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VIRTUAL MEETING: Because of Covid-19 the Winterton-on-Sea Parish Council held its monthly meeting online. Our digest of the meeting comes from the clerk's minutes.

CO-OPTION: Liam McMahon submitted his application to be a councillor and was co-opted, Proposed Cllr Coe and seconded by Cllr Smithson.

EMERGENCY FUND: An emergency fund of £500.00 was agreed. Proposed by Cllr Smithson and seconded by Cllr Bobby.

NEWSLETTER: It was agreed with amendment to remove the production of a newsletter from the clerk's responsibilities. Proposed by Cllr Bobby and Seconded by Cllr Smithson.

CARETAKER: It was agreed to continue with a caretaker for the Village Hall. Proposed by Cllr Punchard and seconded by Cllr Hartley.

PERMANENT CLERK: It was agreed to appoint the current Clerk on a permanent basis. Proposed by Cllr Coe and seconded Cllr Bobby.

Community coronavirus testing in Norfolk and Waveney now available to “key workers” (and/or household members with symptoms).

The NHS in Norfolk and Waveney is offering local coronavirus tests to key workers* such as teachers or food industry staff, to help them remain in work and continue to support their communities. This also applies to members of their household who may have coronavirus symptoms causing the key worker to self-isolate.

Testing will take place at three locations in Norfolk and Waveney:

• The Centrum centre, close to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH)

• The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King’s Lynn (QEHKL)

• The James Paget University Hospital (JPUH) in Gorleston.

(See below if you would rather be tested at Ipswich, Stansted or Peterborough)

To book using the Norfolk and Waveney service:

People on the government key workers* list who need to be tested should ask their employer or line manager to register their organisation by emailing NorfolkRegistercovidtesting@nnuh.nhs.uk with their (employer) name, job title and contact number. The registration team at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital will then contact the employer to register their organisation so they their key workers can then book an appointment. The employer will be given a unique reference number and further instructions.

All applications will be checked to make sure people are well enough to attend a testing centre, and eligible for a test in line with Public Health England guidance.

People will receive their test results within 48 hours or less, either directly or via their employer’s occupational health service, together with initial advice about to what to do next.

Appointments at Ipswich, Stansted and Peterborough or other centres

If you wish to be tested at any of the national drive-through testing centres, such as Ipswich, Stansted, Peterborough and elsewhere, then you must use the national booking service. For self-referrals, this is via https://self-referral.test-for-coronavirus.service.gov.uk.

Who are key workers?

* Key workers include many people working in education, transport, many public services, energy, power and water/sewerage workers, and those working to provide, distribute or sell food. The precise definition is available on this government web page: https://www.gov.uk/.../coronavirus-covid-19-getting....May 2020.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council to suspend collection of bulky waste items

27th March

Great Yarmouth Borough Council is temporarily stopping the collection of bulky waste items for four weeks, in order to prioritise collection of rubbish and recycling bins during the coronavirus pandemic.

The council asks residents with large waste items to hold onto these on their own properties until normal service is resumed. Residents are reminded not to use illegal waste collectors, as this results in fly-tipping. It is the legal duty of the householder to check that anyone they pass waste onto has a waste carrier licence from the Environment Agency.

No further bookings of bulky waste can be made, but collections booked before March 26 are still being undertaken into next week. In order to focus resources of essential services, the council has scaled back a number of other non-essential services, such as grass-cutting and grounds-maintenance. The situation will be kept under review.

The council is also postponing brown bin garden waste collections for four weeks, from Monday, March 30. Garden waste collection is an opt-in paid-for scheme, so customers will have their subscriptions extended by a month to account for the loss of the two fortnightly collections. At this time, no new subscriptions can be made to the scheme nor existing subscriptions renewed.

Cllr Penny Carpenter, chairman of the environment committee, said: “In line with Government guidelines, the council is prioritising staff and resources into our most essential and necessary services, which includes the collection of rubbish bins, recycling bins and clinical collections.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused, but these are exceptional circumstances and it is neither possible nor desirable to operate business as usual. I would like to pay tribute to all the staff who are keeping essential services going and to thank the public for their continued understanding and patience. We are continuing to review the situation and will resume normal service as soon as circumstances allow. Please bear with us."

