Lowestoft Town Council
At the meeting of the Full Council on Tuesday 25th October 2022, Lowestoft Town Council declared Lowestoft an Earth Protector Town. Lowestoft Town Council was among the first Councils to declare a Climate Emergency in 2019 and to recognise the escalating ecological catastrophe on earth. To reinforce this commitment to the environment, the Town Council voted in favour of being an Earth Protector Town and joining Earth Protector Communities growing global movement of towns, businesses, educational establishments and other organisations.
The declaration is both a symbolic and a practical step for the Town Council as it continues to work to protect the land, wildlife, air, soil and water whilst also endorsing the Stop Ecocide campaign which aims to address the lack of consequence for those who perpetuate significant harm to the planet and campaign for a change to international law to stop further devastation.
The Declaration:
In declaring Lowestoft an Earth Protector Town, Lowestoft Town Council undertakes to collaborate and cooperate with communities, local government bodies, businesses and other organisations to protect land, wildlife, air, soil and water. The Council considers the repercussions of its decisions and rigorous care is observed to avoid environmental harm in the exercise of its functions.
To protect the Earth, this Council will:
In declaring itself an Earth Protector Town, Lowestoft Town Council is publicly supporting the campaign to amend the Rome statute and declare Ecocide a crime at the ICC.
*ECOCIDE is serious loss, damage or destruction of ecosystems, and includes climate and cultural damage.
As we prepare for Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday, the "There But Not There" figures have been installed in the Remembrance Garden in Belle Vue Park. This year is especially poignant as we commemorate the 40th Anniversary of The Falklands.
On Armistice Day (Friday 11 November) there are three opportunities to commemorate the eleventh hour with short services taking place at:
All are welcome to attend these short services which will all begin shortly before 11am.
The annual service and parade for Remembrance Sunday will take place at the War Memorial, Royal Plain, on Sunday 13 November with the parade arriving from Claremont Pier into Royal Plain shortly before 11am.
This year, the parade will be led by soldiers of F (Sphinx) Parachute Battery Royal Horse Artillery, 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery who will also mark the beginning of the two-minutes silence with gun fire from a 105mm (L118) Light Gun.
The Deputy Lieutenant for Suffolk, Lord Somerleyton will lead the wreath laying while students from local schools and cadets from the Royal Air Force Air Cadets 469 (Lowestoft) Squadron will read during the service.
Music for the service will be provided by East Coast Sinfonietta with members of the Salvation Army Band.
All are welcome to attend this service as we come together to pay tribute to those who have lost their lives in service to our country.
The "Tommies" in Belle Vue Park
Lowestoft Town Council seeks interpretation consultant(s) to design and oversee the implementation of a compelling, interactive heritage experience package for the Grade II listed Lowestoft Town Hall, through development and delivery phases (pending funding), a project which is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Architectural Heritage Fund, Historic England and Towns Fund.
The Heritage Interpretation Specialist(s) will research, design, and oversee the implementation of a compelling and interactive heritage experience package. This will be required to interpret the town’s history in a vibrant, interactive, inclusive, engaging and innovative way.
Full details may be obtained from Lowestoft Town Council admin@lowestofttowncouncil.gov.uk 0330 053 6019
All bids to be received by Monday 28 November at 10am.
Read more on Town Hall Project - Heritage Interpretation Specialist(s)
With COP27 (the United Nations Climate Change Conference) meeting in Egypt this year, a number of free webinars are being organised for Suffolk residents by Green Suffolk. These webinars cover a range of topics and are designed to inform residents in ways to help the environment. These webinars include:
To sign-up to the free webinars, please head to the Green Suffolk website.
There are also a number of volunteer opportunities across the county to get involved with whilst COP27 is meeting.
Lowestoft Town Council’s Black History Month Writing Competition culminated on Friday 28th October with a presentation to the winning school and entrants at Lowestoft Library.
Over 70 young people entered the competition which saw a wide range of inspiring black people celebrated. Entries championed historical figures such as Rosa Parks, Mary Seacole and Katherine Johnson through to contemporary figures such as footballer Marcus Rashford, musician Lizzo and YouTuber Niko.
The judging panel, made up of three Lowestoft Town Councillors, Lowestoft’s Olympic Boxer Anthony Ogogo, Sally Connick from Get Suffolk Reading and Head Judge Mr Gary Harewood, were impressed with the high standard of entries. The Judges were particularly inspired by the overall winning entry, written by Poppy from Dell Primary school, who wrote about her Nan who is “always ready to help”.
“[My Nan] is a strong, independent woman who does so much for anyone” wrote Poppy about her “kind natured”, “caring” and “mysterious” Nan. “I hope one day I will be just like her and share her spirit”.
Mr Gary Harewood and his wife Natasha alongside Lowestoft’s Deputy Mayor Cllr Nasima Begum presented the prizes for the top entries in the year 3-6 category, awarding prizes to Poppy, Jackson, Mehmet, George, Austin and Kirushanya, and to Joel in the under year 2 category. Each winning entrant received two books donated by Get Suffolk Reading and a £50 book token from Lowestoft Town Council with Poppy, the overall winner, walking away with a signed photo from Anthony Ogogo.
