News archive October to December 2007

The latest example of Suffolk councils working together has seen a saving of £76,000 generated in the costs that four of them have to pay their bankers.

Suffolk Coastal’s recent success in attracting additional economic investment has seen it gain an additional £385,000 grant from the Government, the bulk of which the Council will now use to help regenerate Felixstowe’s town centre and seafront.

People who love walking and who would like to use their enthusiasm to encourage others to take up the exercise are being sought to help set up local health walks.

With the winner of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award having been announced, it is high time to put the focus on local talent again, with nomination now open for the 2008 GreenThumb Suffolk Coastal Sports Awards.

With one of the country’s main attractions on its front cover, the 2008 edition of the Suffolk Coast Holiday Guide is about to start dropping through letterboxes across the country.

From next April, the Government is introducing a new type of housing benefit, the Local Housing Allowance, which all councils will be paying to people eligible for assistance to help pay their rent to private landlords.

A prominent former vicarage in the conservation area of Felixstowe is set to be renovated and converted into seven new homes, two of which will be affordable.

Anyone who missed out on this month’s musical extravaganza in Woodbridge organized by Soundwaves can still discover the best of the district’s young local talent by buying a copy of the Sounds of the East Coast CD.

A planning application to demolish a house in Bredfield Road, Melton and replace it with five detached four and five-bed homes has been refused by councillors at the South Area Development Control Sub-Committee.

Three exciting projects that will give new opportunities for fun to local children and teenagers have won over £200,000 funding from the BIG Lottery Fund after a successful application by Suffolk Coastal.

A large local stud business is set for planning permission to build a new indoor equestrian building that will help ensure the financial viability of the nationally-important stud business.

Suffolk Coastal, in association with the award winning BroadSol self-build solar water heating project, is offering residents the opportunity to spend a weekend learning how to assemble and install their own system.

Three local villages are set to see 18 more much-needed affordable homes built thanks to a successful partnership of Suffolk Coastal, parish councils and Hastoe Housing Association.

The Government has decided that the plans for three sets of homes to be built to help fund vital coastal protection works at East Lane, Bawdsey can go ahead as there were no grounds for it to interfere in the decision.

Watch out for changes to the recycling and refuse collection services during this year’s Christmas and New Year period is the message to Suffolk Coastal residents as there will be no collections on any of the bank holidays.

Despite the Christmas break, many of Suffolk Coastal’s services, including online payments for Council Tax, Business Rates, car park excess charge notices, housing benefit invoices and other general invoices will be available around the clock by visiting www.suffolkcoastal.gov.uk Anyone wanting to make a payment to the Council who does not have access to the web can use the automated telephone payment system on 0845 880 1312.

A special forum is being held next month which aims to bring together all those groups offering leisure activities to young people during the holidays so they can be better planned, organised and publicised in the future.

Yesterday’s unexpected announcement by the Government that it wants the Boundary Committee to examine the structure of local government across Suffolk, including the options for introducing unitary council, has been slammed by Suffolk Coastal’s Leader.

The build-up to Christmas has begun and Suffolk Coastal is asking its residents to think green this year and buy a real tree that can either be planted out or re-potted for next year, or composted after the festive season.

Suffolk Coastal’s increasing commitment to young people will see leading councillors and officers taking part in a special webchat aimed at under 25 year olds on Wednesday, December 12 between 4pm and 7pm.

A decision by Suffolk Coastal to introduce tougher licensing laws on The Cross public house in Woodbridge has been backed by Ipswich Magistrates who rejected an appeal to overturn two of the new conditions that were imposed after a special inspection last May.

There’s a real musical treat this Saturday in Woodbridge when nine local bands from Suffolk Coastal will be supporting fast-rising national band We Start Fires at a special gig to launch the release of the Sounds of the East Coast CD.

Tomorrow night (Friday) sees the models take to the catwalk in Felixstowe as the culmination of the ReGenerate project that has over the last few months seen local young people putting the glitz on charity shop clothes.

A model helicopter flying club that has been using land in Waldringfield without planning permission for two years has been allowed to carry on for a further 12 months, so the impact of its activities can be properly monitored.

Suffolk Coastal was rated last month as the 17th best place to live in Britain, and quality of life in the district was at the centre of discussions at the fifth annual forum of the Suffolk Coastal Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) recently held at Trinity Park.

Councillors will make a site visit to see first-hand where 27 trees, including some with official protection, are under threat from a proposal to build a four bedroom house in part of a garden in Martlesham.