Great Yarmouth Borough Council

An annoucement from the owners of the car park, 23rd March

WE have made the decision to close the car park from 4.00pm today and would ask all visitors to stay away during these unprecedented times. We have the full support of Winterton Parish Council and the closure is in line with other Norfolk coastal car parks.

We thought by keeping the car park open it would help to take any visitors away from the village centre. But we did not anticipate such an influx over the weekend.

With a high number of elderly residents in the village closing the car park is the right thing to do.

We feel very grateful that people wish to visit our beach and use our car park and we thank all our loyal patrons for their support, but please don’t visit us at this time.

Consider how you would feel if people were unnecessarily coming to your street, or the area where your loved ones live. We hope to see you again in better times..

An appeal from Great Yarmoyth Borough Council, 23rd March

An appeal for volunteers and donations to support local organisations and communities during Covid-19                                                         

The Voluntary Sector and Great Yarmouth Borough Council are appealing to the community for volunteers and donations to help support residents as part of the local response to Covid-19. 

The borough council is working hard with community and public sector partners, both at local and county-wide levels, to continue to support our communities, particularly those who are considered vulnerable and/or self-isolating without any other means of neighbourly or family support. Further information about the new Community Team for Great Yarmouth will be released in the coming days.

As part of this, Voluntary Norfolk and Community Action Norfolk are now working with local councils and health providers to co-ordinate a county-wide appeal for volunteers. This ensures a centralised point where individuals and groups can register and coordinate their work in response to requests. If you able to volunteer, please click here for more information and to register.

To ensure this much-needed support continues to be available to support community projects, a funding call has been put in place, led by the Norfolk Community Foundation. Donations received will allow the local organisations involved to carry on their vital care and support work during this challenging time. Click here to donate.

Cllr Carl Smith, leader of the council, said: “The council, alongside the voluntary sector, are working hard behind the scenes to get preparations in place as soon as possible that will allow us to offer services such as deliveries of food and medicine, to those most vulnerable and those who are self-isolating but who may not have family and friends around them.

“We are asking for people to rally round their community in this trying time and help in any way they can, whether that be volunteering or donating. We have already seen a fantastic level of community response and we are so grateful for those who are helping us to support those in need. The new volunteering portal aims to help coordinate those efforts and match them with need, so we all work together efficiently and effectively.”

A message from Winterton-on-Sea Parish Council

The Village Hall is currently closed for bookings for any other matters relating to the Village Hall please call the Caretaker on 07707 728525.

For emergencies or urgent matters please call Cllr Smithson 01493 394932 or leave a message on 07918 978921.

Kind regards

Parish Clerk

Winterton-on-Sea Parish Council

A message from Cllr John Smithson, of Winterton-on-Sea's Parish Council

24th March

We are holding meetings as a parish in order to provide support for people who are in isolation, and do not have a local support mechanism.

We have received from a member of the parish, information from Ludham council/church which will in all probability provide a frame work, to enable us to get basic needs to the vulnerable.

I would very much encourage people, who represent other community groups in the parish to get in touch with the parish council in order that we can coordinate and maximise our resources.

We hope to have firm information, early next week.

All offers of help and advise can be forwarded to my email: mrjohnsmithson@gmail.com

A call for volunteers, 22nd March

Call for Volunteers: Voluntary Norfolk will be using their volunteering portal to gather the various roles that are needed in the sector.

The link for Members to promote and direct local community groups and individual people interested in volunteering to is:

https://www.voluntarynorfolk.org.uk/home-2/volunteering-2/register-to-volunteer-2

Call for Fund-raising: Again working countywide in Norfolk, the Norfolk Community Foundation has set-up a ‘Covid-19 Community Response Fund’ to support vital community projects which are well-placed to take action. This additional public funding-raising will help to adapt or expand services to provide much needed care and support – now, and in the months ahead.

The Norfolk Community Foundation hyperlink to allow people to make a donation is:

https://www.norfolkfoundation.com/giving-philanthropy/covid19communityresponsefund/

An announcement by Winterton Coastwatch, 19th March

Corona virus

Following government advice & in line with Sea Safety Group policy Winterton Coast Watch has closed until further notice from 17th March 2020.

All other Coast Watch stations have or are closing in the next few days.

There will be further announcements to follow so please check this page or Winterton Coast Watch Facebook page www.woscw.co.uk for any new information.

Stay

An open letter from Winteton-on-Sea Parish Council, 29th March