Suffolk Coastal to Inform Local Town and Parish Councils Edition 12 – December 2016
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Coastline Lite Produced by Suffolk Coastal to inform local Town and Parish Councils Edition 12 – December 2016 Welcome to the December edition of Coastline Lite – aimed keeping Town and Parish Councils informed about developments at Suffolk Coastal and further afield. Please feel free to share this newsletter with anyone who you feel might be interested in its content. Sizewell C development Stage 2 Consultation The Stage 2 Consultation started on 23 November and a series of exhibitions have been planned to give communities the opportunity to speak to experts and provide feedback on the proposals. A Joint Local Authority Group (JLAG) summit was held on 6 December to discuss plans for Sizewell C. The key areas raised by the community as part of the event related to accommodation, the impact on the community, construction, economy and skills, transport and the environment. You can read details of the joint response submitted to EDF Energy at Stage 1 at: www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/planning/sizewell-nuclear-power-station/stage-one-consultation The Consultation closed on 3 February 2017 and people are asked to have their say at: https://edfsizewell.dialoguebydesign.net/default.asp Consultation announced for beach hut review We’re asking for people’s views on the sweeping review of how beach hut services are run in the district. The comprehensive review of the beach hut service was carried out to examine how the portfolio currently operates, to identify any service efficiencies and to consider further income generation opportunities. The review was launched in support of a specific action within the current East Suffolk Business Plan contains the specific action to ‘Increase the number of beach huts provided in the District by at least 10%’. The two main drivers of the beach hut review are to increase equality by increasing the opportunities for residents to have access to a beach hut, while also maximising the income generated from this resource to invest in core services, thus reducing the burden on the Suffolk Coastal tax payer. At the Cabinet meeting on 6 December, it was decided the issue will now go out for a six- week consultation from Tuesday, 3 January, 2017. Please keep an eye on the www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk website for details. 2 East Suffolk Food Trail announced A new ‘food tourism’ food trail is to be set up by Suffolk Coastal and Waveney with support from Defra’s ‘Championing Food Tourism’ grant of £22,000. The trail aims to celebrate local food businesses and encourage visitors to explore undiscovered parts of east Suffolk. A series of interactive food trails will be available online, allowing visitors to explore the area and plan their visit before they arrive. As well as raising the profile of local food outlets and producers, the online trails will also link with other tourism trails, festivals and markets. The grant forms part of a wider Defra campaign to celebrate the UK’s world class food industry and culture, drive growth and jobs in the sector, boost exports and establish Britain’s reputation as a great food nation. Out of the 65 national projects which applied for the funding, the Councils were amongst just 10 successful applicants. Businesses will be able to register for the trails for free and further details about how to sign up will be available early next year. Last chance to have say on merger proposals Local people are being urged to have their say on plans to create a new district council for East Suffolk, before the deadline for submitting comments ends on 12 December. The proposals considering the merge of Suffolk Coastal and Waveney will be decided on in January 2017. The councils have already commissioned leading research consultancy ComRes, who conducted an independent telephone survey on behalf of the councils in October. ComRes contacted a representative sample of 1,000 local people (500 from each district council area), who live in east Suffolk and asked them a number of questions about the proposals. Of these, a majority of respondents (57%) expressed a favourable view about the proposals, with 22% giving an unfavourable view and 20% saying ‘don’t know’. However, this favourable figure increased when respondents were provided with more information about the plans, with seven out of ten then expressing a favourable view (72%). Residents are invited to read the proposal summary and email their views about the plans to: [email protected] Devolution: Following our decision at Full Council to explore the possibility of developing a Suffolk- based Devolution deal to put to Government, Suffolk Coastal met with the other Suffolk local authorities on Wednesday (30 November) to discuss our next steps. This comment was issued by Andy Wood, Independent Chair of the Leaders Group, after the meeting: “Council leaders