The Annual Parish Meeting was held on Wednesday 5th April at the St Laurence Centre.
During the proceedings an annual award is given to an individual or group that is deserving of recognition for their voluntary efforts for Brundall.
The 2023 recipient was the Friends of Cremer’s Meadow group.
The Chairman of the Parish Council spoke in tribute to the Friends:
“Brundall Parish Council was fortunate to be able to purchase land from Shirley Cremer in 2014. The land was beautiful but required significant work to enable it to be opened as a community space for the village and its visitors.
To enable that work to take place, a Friends of Cremer’s Meadow group was established and set about the various tasks at that time.
A great deal of very heavy work was initially required including the removal of unstable buildings, dismantling seemingly miles of fencing and the odd washing machine and bathtub.
The caravan in the meadow was removed along with a number of other vehicles which had almost rooted to the spot.
The Friends did not hesitate to roll up their sleeves and over many months the site we see today started to appear.
Cremer’s Meadow was eventually safe to open to the public in 2016 and the work of the Friends turned predominately to maintenance and ongoing improvement.
Over the past few years, the Friends have met weekly on a Friday morning to follow the maintenance plan. The expertise within the group is utilised to ensure that the development of the site follows the correct environmental pathways. Sometimes the work is heavy and dirty, sometimes it is about preserving a precious specimen. No matter what the task, the group works together with good spirit and takes a great pride in what they are doing and achieving.
The Friends also provide education about the site to groups of young children from the Guides, Scouts and school. It gives guided tours on occasions such as Orchid Day and also monitors how the wildlife on the site is being sustained and improved.
Major, very exhausting, events such as the Cut and Clear work on the water meadow is enabling a rare and valuable piece of land to continue to produce a variety of wild flowers including the famous Southern Marsh Orchids.
Occasionally the Friends will do a piece of work in the wider community, for example tending the garden outside the Memorial Hall. But the main focus is always the site itself.
Over the years the membership of the Friends group has fluctuated with some people leaving and some joining. There remains, however, a stable nucleus who were there at the beginning and who maintain a dedication to Cremer’s Meadow today.
Without wanting to single out anyone as this is a group award, I do feel that I should make special mention of the work that Gill Buckley has done with the Friends Group since inception. Gill we are very grateful for all of your ongoing work.
The Parish Council is extremely grateful to all of the Friends of Cremer’s Meadow for the enthusiastic and dedicated way they continue to support and develop Cremer’s Meadow and the model established by the Friends of Cremer’s Meadow is one which the Parish Council would like to extend to other sites.
The Parish Council thanks each and every member of the Friends of Cremer’s Meadow for all of their achievements at this wonderful site and is delighted to present them with John Evans Good Citizen Award for 2023”
