With winter now upon us, Norfolk County Council (NCC) has launched its Norfolk Winter information-sharing campaign, designed to help people cope during the colder months. As part of this campaign, regular gritting updates and other useful advice will be posted under the #NorfolkWinter hashtag on Twitter and Facebook.

NCC currently has around 16,000 tonnes of salt stocked. Current gritting routes, along with the locations of grit bins, can be seen on the map at www.norfolk.gov.uk/gritting. Your Parish Council recently obtained permission from NCC to site a third grit bin (in addition to bins located in the Broads Centre shopping precinct and next to Wroxham Bridge) at the upper end of the village. The most suitable location for this bin is currently being negotiated with NCC, who will fill the bin with grit.

NCC is in the process of replenishing all existing grit bins (close to 2,000 bins, county-wide) and hopes to complete this work soon. Local residents are welcome to use this grit on public pavements, cycle paths, and roads that do not form part of the existing treated route. Hoveton Parish Council hopes that those residents who’ve been in touch to request an extra grit bin for the village will be pleased to hear a new bin will soon be on the way. Your Parish Council would also be interested in arranging a network of gritting volunteers for the village, so please get in touch if you can help with this.

Finally, if there are any local businesses or community groups who would be interested in making a donation towards the cost of Hoveton’s new grit bin, or who’d like to ‘sponsor’ this bin, please contact Cllr Alex Howe ([email protected] or 01603 783 096).