that agreed in November to continue discussions with Government on devolution met today to discuss ‘what next’.” “There was strong agreement that we must go back to Government as quickly as possible and negotiate a new deal for the ‘coalition of the willing’ area using the recently withdrawn one as a basis.” Suffolk Coastal welcomes feedback on Coastline Lite, email : [email protected] Read our latest news on:www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk ; Follow us: @EastSuffolk or like us on facebook www.facebook.com/suffolkcoastal 3 “Whilst the door remains very much open to other areas not currently round the table, Leaders are clear that it must not be to the detriment of the residents and businesses of those areas that have shown strong support throughout this process. “Leaders remain clear that Devolution will deliver real benefits for the communities they represent in terms of investment, infrastructure, growth and local decision making.” Autumn Statement – SEGWAY funding: There was good news in the Autumn Statement, when the Chancellor announced £1million funding for a business case to be developed supporting the Suffolk Energy Gateway Scheme (SEGWAY). Cllr Geoff Holdcroft, Deputy Leader and chairman of the Sizewell C Task Group, welcomed the news, saying: "We are extremely pleased to hear about the announcement of the funding to create a business case for the Suffolk Energy Gateway Scheme. “This project has the potential to open up the entire east coast of Suffolk, increasing accessibility and boosting all sections of the economy, bringing new growth, housing and helping our businesses. Obviously, this also has to be seen in the context of EDF Energy's proposal to build a two villages by-pass, which has the potential to significantly reduce our costs and make the whole project much more affordable. “However, this is just the first step, we have a long way to go before we can deliver this scheme and Suffolk Coastal remains committed to continuing to work with our partners to develop this proposal and make a clear business case to show the great value for money this improvement to our local infrastructure will have across the east coast." Car Park Improvements: We recently announced plans to improve two car parks; Melton Riverside and Thorpe Road in Aldeburgh. The work to Melton Riverside Car Park next to Melton Railway Station will involve a general clean up of the parking and picnic area and some realignment of the parking area to create an additional 20 car parking spaces. The car park surface will then be re-dressed, increasing the total number of parking spaces to 50. Once the work to this car park is completed, the Council hopes it will provide better access for regular users of the Country Park. The additional benefit of this work is that the refurbished car park will provide extra parking for those using the nearby facilities at the station and new district council offices, providing additional public parking at times of peak demand such as major planning meetings. The work to Thorpe Road car park involves improving the drainage of the site and surface of the car park. The tarmac surface at the entrance of the car park will be increased to prevent standing water and the area will be given a new shingle surface to help the area drain more effectively. Suffolk Coastal welcomes feedback on Coastline Lite, email : [email protected] Read our latest news on:www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk ; Follow us: @EastSuffolk or like us on facebook www.facebook.com/suffolkcoastal 4 Suffolk on screen: Suffolk’s new county-wide film service officially launched on 6 December at the International Production Show, Focus, in London. Pulling together locations, talent, crew sourcing and permitting on behalf of all eight local authorities, the one-stop service aims to make Suffolk the most film friendly county in England. Screen Suffolk launches with a new website at: www.screensuffolk.com featuring around 150 locations showing off the breadth of Suffolk’s portfolio: beaches and waterways, fens, airfields, WWI trenches, historical treasures, pristine villages, abandoned buildings and so much more. Saxmundham Skatepark: Saxmundham’s new Skatepark was unveiled on Saturday, 19 November. The new outdoor park is the result of many years of hard work between Saxmundham Town Council and S.A.V.V.Y (Saxmundham And Villages Volunteer Youth) who have been working with Suffolk County Council and Suffolk Coastal District Council to get the skatepark built. Suffolk Coastal has in total contributed nearly £45,000 to the skatepark with £40,000 in funding coming from the Outdoor Playing Space scheme, £4,000 from Cllrs Enabling Communities Budgets, £890 from Community Grants. S.A.V.V.Y have raised £6,080 in funding and Saxmundham Town Council have provided over £19,000, The skatepark has been built by FreeStyle whose design was chosen by members of the community after taking part in a consultation event earlier this year.