Town News
FREE PORTABLE ASHTRAYS
Help yourself to a free personal ashtray from Breckland Council to stub and store your cigarette butts until you next find a bin. We thank you for helping to keep our streets clean (at the same time avoiding an £80 fine). Cigarette butts, as small as they may be, can have a big impact when released into the environment. The filters are not made of cotton and do not rot down. If flicked into drains they are not filtered out here. They enter rivers and eventually the sea where they are eaten by sea creatures who think they are food.
Breckland Councils Enforcement Officer will soon be walking the streets of Breckland issuing £80 fines for this littering offence. So please pop into your local Breckland Council Customer Service Centre in the town (Peddars Way opposite Morrisons) or call 01362 656878 at Breckland Council and save yourself some money aswell as helping the environment.
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DEREHAM - A QUALITY TOWN
Since the launch of the Quality Parish & Town Council Scheme in 2003, councils from all over England have been steadily gaining Quality Status. Having Quality status; parish and town councils can demonstrate that they are representative, in touch with their communities, competent and capable of taking on an enhanced role. The assurance of quality will help to smooth the way for the formation of partnerships with principal authories and will put those towns in a better position to win grants and funding for community projects.
Dereham Town Council has now become the second Town in the District to be given Quality Status.
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DEREHAM COUNCIL INFORMATION CENTRE
Based in Dereham library. The centre works in partnership or has close links with most public sector and voluntary organisations. They provide help and information about services offered by Norfolk County Council, local – district or borough council or other local organisations. Help or information is given on a wide range from Council tax and housing benefits, bus passes, rubbish collection, help with forms, road maintenance. Adult Education courses, Social Services, Childcare and local community information. They are also a Police Information Point. There is a free phone to Breckland District Council. Various surgeries are held in a private room in the library, eg. Disability Rights Norfolk.
The staff pride themselves on the fact that if they cannot solve your enquiry, they will put you in touch with someone who can. To find out the services that they offer, pop into Dereham Library, 59 High Street, Dereham. The staff are very friendly and there is a room so that you can speak in private if the issues you have are of a sensitive nature.
Open Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm
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TRAFFIC WORKS IN AND AROUND DEREHAM
Norfolk County Council are responsible for all roadworks and diversions in and around Dereham. For more details please contact them on;-
01603 222143
or go to their website;-
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The Town Councillors are very interested in making Dereham a Fairtrade Town. At the Full Council meeting on Tuesday 9th October, there was a presentation on the subject of becoming a Fairtrade Town and the criteria needed to achieve Fairtrade status. There are 5 goals in order for this to happen and at the Town Council we have already honoured the first goal by using Fairtrade tea & coffee for the staff and at the council meetings. The second goal is to encourage local shops to get involved, so we are currently in the process of writing to local businesses to support us with this. We know a few shops are already selling these products, so they are already helping the cause. Further goals will be to get more shops to sell Fairtrade goods, serve Fairtrade products in their restaurants and cafes. Educate the town, employers / employees to use Fairtrade Products. We will also need to set up a Fairtrade steering group to ensure committment to Fairtrade Town Status. Please keep an eye on the website and Newsletter for more information and further development on this. Also, if you have any idea's or would like to help us to achieve our goals, then please write to;-
Mr A N Needham, Town Clerk, The Assembly Rooms, Ruthen Place, Dereham. NR19 2TX
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HELP FOR PENSIONERS (taken from Breckland Voice)
If you are over 60 and on a low income, you may be entitled to several benefits, including a reduction in your council tax bill. If you receive a pension credit but have not applied for Council Tax benefit then call Breckland District Council on 01362 656872 for advice. If you don't receive pension credit but would like to find out more about this and other benefits, please call 0845 606 0265.
Also, last year the Norfolk Partnership for Older People's Project (POPP's) was awarded £3.6 million to develop a range of services aimed at helping the elderly with issues such as home safety, social isolation, ill health or who to contact in a crisis.
These are the things that are on offer;-
'Night Owls' - 0844 800 8014. These provide flying visits to people in need at night, and now the daytime 'swift' response service will make sure that help is never far away, whether you are unexpectedly taken ill or have an emergency at home like a power cut, or flood.
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REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE
Did you know that a plastic bag dropped takes up to 20 years to biodegrade. A drinks can will take up to 100 years and that plastic bottles never biodegrade. Please use your Green, Black and Brown bins correctly. If you are unsure of what you can recycle, please go onto Brecklands website and check or phone 'Street Scene' on 01362 656878.
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IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD ANY NEWS TO OUR TOWN WEBSITE PLEASE CONTACT;-
e-mail:-d.minto@derehamtowncouncil.org
