Lowestoft Town Council
Preparations for Lowestoft’s first Pride event are underway as Sparrows Nest Gardens gets ready to host Britain’s Most-Easterly Pride on Saturday 3rd August. Back for its second year, Lowestoft Pride promises to be a celebration of love, diversity, and community like no other.
This inclusive family-friendly celebration, which is being organised by Lowestoft Town Council, will include a variety of live entertainment and stalls throughout the day and into the evening with the event starting at 11am and ending at 7pm.
The stage in Sparrows Nest Gardens will see the likes of Ivy Aphrodite and Triple Entendre join local choir the Screamin’ Seagulls and community group Suffolk Sober Spaces. The Marina Samba Band will also be bringing a colourful, carnival atmosphere to the event.
This free event will also see a variety of stalls set up with activities and information. All the organisations involved champion the LGBT+ community. Stallholders on the day include True Colours Lowestoft, Oasis, Suffolk Sexual Health Service, LGBTQ+ Project, Norfolk and Waveney MIND, Re-utilise, Lowestoft Town Hall Project, The Way To Go Suffolk, Lowestoft Police and Suffolk Wildlife Trust amongst others.
As part of Lowestoft Town Council’s Climate initiatives, attendees to the event are encouraged to use public transport or alternative transport with limited car parking available.
Speaking ahead of the event, Cllr Nasima Begum, Mayor of Lowestoft, said “We are delighted to host Lowestoft Pride once again. This event is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our diverse community and promote inclusivity. We champion all our community, and we’re here to represent everybody. It’s an opportunity to educate and signpost people to various organizations to offer support and advice.”
It was wonderful to officially celebrate and open the tennis court facilities today at Denes Oval.
Thank you to everyone who came along and took part in the Lowestoft Town Tennis and Pickleball Club open day to try out both tennis and pickleball. The event runs until 1pm today.
The tennis courts at Denes Oval will be available to book for free via the LTA website. The use of the floodlights in the evenings (timings vary monthly) will include a small charge to cover the electricity.
Booking for courts is free and simple via the LTA Website.
Read more on Lowestoft celebrates launch of new Tennis facilities
The Grade II Lowestoft Town Hall was built during the late Victorian period and has been vacant since 2015. It is a prominent landmark on Lowestoft's historic High Street. Now owned by Lowestoft Town Council, grant funding from the Heritage Fund, Towns Fund and East Suffolk Council is supporting a project to restore and extend it.
The restored Town Hall will be transformed into a multifunctional community building - 1,900sqm over two floors - bringing significant footfall to this deprived area.
Lowestoft Town Council and the Registrars will become 'anchor' tenants; the remainder of the building will include a heritage gallery, a café, art gallery, coworking space, meeting rooms and events spaces, around a courtyard garden.
The development of the Town Hall is intended to contribute to economic regeneration, part of a multimillion-pound investment programme in this most easterly town.
The works consist of
• Demolition of some parts of the current structure/strip out of later additions to the building.
• Extensive reconfiguration and restoration of the existing buildings, including conservation of the historic fabric, including lime plaster, mouldings, original sash windows and doors, original floors etc and slate roof replacement.
• Construction of a new events space with prep kitchen and bar, and an art gallery
• M&E throughout including low carbon technologies (air source heat pumps, PV panels, MVHR etc), fire and security alarms; lifts; AV support.
• Groundworks, services and landscaping.
Full contract tender details can be found on Contracts Finder.
Tender documents can be accessed by emailing admin@lowestofttowncouncil.gov.uk
Closing Deadline: 19 August 2024, 12pm (please note that this deadline has been extended from the original date)
Read more on Lowestoft Town Hall | Refurbishment and Construction of Extensions
The newly refurbished tennis courts at Normanston Park will be open from tomorrow (Thursday 20th June).
The courts can be booked using the same system that was introduced in Kensington Gardens with the simple-to-use online booking system to ensure that you can enjoy the tennis facilities at a time convenient to you. Booking online requires having a free LTA Advantage account, which is also quick and simple to set up and gives you access a range of LTA resources and access to court bookings across the country.
If you have any issues with the online booking system or gaining access to the courts, please contact the Town Council.
Read more on Free-to-access tennis courts at Normanston Park to Open
This year Heritage Open Days is celebrating its 30th Anniversary and is creating a special gallery page to mark the occasion. The Anniversary Gallery will showcase the many different sites, stories and people that make up the national Heritage Open Days events.
We are delighted that the Town Hall has been shortlisted from hundreds of entries to be a part of this gallery but we now need your help to make it into the final choice! All you need to do is go to the HODs website and vote for the Town Hall in the Eastern Region category.
Voting closes on 30th June before the final announcement is made in July!
Read more on Vote for the Town Hall to be in the HODs Anniversary Gallery
The Marina Theatre is to be upgraded to improve to audience facilities as part of the creation of a cultural quarter for Lowestoft. The works will consist of the creation of a new theatre entrance within a new link building between the existing Victorian Theatre and the more modern Zenith Building. The new link incorporates a lift to give access to all floors of the Theatre, new toilets and a new box office. The new link will replace an existing single storey structure which will be demolished as part of this contract. The contract also includes some refurbishment works to the Theatre and the Zenith Building.
Lowestoft Town Council are holding an open day for interested tenderers to find more details of the project on 17th June at the Theatre to attend please contact Lowestoft Town Council by email admin@lowestofttowncouncil.gov.uk.
Procurement Route - The current intended procurement route is an open process which will be published on Contracts Finder 22nd July 2024
Procurement reference LTH MT
Procurement stage Future opportunity
Approach to market date 22 July 2024
Read more on Contract Opportunity | Marina Theatre - Construction Contract
The tennis courts at Kensington Gardens are now OPEN!
Following closure as part of a project in partnership with the LTA - Tennis For Britain to upgrade all our tennis courts, local residents and visitors can once again enjoy free-to-access tennis in the picturesque Kensington Gardens.
Access to the tennis courts is available through the new online booking system which allows for free booking of the tennis courts. To book the courts, users will need to sign up for a free LTA Advantage account before they can then book your sessions (from 30 minutes to 2 hours) up to two weeks in advance.
Bookings can be made via https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/kensington-gardens or by scanning the QR-code on the gate at Kensington Gardens. Please then follow the instructions on the gate for inputting your access code (codes are valid 10 minutes prior to you booking slot.)
