• Keswick and Intwood Parish Council

    The rural Parish of Keswick and Intwood came into existence in Saxon times and on 23 October 1598 were united ecclesiastically under a Deed of Consolidation.

    Situated some three miles south of Norwich city centre they extend to 552 hectares (1,364 acres) and in 2001 had a population of 431, split as 200 males and 231 females in 248 households with 360 having electoral voting rights. Keswick accounts for 93% of the population of which 67% reside at Keswick New Hall which comprises 186 residences, many tenanted, as is the Hall itself being occupied by some nine small office type businesses.

    Intwood has only thirteen households with no amenities or utilities apart from electricity and telephone lines.  Each part of the Parish has a church and Keswick has a small Reading Room. The Parishes are unique compared to many Norfolk villages as they do not have any public amenities such as shops, post office or public house.  The Parish manages adequately due in the main to its close proximity to the city of Norwich and amenities in the neighbouring Parishes.

    Keswick and Intwood is:

    • within a mile of the A47, Norwich’s Southern by-pass affording excellent East to west links and a similar distance from the two main roads leading south from Norwich, namely the A140 to Ipswich and the A11 to Thetford and London;
    • close to two Park and ride facilities one on the boundary of each village with traditional bus services passing through the parish;
    • near to shopping facilities – on the eastern boundary there is a large supermarket open 7 days a week for 24 hours (apart from Sunday) and nearby there is another supermarket, estate agents, home furnishing and other typical high street outlets; and
    • has doctors and school facilities available nearby.
  • Meeting Dates 2024

    Keswick & Intwood Parish Council will be meeting on the following dates at 7pm at the Reading Room:

    – Wednesday 21st February

    – Wednesday 22nd May (Annual Parish Meeting & Annual Meeting of the Parish Council)

    – Wednesday 3rd July

    – Wednesday 25th September

    – Wednesday 20th November

  • A helping hand for South Norfolk Residents

    A helping hand for South Norfolk residents

     

    South Norfolk Council recognise how important it is for our elderly residents to stay in their own homes for as long as possible and sometimes a small change can make a big difference.

     

    The Council’s Handyperson+ scheme supports residents with a wide range of small household repairs and minor adaptation work.

     

    The experienced team can help with many tasks including fitting key safes, fall prevention adaptions, smoke alarms, grab rails and better lighting. They can also offer advice on staying warm during cold weather.

     

    As well as small works, the handyperson will chat to residents during a visit to see if they would benefit from any additional help. They have an in-depth knowledge of grants, allowances and services a resident may be eligible for.

     

    In addition, the team can direct residents to relevant community support, including social clubs or events in the local area to help combat loneliness.

     

    You may be eligible for the service free of charge if;

    • You are over 65
    • Have a long-term condition or disability AND
    • Receive either Housing Benefit, Guaranteed Pension Credit or Universal Credit.

     

    You may be eligible for our handyperson service with an hourly charge of £10.32 if;

    • You are over 65 AND
    • Have a long-term condition or disability

     

    You may be eligible for our handyperson service with an hourly charge of £20.78 if;

    • You are under 65 you have no long-term condition or disability.

     

    This does not include the cost of any materials.

     

    To contact the Council to request the Handyperson+ service please call 01508 505284, or email: [email protected]

  • Safety Advice and Guidance from Norfolk County Council

    Norfolk County Council are currently running a fire safety initiative that is benefitting parishioners around the County. Find further details on how you can book your own home fire safety visit at the following link:

    Safety advice and guidance – Norfolk County Council

  • Low Road traffic calming measures consultation – Parish Council response – 4th September 2023

    Please see below for Keswick & Intwood Parish Council’s response to the recent consultation regarding Keswick, C184 Low Road – traffic calming measures Traffic Regulation Order:

    On behalf of Keswick and Intwood  I would like to thank you for providing the Low Road traffic proposals.

    Our comments are as follows;

    We asked for an extension of time to consider this proposal as this is the first time the Parish Council has actually seen it. It has not been endorsed or approved by the Parish Council at all.

    We were provided with a draft plan last year and on the 10 August 2022 some members of the Parish Council had a walk through of Low Road with Jonathan Cage of Create consultancy. Various issues were pointed out to him including visability between build outs and the painted line pavement which we certainly did not agree to. We have been ignored.

    Since that time the Parish Clerk has written to Create to ask for updates for our Parish Council meetings but none have been forthcoming and the emails not even acknowledged.

    We have asked for meetings with Highways Dept but have been told to liaise with Create which is impossible when we have been basically ghosted.

