March 2015 meeting

Following on from the AGM held on 26th February, the Dereham Society will hold a meeting at Dereham library, at 7:30pm, on 26th March, to review how the Society could go forward. The Meeting is an open forum for anyone interested to come along and get involved in the future of the Town.

The Society has been dormant for the past three years but could provide a starting point and vehicle for a new generation of people to help shape the future of Dereham. The Society is aiming to increase Pride in Dereham across a number of issues.

Dereham town Mayor, Tim Birt, will be present to explain how the Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) works and how this could be rolled out to cover Dereham. For an NDP to be successful it requires a high level of support and input from all sections of the community. This is a critical plan as it could cover a wide range of issues presently covered by Breckland Planning Authority, such as Housing, Retail Development and Employment areas. A coherent plan would also include Traffic control, development of Green Spaces and major infrastructure such as school, health and utility services. These are hot topics affecting parts of the Town in different ways but by using Dereham Society and the NDP as a focal point all interested parties can act together to present alternative plans for the future.

Aside from the role of helping to develop an NDP Dereham Society is keen to help promote social events that create Pride in Dereham. This could cover a wide range of events such as a Festival, Town Quiz or local based musical shows. The present committee recognises the need for a flexible less formal approach to developing new ideas to create Pride in Dereham and so invites people to attend as the format and direction will be determined by those who wish to become involved.

The Society was formed as an organisation for people to come together and work to improve Dereham in whichever area the group chooses to work in. This remains the key objective today and the Society is open to all parties who wish to improve Dereham.

The intention is to form a Working Party at the end of the Meeting to look at how best Dereham Society can move forward to achieve the aim of providing a vehicle to promote pride in Dereham. This Working Party is to inform the Society’s membership, within 4-6 weeks, what the focus of the society for the next year will be.