This year also saw the introduction of a new perennial shield for the event, which was awarded to Dell Primary School.
Speaking after the event, Mr Harewood said “Thank you and congratulations to everyone who took part in this year’s competition. I’m looking forward to being a part of next year’s event and seeing how this competition grows”.
Anthony Ogogo said, “What a lovely thing to do. It was amazing to see the range of inspiring black people being celebrated. All the entries were fantastic and I’m honoured to have been asked to take part. Everyone should be very proud.”
Lowestoft Town Council wish to thank everyone who took part in this year’s competition, especially everyone who submitted entries. Thanks to a generous donation by Get Suffolk Reading, everyone who entered the competition will receive a copy of Marcus Rashford’s book “You are a Champion” as a thank you for taking part. Thank you also for the support from Lowestoft Library and to everyone who helped with the judging panel.
The competition will be running again next year with details to be announced in the new year.
Above: Some of the winning entrants from Dell Primary collecting their prizes
Above: The new perennial shield, awarded to the winning school, was collected by Dell Primary School
Above: Over 70 young people entered the competition this year with all the entries displayed in Lowestoft Library
Read more on Inspiring Black People celebrated in Black History Month Writing Competition
Last Saturday's Halloween Market at Triangle Market was a big success and capped on a terror-ific weekend of Halloween events throughout Lowestoft Town Centre.
A big thank you to everyone who came along and supported the market! We hope you enjoyed the many tricks and treats on offer.
And thank you to YouDrink, Gloryous Artisan Jewellery, Ellese Bakes, Sunrise Honey, YMCA - Shine, Tini's Fudge and Treats, Poison Apple Gifts, Paula's Accessories Shack and Elimay Home Catering for their stalls and to A Wool Shop Lowestoft for their spooky decorations!
Our next market will be the Christmas Market on Saturday 3rd December. If you are interested in having a stall, please get in contact with us at admin@lowestofttowncouncil.gov.uk
Photo credit: East Suffolk One
The Lowestoft Town Hall Project are looking for a freelance creative workshop practitioner to deliver our 'Town Hall Creates' community workshops. For more information and how to apply contact Heritage Project Manager Jess Johnston jessjohnston315@gmail.com.
"Town Hall Creates" Workshop Brief | Applicant Declaration
Read more on Opportunity: Freelance Creative Workshop Practitioner
At the Meeting of the Full Council on Tuesday 25th October, Lowestoft Town Council voted to continue to provide its Sports and Leisure Facilities for free into the 2023/2024 Financial Year.
This decision recognises the importance of having access to free sport and leisure activities for people's health and welbeing, especially during the current cost of living crisis.
Residents and Visitors are welcome to use Lowestoft Town Council owned facilities without the need to book in advance. This includes the tennis courts at Kensington Gardens, Normanston Park and Denes Oval, and the putting green at Denes Oval. If you have any issues with the facilities, please talk to the onsite Norse Ground Staff.
On Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th October Lowestoft Town Hall will be open for it’s first ‘Town Hall Take Over’ as part of the Lowestoft Town Hall redevelopment project.
New hoarding designs created by young people from YMCA Trinity youth group will be unveiled on the Mariner Street window hoardings. The young people have been working in collaboration with local Graffiti artist Stane, and Lowestoft Cultural Education Partnership to create designs inspired by Lowestoft’s history.
The Town Hall building will be open from 10am -3pm on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th October 10am-2.30pm for people to view the Council chamber. There will also be an opportunity to view displays about the history of the Town Hall site and local industries and the progress of the Town Hall’s redevelopment project.
The redevelopment project will transform the building into a multi functioning building which will become the home of Lowestoft Town Council and an inclusive centre for the community and visitors. Lowestoft Town Council has been awarded a development grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to progress its plans to a delivery stage application and deliver a pilot heritage activity programme to provide opportunities for local people to get involved, learn new skills and find out more about Lowestoft’s history. The project is also supported by the Towns Fund, the Architectural Heritage Fund, Historic England and East Suffolk Council.
On both days the ‘Memories bike’ will be moored and ready to deliver fun, heritage inspired activities such as making stained glass windows using waste plastic, badge making, and Museum object handling.
There will also be evocative postcards with images from the Jack Rose collection to prompt people’s memories of the Town Hall and local industries. These will be used as inspiration for a new video poem created and produced by Poetry People.
Local Historian David Butcher will talk on the history of the Town Hall site from 2.30pm-3.30pm Sunday 30th October. Free Tickets are available via Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/430372424507
If you can’t make it to this ‘Town Hall Take Over’ you can explore the Town Hall virtually through this Virtual Tour developed by Hugh Davies Exterior - SeekBeak You’ll be able to see places in the Town Hall that you can’t normally visit, ring the Town Hall bell, find out more about the history of the building. Over the coming months, it’ll be the go-to place to find out updates about the Town Hall refurbishment project. It will also act as a virtual heritage hub with changing exhibitions which tell the story of Lowestoft and link to the many museums and heritage organisations in the Town.
Read more on Young people and community Take Over the Town Hall!
