News archive January to March 2008

Nearly 20,000 free bus passes are now in the post to people in the Suffolk Coastal area who are entitled to the new national scheme which will give them the chance to travel free across the whole of England.

The multi-million pound expansion plans for the Port of Felixstowe have been given an urgent green light by Suffolk Coastal after councillors agreed to allow the works to be phased, rather than done all at once.

Next month will see another 6,000 homes getting the improved recycling service that means they can recycle paper, cans, foil, cardboard and plastic containers in their new blue-lidded bin every fortnight.

Suffolk Coastal has announced a later closing date for comments on the broad areas where new homes could be built in the areas east of Ipswich, and in Felixstowe, Walton and the Trimley villages, as the latest stage of its Local Development Framework (LDF).

Local people wanting an affordable home to rent or buy have received a big boost with the news that the district is set to receive nearly £4 million from the Housing Corporation that will help build 147 new homes.

An experienced and independent panel is recommending that the allowances payable to Suffolk Coastal’s councillors should be raised by over £1,000 to take account of their additional responsibilities and bring them closer into line with other councils.

Suffolk Coastal’s mobile skatepark will be touring the district this Easter giving young people the chance to hone their skills.

A survey of residents last year gave Suffolk Coastal top marks in the county for cleanliness, and placed it third out of 56 districts across the country, but the Council now wants help to make the area even cleaner and greener.

A special Family Fun Day on Thursday, March 27 is being organised by the Suffolk Coastal Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) at Yoxford’s primary school and village hall from 10am to 3pm.

A rich and varied crop of artistic work will go on show this weekend when the year-long Art Farming project comes to fruition at Easton Farm Park.

A five week course to encourage people back into the swing of golf is available at Ufford Park Hotel Golf Course during the Spring.

The call has gone out to people and organisations in the district to help Suffolk Coastal draw up its next annual report and make it even more informative and relevant.

Visitors and residents wanting to find out more about places to eat in the area can visit Suffolk Coastal’s website where the 2008 edition of the 'Eating Out in Suffolk Coastal' guide is available at a touch of a button.

Commercial property owners have been given a final reminder of a significant Government change that will leave them with a bigger rates bill if their premises have been empty for three months or more on April 1.

New gentle, short walks are being introduced for people living in the Felixstowe area who find that they cannot manage walking long distances but would still like to walk to keep fit.

Last week’s announcement by the Environment Agency giving the go-ahead to the sea defence works at Felixstowe South means that contractors are already on site to get the work completed this summer.

Suffolk Coastal has agreed that it should have consulted the local community again about the recent proposals by Parham Windfarm Ltd to use wind turbines with smaller blades at their approved wind farm site at Parham.

Suffolk Coastal has agreed a budget at last night’s (Thursday) Full Council meeting which pegs its Council Tax increase to only 10 pence a week on the average Band D house.

Suffolk Coastal’s drive to establish partnerships to increase its and other councils’ efficiencies has gone up another gear after its Full Council agreed last night (Thursday) to an innovative initiative that will see its Chief Executive hold the same role at Waveney District Council.

Demolition experts are moving in next week to start knocking down three empty cottages that form part of the Felixstowe South Seafront site that is earmarked for a major regeneration project.

People wanting to get back into sport and who would like to try their hand at golf have the chance to play for an hour for free at Ufford Park Golf Course.

The sporting spotlight shone on Suffolk Coastal’s outstanding talents at the GreenThumb Sports Awards held at the Seckford Theatre in Woodbridge last Sunday (February 24).

Suffolk Coastal has welcomed the official confirmation that funding is in place for work to begin next month on the long-awaited £10 million South Felixstowe flood protection scheme.

A ground-breaking initiative is helping to give local small and medium sized businesses free advice on how they can play their part in reducing the county’s carbon footprint while cutting business costs and enhancing their reputation.

Suffolk Coastal wants to hear from any local mobile caterer who would be ready and willing to help cater for lorries parked on the old A45 as part of Operation Stack.

The latest move in Suffolk Coastal’s drive to establish partnerships to increase its and other councils’ efficiencies has seen an innovative initiative being announced that could see the Council’s Chief Executive hold the same role at Waveney District Council.

Suffolk Coastal’s policy, design and conservation team want local residents to help them appraise the Woodbridge and Aldeburgh Conservation Areas as they evaluate and record the special interest of the Areas.

The Stepping Out guided walks offer exercise for people who want to get fit, who are recovering from an illness or who just enjoy walking with other people.

The latest annual assessment by the independent local government watchdog of how local councils are managing their finances has rated Suffolk Coastal as the best in Suffolk and Norfolk.