    As a parish Council we cannot accept these proposals . The developer, Apex,  promised to give us a road with traffic calming measures and a safe footpath for pedestrians in order to help gain their planning permission but this plan does not fulfil that promise. We certainly have some major concerns:-

    1. The road between the Reading Room and the junction with Mill Lane is very narrow and the proposed buildout at the Keswick Old Hall wall does not have good visibility. At the moment a vehicle has to manoeuver to  practically the middle of the road by the wall before they can see if any traffic is approaching from the Mill Lane direction. The proposed buildout positioning makes this even worse.
    2. This will, in turn, impact on the proposed painted footpath between Keswick Old Hall wall and junction with Mill Lane The actual road is not wide enough to accommodate a footpath, cyclists , horses, farm tractors and other vehicles. There will be occasions when pedestrians on the painted footpath will find themselves at the mercy of 2 vehicles approaching them from different directions. How can this be regarded as safe? With the increase usage of vehicles in general and electric cars this would make using the footpath dangerous as pedestrians would not even hear some of the traffic approaching  from behind them. This was actually pointed out to Jonathan Cage of Create Consultancy on the walkthrough over a year ago but seems to have been completely ignored by him  in their final proposed plans. The lack of consultation from Create Consultancy and also the developer has been very frustrating.

    Following on from one of our requests to Highways ,some members of the Parish Council had a very informative and much appreciated walk through Low Road  with Adam Mayo from NCC Highways Dept and he agreed that the road was not suitable for this painted footpath as the road was too narrow.

    We were not even aware that a safety audit had been carried out by the Highways Dept until advised by our County Councillor and a copy provided by him which makes interesting reading.

    It would seem that the NCC Stage 2 Safety report for Keswick Low Road (stage 2 safety audit Jan 2022) also had some concerns regarding the the section between Keswick Reading Room and Keswick Old Hall ( section 2) stating that there was an issue with alignment and the problem being a head-on collision. this is then followed by section 4 which covers the road from Keswick Old Hall to Mill Lane junction concerning conflict with pedestrians which mentions pedestrians might be hit with wing mirrors from vehicles but does not adequately suggest an alternative but merely suggests an implied footpath is still ok.

    1. The Parish Council has also asked for speed bumps not cushions and would like to know why this has been changed. Speed bumps  are easier for cyclists to negotiate and cushions are very easy for traffic to straddle and not slow down.
    2. Is there any way to reduce the amount of street furniture. We are obviously aware that signs have to be provided but is there any way of limiting them.
    3. We have also been asked if there can be an additional  speed bump in the area between Fir Hill and the bend before Christmas Cottage. A car drove straight through their hedge when driver misjudged the bend in the road.
    4. We specifically would like to see an  up to date traffic survey of Low road as traffic has already increased significantly since  the increase in housing approved by SNDC in Cringleford. 
    5. We would also ask to see the results of your projections in both traffic levels and pollution levels to Low Road to see if it is actually capable of taking a big increase in traffic volume.

    We are a small Parish with a £6000 precept so cannot afford to employ Highways engineers to act on our behalf. We had hoped that the Highways dept would help guide us through any alternatives to keep Low Road a safe road for our residents. Your department has the expertise, the developer has expertise but we don’t .We feel at a huge disadvantage and  are being penalised when we did not want the Industrial Site in the first place.

    The big question is :- What would an NCC Highways Engineer recommend and design for Low Road if given that brief. We want to make the road safe for our residents as it is already a dangerous stretch of road between Keswick Old Hall wall and the junction with Mill Lane.

    This version of Low Road neither meets our requirements nor gives safety to our residents where the road is at its narrowest.

    As a Parish Council we are now require a meeting sometime in October with the Highways Dept, when summer holidays are over, to talk through our concerns. Where there are alternatives we  need  to be made aware of them rather than having to settle for a cheap painted pavement and kept in the dark by the developer.

     

    Jan Hill

    Chair of Keswick and Intwood Parish Council

  • Low Road – Railway Line – Road Closure – 14th to 18th August

    Norfolk County Council (Keswick and Intwood)

    (Urgent Notice)

    Temporary Traffic Regulation Order 2023
    Road Traffic Regulation Act, 1984 – Section 14(2)

    Notice (STRO9738)
    In accordance with the provisions of Section 14(2) of the Road Traffic Regulation Act
    1984, the Norfolk County Council HEREBY GIVE NOTICE that owing to Network
    Rail essential track maintenance works the use by vehicles of the C184 Low Road
    from 10m north of its junction with the level crossing for 20m southwards in the
    PARISH OF KESWICK AND INTWOOD will be temporarily prohibited from 14 th to
    18 th August 2023 for the duration of the works, expected to be about 5 days within
    the period.

    Alternative route is via: Low Road, Mulbarton Road, Ipswich Road, Daniels Road,
    Newmarket Road, Eaton Street, Newmarket Road, Keswick Road (Cringleford,
    Keswick and Intwood).

    Penalty: £1000 maximum fine on conviction and/or endorsement for contravention.

    The team dealing with enquiries at Norfolk County Council is South Area Streetworks
    (Community and Environmental Services Department) contactable by telephone at
    0344 800 8020 or email at [email protected]. Details are also available at
    https://one.network.

    Dated this 14 th day of August 2023.

    Katrina Hulatt
    Director of Legal Services (nplaw)
    County Hall
    Martineau Lane
    Norwich
    NR1 2DH

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