STIFFKEY PARISH COUNCIL

Blakeney Surgery update

It is expected that the new medicines dispensing machine at Blakeney Village Hall will be operational at the end of May/June, with the surgery closing in July.

For the first few weeks of the Pharmabox’s operation, there will be a member of staff present between 9-12 to help with queries. There will be a secure postbox to leave scripts for repeat prescriptions. There is also the facility for contactless payment at the Box.

If you are collecting medicines from Blakeney during May you will be asked to say where you would like to collect them from going forward (Kelling or Melton) or if you want to go to another pharmacy or have them delivered by post.

If your medications are fridge items or controlled drugs, you will need to make other arrangements with the surgery as they will not be stocked in the Pharmabox.

There is some capacity in the home delivery service – requests will be assessed by a GP.

The Environment Agency has released a briefing on their plans to manage vegetation on coastal embankments in North Norfolk. You can download the full document here…

We are writing to you to bring to your attention the Parish Council’s Dark Skies Policy. This policy was adopted by the Parish Council in 2023 to support the Dark Skies initiative, which aims to reduce the serious environmental consequences of light pollution on humans, wildlife and our climate.

Stiffkey is home to a wide diversity of wildlife and protected species, and we are striving to ensure that nighttime light pollution does not adversely impact on their environment, particularly for species that are active at night.

Light spill from outside lighting, security lighting, conservatories and decorative illumination is a major cause of light pollution. We are kindly requesting that homeowners consider being mindful of the impact of external light spillage. We recognise that solutions vary depending on need, but we hope that the following suggestions may provide workable solutions to allow those needs to be met, whilst helping us reduce light pollution from both external and internal domestic lighting:

• Only use lighting when and where it’s needed, point outdoor lights downwards.
• If safety is a concern, install motion detector lights and/or timers, rather than just leaving your lights on all the time.
• Properly shield all outdoor lights (or point them downwards).
• Keep your blinds and curtains drawn at night to keep light inside.

More information can be found at Dark-Skies-Policy

 We would like to thank you in advance for helping us be positive members of the Dark Skies Initiative.