There are lots of plans being hatched for the improvement of our town and as Hannibal Smith used to say, “I love it when a plan comes together”. That’s not to say that all the plans for Fakenham are as perfect in their execution as The A Team’s – that would be asking too much. However, it’s the cooperation I’m seeing which pleases me most, as it makes possible a greater level of achievement and success.

Having had an insider’s view of what’s being done via the community group Kick Start Fakenham, as well as The Chamber of Trade, I can see the cooperation between the various town organisations and businesses starting to pay dividends. Fakenham Fair week was a good example – expertise from The Fakenham Area Partnership, contributions by local businesses, organisation and manpower from Kick Start, The Lions, Ospreys Canoe Club atc and finally participation by the public – all combining to make for a successful project.

Although The Fakenham Pub & Club Festival (Plubfest) was a bit of a ‘curate’s egg’, all the landlords we spoke to after the event were positive about the aims of the scheme and said they’d definitely join in again next year. There’s even talk of getting them together on a slightly more formal basis so they can pool their own ideas for the next one.  That’s a spirit of cooperation that I like to see and it’ll definitely improve next year’s event.

Now that The Fakenham Community Centre has fully reopened after their repairs and refurbishment, it’s great to see new life being breathed into the facility. With enthusiastic and innovative management, bookings are on a bit of a high and there are plans afoot for further new facilities and events. Even more exciting is the scheme to develop the site into a ‘Community Campus’, with new buildings for youth facilities, an outdoor event space and more – including office space, a bar and cafe. As long as its (presumably subsidised) facilities are put to use for community purposes rather than competing with town businesses which are already struggling (meaning more cooperative spirit between Fakenham’s authorities and its business), I think it’ll be a really fantastic new addition to the town.