World War, I hope you managed to visit the wonderful Broadland Remembers exhibition at Whitwell Station. Broadland District Council did an excellent job of putting the exhibition together.

Left to right: Greg Peck, County Councillor, Reepham; Shaun Vincent, Leader, Broadland District Council; and Graham Everett, District Councillor, Reepham.

It listed every parish in Broadland with the names of the fallen. It was very humbling to see the long lists from even the smallest villages, often with multiple entries from the same family.

One board had several poems by Wilfred Owen, including my own personal favourite, Dulce et Decorum Est.

The exhibition ran for a week and included talks and a reading by local author Brenda Gostling from her book Sister Poppy at the Front.

We must never forget the debt we owe those men and women who sacrificed so much to give us the freedom we enjoy today.

However, it is not enough to just remember this debt once a year on Remembrance Day. I have signed up as a founder supporter of the campaign for a memorial in Norfolk to the memory of the 97 soldiers from 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment and other units who were massacred at Le Paradis on 27 May 1940.

The successful evacuation of more than 300,000 troops from Dunkirk in May 1940 was the cornerstone of our eventual victory in the Second World War. It was made possible by the selfless defence of the Dunkirk perimeter by troops who knew they would not be rescued.

One battlefield centred on the villages of Le Paradis and Lestrem. Here, detachments from the Royal Norfolks and the Royal Scots fought the enemy to a standstill, inflicting heavy losses. They surrendered only when they ran out of ammunition.

As prisoners-of-war they were entitled to all the protection of the Geneva Convention. Instead they were massacred by their Waffen SS opponents; machine gunned to the ground and finished off with pistols and bayonets – now known as the Le Paradis Massacre. Ninety seven died, the majority from the Royal Norfolks.

Against all the odds, two men survived and led a successful post-war campaign to bring to justice the officer responsible for the massacre. He was found guilty of war crimes and executed in 1949.

The massacre, the courage and the sacrifice are still remembered by the French, and there are several memorials in Le Paradis and Lestrem to those who died.

However, there is no permanent memorial in Norfolk to these heroes. We need to do something about this. You can visit the campaign website.

For the full story of the massacre click HERE

Cllr Greg Peck, Norfolk County Council, Reepham Division
Tel: 07972 230282
Email: greg.peck.cllr@norfolk.gov.uk