A new programme of workshops is being offered to members of Suffolk Coastal’s arts community that will provide help and advice on putting on arts events and training in comedy theatre, performance and direction and costume design.

The tension is beginning to build up for all those in the running to scoop a prize at the GreenThumb Suffolk Coastal Sports Awards 2008, a scheme that celebrates sporting achievements in Suffolk Coastal.

The invitation has gone out to local voluntary and community groups to take a free stand to promote what they do at a special Yoxford Family Fun Day on Thursday, March 27 being organised by the Suffolk Coastal Local Strategic Partnership (LSP).

Suffolk Coastal’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) services have been brought back in-house in a move that will save the Council nearly £300,000 next year and allow it to offer even better services.

Suffolk Coastal’s Cabinet has agreed to recommend a budget that will go before Full Council on February 28 which proposes pegging the Council Tax increase to only 10 pence a week on the average Band D house.

The Police are set to be given the powers later in this year to control anti-social drinking in three more parts of the district that are worried about the impact of alcohol-fuelled behaviour.

The district’s own website for young people www.sctv.org.uk has just reinvented itself in a deliberate move to make sure that more young people can visit their site and keep up to date with what matters to them in Suffolk Coastal.

As part of its ongoing commitment to become a greener and more efficient Council, Suffolk Coastal has carried out a review of its use of water at its main buildings.

Suffolk Coastal is asking for views on where new homes could be built in the areas east of Ipswich, and in Felixstowe, Walton and the Trimley villages, as the latest stage of its Local Development Framework (LDF).

Suffolk Coastal has called in the experts to help make sure that its website is as accessible as possible to all parts of its community and the initial signs are that it is well on its way to gaining independent accreditation for its efforts.

An unexpected vacancy has given Suffolk Coastal’s Leader the opportunity to reshuffle the responsibilities of his streamlined team to help the Council become even more efficient.

From April 1, any resident wanting to pay cash to Suffolk Coastal will no longer have to visit its Woodbridge offices and will instead be able to make their payment at any of the district’s post offices.

A 50 year-old woman from Wickham Market has the threat of an eight month prison sentence hanging over her after pleading guilty yesterday (Tuesday) at Ipswich Crown Court to having stolen over £27,000 in benefits.

This Friday (January 25) sees the official launch of the Suffolk Coastal Holiday Guide at Sutton Hoo, whose legendary helmet is featured on its front cover and is helping to spearhead a new hi-tech campaign to attract tourists.

Contractors called in by Suffolk Coastal are busy strengthening some of Felixstowe’s groynes in an urgent move to protect beach levels after the storms last November.

Suffolk Coastal has joined the chorus of protests against the proposal by the Arts Council England East (ACE East) to stop supporting the Eastern Angles theatre group which plays a key role in bringing theatre to rural areas.

A special meeting of Suffolk Coastal’s North Area Development Control Sub-Committee due to be held on Monday, January 28 has now been cancelled after the applicants withdrew their proposals for Debach Airfield at Clopton.

Nearly £250,000 was given by Suffolk Coastal from its outdoor play space fund (OPSF) in 2007 to help 23 different projects across the district, and the fund will shortly break the half-million pound barrier since its launch five years ago.

Local councils have joined together to hold two special sessions next week aimed at private landlords with three experts on hand to explain how the new Local Housing Allowance (LHA) system will work.

A fascinating spotlight will be shone on the history of the Alde and Ore on Tuesday, January 22 when a local expert will be using maps to show how the landscape around the estuary has changed over the last 500 years.

The finishing flag is about to be waved on the nominations for the 2008 GreenThumb Suffolk Coastal Sports Awards with suggestions wanted by no later than Monday, January 14.

Senior councillors at Suffolk Coastal are repeating their calls on the Government to ensure that there is a commitment that local impacts should be fully considered as part of any future planning processes that deal with new nuclear power stations.

A range of projects that would help regenerate Felixstowe’s town centre and seafront have been given the broad backing of Suffolk Coastal’s Cabinet which has already agreed to support the initiatives with over £300,000.

A freeze in prices resulting in unchanged charges for a third successive year at nearly all of the district’s town centre car parks has moved a step closer after last night’s (Tuesday) Cabinet meeting agreed to a full formal public consultation.

The Government has given an official stamp of approval to Suffolk Coastal’s efforts to improve the air quality around a busy road junction in Woodbridge.

A 68 year-old local resident is nearly a £100 a week better off thanks to a leaflet he received from Suffolk Coastal that has helped him claim the pension to which he was entitled.

Suffolk Coastal has called on its residents to make an extra effort to go greener and recycle more in 2008 and so help the district save the earth.