MP breaks ground on Hempnall School extension

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This article appeared in The Diss Express on 24 July 2009

MP breaks ground on Hempnall School extension

South Norfolk MP Richard Bacon brings Diss Express readers up to date with some of his recent work in the community

After various setbacks over the past eight years, Hempnall Primary School will at last be getting its promised extension.

I visited the school last year and saw the cramped conditions which were made still worse when the school changed from a First to a Primary school. Two mobile classrooms and an outside toilet block were erected in the school grounds to cope with the influx of pupils.
	Richard Bacon MP with Norfolk County Council Cabinet Member for Children’s Services Shelagh Hutson and Hempnall School pupils cuts the first sod.

So I was very pleased to be invited to cut the first sod for the building work which will start this summer on four new classrooms, a kitchen and a hall. The existing Victorian building will be remodelled to provide a larger reception class, library, better toilet facilities and much more.

I congratulate headteacher Miriam Elston and the school governors on their persistence in getting the school their pupils deserve. I look forward to seeing the final improvements in September 2010.

Village Sign

	Last Sunday I joined other residents of Pulham St Mary to celebrate the 90^th anniversary of the return of the airship R34 to Pulham Air Station following its Atlantic crossing. This historic event is commemorated in the refurbished village sign which I had the pleasure of unveiling with parish councillors and members of the Pennoyers Restoration Team.
Richard Bacon MP unveils the new village sign at Pulham St Mary.

Airships stationed at Pulham St Mary during the first and second world wars were known as “Pulham Pigs” because their buff coloured envelopes resembled the colour of a pig’s skin. These were depicted in a fascinating display of airship photographs mounted in the village hall following the unveiling.

Many Pulham St Mary residents have worked tirelessly to improve the village which includes the newly-grassed village centre on which the sign stands and the nearby Pennoyers Village Centre project.

Local Business

Recently I met with a group of local business people from Harleston and officers of South Norfolk Council. The meeting was organised by the Federation of Small Businesses to talk about the problems faced by local businesses in the current economic climate. It turned out to be a lively discussion.

Small businesses are finding that too much red tape over hiring, firing and other labour-related legislation is causing unnecessary problems for both employers and employees.

The banks also came in for a lot of criticism for still not supporting small businesses despite taxpayers’ money on the table. Local business people felt that local government could also play a much bigger part in supporting small businesses. South Norfolk Council Officers agreed to a further meeting with local business people to see how they could help.

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