Kick-start Fakenham crisis meeting date

A SURGE of public demand for discussions on ways to kick-start Fakenham's community spirit has led to a town meeting being called later this month.Townspeople will be given a chance to make suggestions about business ideas and events at the meeting at Fakenham Junior School, Queens Road, at 6pm on Friday, March 27.

A SURGE of public demand for discussions on ways to kick-start Fakenham's community spirit has led to a town meeting being called later this month.

Townspeople will be given a chance to make suggestions about business ideas and events at the meeting at Fakenham Junior School, Queens Road, at 6pm on Friday, March 27.

It will be chaired by Stuart Cuttler, president of Fakenham Chamber of Trade, who said the calls for a public meeting were led by members of a group created on the social networking website, Facebook.

The Kick Start Fakenham group was set up last month in response to gloomy predictions about the town's future prompted by the recent closures of Woolworths and the Crown Hotel.

It now has more than 270 members including creator Rachel Seretny, who approached Mr Cuttler with the results of an online survey which put a town meeting high on the agenda.

Mr Cuttler said he hoped the meeting would include district and town councillors and urged the public to air positive suggestions for the town.

“There have just been so many people saying to me we should have a community meeting for the good of the town,” he said.

“What I want to see are positive ideas and a positive attitude from the people of Fakenham. I only want to hear what can be done - not reasons why it cannot be done. It is a great place, a unique place, and we are very lucky.

“This has been instigated by the people and it is for the people. As far as I am concerned it is a blank sheet. Anything and everything can be changed - it is just about whether there is the willingness to do it.”

Miss Seretny said: “The main aim of the group was to come up with proactive ideas and get like-minded people together to get these things going. There has never been an active meeting where the public can get together and decide what they want.

“We have a fantastic membership now which shows the number of people who are supporting us.”

The success of the Kick Start group has also inspired online business directory www.fakenham.biz to extend a deadline for free commercial listings until the end of March.

A spokesman for Wensum.net, which runs the website, said: “In common with most towns in the UK, Fakenham's businesses are going through a tough time. To remain viable and competitive they need to be supported by the community as well as each other.

“The Kick Start Fakenham initiative provides a focus for the community at large to become more involved in the town and boost its profile with a series of events.”