Path marks way ahead for playing field group

Walking to the centre of Hethersett will be easier for residents of the Woodcote Sheltered Housing complex thanks to a new path which was officially opened at the weekend.

Walking to the centre of Hethersett will be easier for residents of the Woodcote Sheltered Housing complex thanks to a new path which was officially opened at the weekend.

The path leads directly from Woodcote across the back of the Memorial Playing Field towards the village centre and is the latest initiative of the Hethersett Memorial Playing Field Committee.

The path was opened by Emily Millington Smith who is a champion of both young and old people and president of Age Concern and Help the Aged, Norfolk; Chairman of South Norfolk's Older People's Forum and Chairman of the Alzheimer's Society.

She paid tribute to the work undertaken in Hethersett: 'Hethersett is a great example of just what living in a village community means. Villages like yours are continually looking at how to take care of all residents. The great work being undertaken shows how much you care for the village.

South Norfolk district councillor and playing field committee secretary David Bills said future plans included improved play areas for children, putting up a fence along the front of the field, draining the football pitches and ambitious plans to build a new pavilion with the existing building being used more as a village amenity.

The new path was helped along its way by grants from Grassroots and Broadland Housing. A new playing field committee was formed in September 2008 under the auspices of Hethersett Parish Council. Committee chairman Simon Crowe presented bouquets to Mrs Millington Smith and Lisa Irving for her support as rural development worker for South Norfolk on the Voluntary Norfolk group.