Working to make Martham a greener, safer and more attractive village for all
Great Yarmouth Borough Council have informed the Parish Council that work has been planned to refurbish the toilets located opposite to the pond in the village.
Contractors will start work this week with closure being kept to a minimum.
If possible the disabled toilet will remain open during the works.
The proposed plans can be viewed at the Parish Council office.
The Allotment invoices for 2019 have all been sent out so if you have not received one please email the clerk on clerk@martham.gov.uk or telephone 01493 749938.
Payments can also be made via bank transfer so again please contact the Clerk for further details if you prefer this method of payment.
The Parish Council office located at the Community Centre, Playingfield Lane Martham is open from 10-2pm on Mondays and Wednesdays.
In order to save money in future we will be emailing out invoices where possible so please contact the Clerk to update your details with your most current email address and details.
Any spare plots available will be allocated within the next few weeks so if you are interested in becoming a plot holder please contact the Parish Clerk.
Scam Alert – Telephone cold calls claiming to be from Citizens Advice
Police are warning about telephone cold calls claiming to be from Citizens Advice. This follows a report from a Norfolk resident who received a cold call claiming to be from the ‘Citizens Advice Debt Service’ during which the cold caller attempted to engage with the call recipient about ‘debts’
.
Citizens Advice advise that they do not cold call or authorise others to cold call on their behalf. If you receive one of these calls do not give or confirm any personal information. Hang up and report the call to us via our partners the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 04 05 06
Scam Alert – Text messages claiming to be from ‘DVLA’ stating you have a ‘vehicle tax refund’
Police are warning about text messages circulating claiming to be from ‘DVLA’ stating ‘you have a vehicle tax refund’ from ‘an overpayment’, the text goes on to offers a link to ‘process your refund’.
These text messages are FAKE. DVLA do not send text messages or emails about vehicle tax refunds. It is also likely that there will be a several versions of this message circulating quoting different amounts.
If you receive this or a similar text message delete it.
Scam Alert – Facebook messages claiming to be from a friend asking if you could ‘receive a payment’ via PayPal
Police are warning Facebook users about scam messages asking to use your PayPal account to ‘receive a payment’.
These messages come from a Facebook friend’s account but are actually sent by Fraudsters who have hacked the friend’s Facebook account and changed their password and phone number.
The fraudsters then message the hacked victims’ friends to ask them to receive payments through PayPal for various reasons. They often also ask for their phone number, so they can communicate through WhatsApp.
The fraudsters then convince the victim to receive funds into their PayPal account and transfer them into a bank account of the Fraudsters choice.
Having received the transfer a chargeback is then initiated through PayPal, leaving the PayPal account holder out of pocket.
If you receive a suspicious message from a friend on Facebook, contact them directly via other means to check the message is genuine.
You can find out more about keeping your Facebook account secure, including activating login alerts and two-factor authorisation on the Facebook website.
Information Alert – Changes to pension cold calls regulations as of week commencing (9 January), companies that make unsolicited phone calls to people about their pensions will be liable to enforcement action, including fines of up to £500,000.
The ban has been introduced in a bid to prevent people falling victim to cold calling scams that can lead to them losing their life savings.
As many as eight scam calls take place every second – or a massive 250,000,000 calls a year – according to research from the Money Advice Service.
Victims of pension scams can lose their life savings and be left facing retirement with limited income. According to the Financial Conduct Authority, pension fraudsters stole on average £91,000 per victim in 2018.
If you receive a cold call about your pension, get any information you can, such as the company name or phone number, and report it to the Information Commissioner’s Office via their website or on 0303 123 1113.
If you have been a victim of this type of fraud, report it to Action Fraud by calling them on 0300 123 2040 or by using their online fraud reporting tool.
Cold Calling Alert – Doorstep cold caller enquiring about ‘insulation’
We are warning residents to be on their guard after receiving a report of a doorstep cold caller in the Mulbarton area.
A resident received a doorstep cold call from a man who claimed he was ‘representing the local authority’ and they were ‘inspecting homes for fibreglass insulation’. The cold caller then offered to ‘conduct an insulation survey’. The resident declined the offer and reported the cold call to us.
We advise to be very wary of claims made by doorstep cold callers and never give access to your property, agree to services, buy items or for return visits if approached in this manner.
Impartial advice on energy saving and accessing grant schemes is available from the Energy Saving Trust.
Anyone concerned about doorstep cold calling in Norfolk can contact us through our partners the Citizens Advice consumer helpline via their online reporting form or by telephone on 03454 04 05 06.
The Police and Crime Commissioner’s 2019/2020 budget and council tax consultation
The PCC’s 2019/2020 budget and council tax consultation was launched 2 January. See attached. This runs until Wednesday 30 January 2019. The link to the survey for responding is: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/PoliceBudget2019-20Consultation/.
Feedback is also invited by telephone to 01953 424455, by email to TellLorne@norfolk.pnn.police.uk or by post to OPCCN, Building 8, Jubilee House, Falconers Chase, Wymondham, Norfolk, NR18 0WW.
Alongside this, public engagements that the PCC will be undertaking in the coming weeks are as follows: Wednesday 9 January – Norwich (when the PCC will be holding a public Q&A session with the Chief Constable at the Forum), thereafter Thursday 10 January- West Norfolk, Wednesday 16 January- Great Yarmouth, Thursday 17 January- North Norfolk, Monday 21 January- South Norfolk, Monday 28 January- Breckland and Wednesday 30 January- Broadland.
The Parish Council office will be closed for Christmas and will re-open again on Monday 7 January at 10.00am.
In the event of an emergency please call the Chairman
on telephone number 01493 748474
any of the Councillors below.
In the emergency is in relation to the Community Centre please call the caretaker on telephone number 07497 285240
At the end of the Remembrance Service at Martham Parish Church on Sunday 11 November 2018, 57 crosses were placed in memory of those who lost their lives in the two World Wards and later conflicts. There were 42 from World War 1, 12 from World War 2 and 3 from more recent conflicts.