Efforts to reduce the amount of rubbish going into landfill were given a boost by councillors at the South Area Development Control Sub-Committee last week when they gave their backing to plans for a new waste facility at Foxhall Landfill Site.

A half-day training course is being offered to managers of food catering businesses who would like further help with the Safer Food Better Business (SFBB) catering pack and how to get a system in place.

A major development of 145 homes in Saxmundham, which include 49 much-needed affordable homes and a large new public open space alongside the River Fromus, was agreed by councillors at the North Area Development Control Sub-Committee last week.

The district’s tourism industry was given a boost last week when an eco-friendly development of Scandinavian-style holiday lodges in Darsham was granted planning permission by councillors.

Construction will start next year on the district’s first wind farm at Parham airfield after the developers were given the final go-ahead by Suffolk Coastal.

The Council has passed its test on dealing with an emergency with flying colours, after the flood alerts of the last 24 hours gave the district and the rest of the country a glimpse of the serious havoc that could occur as a result of flooding.

In the wake of publishing its first-ever annual report, Delivering Success, Suffolk Coastal has been in the spotlight recently with a trio of plaudits for the district and its services.

A thorough review of all Suffolk Coastal’s car parking charges could see prices frozen for a second successive year at nearly all the district’s town centre car parks, despite the Council’s severe financial pressures.

Over 4,000 businesses in the Suffolk Coastal district are seeing the latest edition of Business Bulletin drop through their letterbox, a newsletter packed with useful information.

The curtains have gone up on the latest new service now being offered by Suffolk Coastal’s three Tourist Information Centres (TICs), with tickets now on sale for any show on at the Spa Pavilion Theatre.

For people who prefer to send charity cards to their friends and colleagues on their Christmas list, there are 40 different designs for 20 different charities available now from Suffolk Coastal’s Tourist Information Centres (TICs).

If you have a keen interest in home composting and have a bit of time on your hands, you could next week join a group of like-minded individuals that make up Suffolk Master Composters.

Three local youngsters were awarded prizes this week for their efforts in helping Suffolk Coastal draw up a play strategy that could result in better facilities and services across the district.

This week sees the latest round of workshops that are attracting young people to play their part in ReGenerate, the Felixstowe Fashion Show that will take charity shop clothes out onto the catwalk.

Youngsters in Suffolk Coastal have been given a free chance to get hooked on a new pastime thanks to a series of Fishing for Fun sessions that are being held around the district.

It will be a case of the Big Draw meeting the Giant Haystack next weekend when there is a great chance for children to have some artistic fun down on the farm and play a part in creating a giant sculpture.

Suffolk County Council, Waveney District Council and Suffolk Coastal District Council have joined up to challenge the latest Environment Agency proposals for the Blyth Estuary.

The challenge has been laid down to individuals and communities across Suffolk Coastal to start thinking and acting greener during next week’s Energy Saving Week.

Suffolk Coastal will be offering local young people in Rendlesham and Leiston the chance to perform their tricks on their doorstep when its mobile skate park visits them during the autumn half-term break.

Contractors called in by Suffolk Coastal are on the beach at Felixstowe carrying out work that will help some of the resort’s groynes cope with the strength of the winter storms.

With the recent uncertainties about the postal service, Suffolk Coastal is reminding its residents that they can pay bills around the clock by going online or using their phone.

The district’s young people now have their own website run by Suffolk Coastal Teen Voices (SCTV) who aim to change the world for local youths forever.

Residents of the next wave of 5,000 homes to link up to Suffolk Coastal’s improved recycling service are being urged to start stocking up their new wheelie bin with all the items it will take.

Suffolk Coastal’s Cabinet is calling 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.

This month sees Saxmundham’s fifth annual arts and entertainments festival which promises to hit the target with something on offer for everyone, with everything from a chance to have lunch with Joanna Trollope through to indoor skateboarding.

The news that 15 of the district’s 49 post offices are on an official list for closure has prompted Suffolk Coastal to call on local residents to make sure their voices are heard in the next few weeks.

Donations by companies to a national initiative will see hundreds of trees and hedges being planted in November at Hollesley and Rendlesham as part of a long-term contribution to reducing their environmental footprints.

Magistrates at Ipswich heard a guilty plea on Monday from a Felixstowe woman who admitted falsely claiming over £2,100 of housing benefits from Suffolk Coastal.

Suffolk Coastal has its very own green army with over 150 people who regularly give up their time to be conservation volunteers, either as part of a village group or as one of the Council’s network of parish tree wardens.