Carbrooke Parish Council

 

Welcome to the Parish Council website

 

We hope you find it useful and informative

 

At a time of rising costs, the Parish Council has been able to maintain its budget for 2026 at the same level as this year.

 

We have had a busy year. Perhaps our greatest success story has been the Community Hub at Blenheim Grange. Our bookings have increased greatly over the course of the year and the Hub is now a popular venue for businesses, parties, clubs and other activities. We run a Warm Baby project, which provides knitted clothes for children up to the age of four, and a popular Stay and Play for babies and small children. We are a focal point for the local community.

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The Hub is run by a committee acting on behalf of the Parish Council and the Council would like to thank all the members of the committee, and all the volunteers who selflessly give up their own time to help, for everything they are doing. In particular, we would like to thank our Manager, Pam Arrowsmith, for all she has done to make the building such a success.

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The Council would also like to thank the small army of volunteers who work on the Millennium Green, at the church and in the Village Hall. In particular, we would like to thank all those who helped to lay down new shingle in the Village Hall car park, which saved the parish thousands of pounds. Such contributions should not be underestimated and is a real example of a community coming together.

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We have introduced a Community Award to recognise the achievements of all our ‘unsung heroes.’ Earlier this year, we presented awards to Angela Birkby for her tireless work at the Village Hall. And to Tony Owen, founder of Brecks Jam Club, which meets at the Community Hub to play music. The Club is open to all.

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If you know of any individual or group who deserve to be recognised, please go to our website (carbrookepc.info) for more information.

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What else have we been doing ? Below are some of the other things the Council has done over the course of the year. The Council itself is comprised of volunteers, who again give up their own time to improve the parish and to make a real impact on the community.

 

• We laid down a new footpath into the Village Hall car park to improve accessibility

• We installed new fencing at the front of the Village Hall

• We installed new EV charging points at the Community Hub and the Village Hall

• We maintained the play area and open spaces at Blenheim Grange, and can report that we have obtained a grant of £18,000 for new play equipment safety surfacing in the play area

• We paid for grass cutting at Carbrooke church

• We launched this new parish magazine, with the much appreciated help of another volunteer

• We maintained the trees, grass, hedges and flower beds at Blenheim Grange

• We planted hundreds of daffodil bulbs that we hope will brighten up the front of Blenheim Grange and the Hub garden in the spring (the volunteers at the Millennium Green have done the same and we look forward to photo opportunities for next year’s calendar)

• We installed new Memorial benches on the Millennium Green and the Community Hub

• We paid for restoration work to the War Memorial outside the church and will again provide the Christmas tree that stands near it

• We also provided, as we have for many years, Remembrance Day wreaths for both the Hub memorial service and the church

• We installed a new defibrillator outside the Community Hub (this is in addition to the defibrillators we installed near the church and at the Aerolite Garage)

• And we planted a community orchard at Blenheim Grange

 

If you have any ideas for ways we can improve, we are always happy to hear from you.

Finally, the members of the Parish Council and its clerk would like to wish all residents a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

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​Next Council Meeting

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The next Council meeting will be in the Community Hub on 9 December at 7pm. Why not come along and see what we do ? There is always a designated part of the meeting in which you can address councillors. A copy of the agenda for the meeting will be available at least three working days before the meeting.

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Council Vacancies

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We have two vacancies on the Council.

 

Are you interested in joining the Parish Council ? Becoming a councillor is a rewarding and valued form of public service. Councillors contribute to the work of the Parish Council by:-

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Seeking the best outcome to local issues

Putting forward ideas for better services

Responding to the needs and views of residents

Getting involved in decision making

Helping to make Carbrooke a better place to live

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We usually meet on the second Tuesday of every month except August. Meetings start at 7pm. All our members are volunteers and if you are able to give up a small amount of time this is a rewarding opportunity to make a difference. 

 

For more information please contact our Parish Clerk - Clerk@carbrooke-pc.gov.uk or 01362 687492 

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Local Plan

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Breckland Council is carrying out a public consultation on the Draft Plan from Friday 31 October 2025 until 23:59 on Monday 15th December 2025 This stage of the local plan (known as Regulation 18) sets out the Council's draft policies and growth strategy and is an important stage in the plan-making process. It provides an early opportunity for our communities, businesses, landowners, developers, partners and stakeholders to 'have a say' and comment on the draft Local Plan before it is considered further and then finalised for the next (Regulation 19) stage. Consultation will also take place at the Regulation 19 stage.

 

Documents can viewed at the link below

 

https://www.breckland.gov.uk/local-plan-2025

 

Consultation events

 

The Council is committed to ongoing engagement with communities. In addition to making the Plan publicly available via the council’s website the Councill be holding a number of drop-in events where the Plan can be seen and where Council Officers will be available to explain it and discuss matters.

 

Information on the dates and times of public events are available on the website

 

We are keen for local people to tell us their views, and we would therefore encourage you to get involved and have your say on this draft version of the Plan. If you wish to comment on the Draft Plan, please use the Form that is available at the following link

 

https://breckland.govocal.com/

 

Please note: You will be able to browse public documents but in order to make representations on the Draft Local Plan you will need to Register or verify your email. This helps to ensure that you are the actual owner of the email address.

 

You will then be asked to fill out a profile page and make some choices about how we may contact you. Please note: these questions are not mandatory, however it is really useful for us to know who our consultations are reaching and helps us to ensure we are meeting the requirements of consultation and the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement.

 

Please note that all representations must be received by 23:59 on December 15 2025.

 

All comments will be considered as part of the process of preparing the next version of the Local Plan, known as the 'Pre-Submission' or 'Regulation 19' version. This will be subject to further consultation in 2026.

 

 

Village Hall Car Park

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We are delighted to announce that we have installed a new path into the Village Hall car park and at the front of the Village Hall. This is to make it safer for everyone accessing the Hall, as well as the Millennium Green. In conjunction with Norfolk County Council we have also installed for Electric Charging points at both the Village Hall car park and the Community Hub. 

 

Community Award 

 

We are taking nominations for our Community Award 2026. The award recognises all the achievements of those individuals and groups who voluntarily and selflessly improve the lives of those around them. We would like to make an award to those who have made an outstanding contribution to the improvement of the parish of Carbrooke. Do you know an individual or organisation, whose service to the community deserves to be recognised ? If so, please make a nomination. The full details can be found under Policies (Community Award). 

 

Road Adoptions at Blenheim Grange

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Norfolk County Council has reported as follows. We are pleased to advise that the Consortium has recently completed the identified Interim Street Lighting remedial works and settled all fees, which has allowed the Interim Certificate for Stage 1 to be issued. As it customary, the Certificate has been backdated to the day the Stage 1 Roads were found to be satisfactory, so the Statutory 12 months Maintenance Period was deemed to commence on 05 June 2024. The Consortium has now suggested that they will be offering further stages for Adoption in the near future, so the process will need to be repeated for each stage, with Plans being approved and all necessary remedial works being completed (November 12).

 

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