So the parish council has written to the county council expressing concerns about the lack of public transport in the village.

As yet, there has been no response to this letter, councillors were told at their regular August meeting.

Green-fingered residents have found their own way of beating the credit crunch – thanks to the parish council.

An allocation of allotments in the village has been highly successful. All 22 have been let and other people have shown their interest in the venture.

Other villages have lost their allotments, so Fincham is lucky to be able to offer people a chance to grow their own fruit and vegetables at a time when shop prices are rocketing.

It is hoped that the water supply will be installed in the near future. There has been a site meeting to establish where the stop cock is to be placed. When it has been installed, Anglia Water will inspect the work and advise its own contractor to install the meter.

Cllr Ian Boosey announced his resignation from the council. He will be sorely missed as he has been a very active member, helping with the village website, parish plan, allotments and SpeedWatch. There is now a vacancy and the post will be advertised.

There was some discussion about the siting of a new notice board to provide information about footpaths. The suggested site is a corner of the churchyard, behind the wall next to the church notice board and the parochial church council is to be approached for its approval.

Councillors are putting the finishing touches to the parish plan and soon every household in the village will receive a copy. Then there will be a public meeting when residents will be able to ask questions and discuss the action plan.

Some of the areas of concern encountered in the questionnaire, such as the provision of a bottle bank and extension of the speed limit, have already been addressed. Others, such as speeding through the village, need further attention.

It had been hoped to set up a SpeedWatch in the village. Speeding is an emotive issue, but only five people volunteered to help with the scheme. The response was disappointing, but Norfolk Constabulary is available to train volunteers any time in the future. Mr Waterston is holding on to the details. One possibility is to work with other villages and share the facility.

Concerns were expressed about the village website. At the moment the council is paying a server for the use of the website and it is felt that the site is sometimes difficult to access and not sufficiently supported to warrant the expense. It is hoped that a volunteer will offer to design and run a new website for village news.

Concern was also expressed regarding the changes in local government, especially the establishment of a unitary council to run the whole of Norfolk.