Westminster Diary

Keeping in touch and having access to information locally is always helpful when living in rural areas so I was  delighted to open the  Community Information Point in St Marys Church, Feltwell. Supported by the  Leader of Kings Lynn & West Norfolk Borough Council Nick Daubney and members of the local community, this is the tenth hub to open in West Norfolk but the first in a church! It is great what everyone has achieved utilising the church’s space to create an extremely welcoming environment. The Community Information Point consists of a computer with broadband access and a hub where information leaflets and literature are made available. This will allow residents to access a range of council services, including refuse and recycling arrangements, submitting, viewing and commenting upon planning applications, as well as catching up on the latest news from the council.

Using our local spaces more creatively is definitely a theme in South West Norfolk. Last month I held my farming forum in the newly opened community pub, the Kings Arms, Shouldham. The dining area was easily re-arranged to accommodate over 30 farmers keen to discuss issues from hedges, water abstraction and EU directives. It was an incredibly informative meeting and I am sure everyone enjoyed being able to utilise the bar facilities afterwards.

Food and farming is a key priority for me and I am keen to champion British produce. I met representatives from Buy Local in Swaffham – a networking organisation in Norfolk with 156 members keen to promote the ethos – buy locally, source locally and employ people locally. One of the areas we discussed was branding of Norfolk food and I would love to see more branding opportunities created for our excellent Norfolk produce – there is no reason why our fantastic food can not be up on the shelves sharing the same limelight as say the Red Leicester or  Wensleydale.

Elizabeth Truss

MP for South West Norfolk

Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs