Lowestoft Town Council
The drying racks at The Ness were put to good use when volunteers from Google's London office came to Lowestoft to help dress the Excelsior's sails for the new season. This is a biennial event which the Town Council are pleased to welcome on the land at The Ness. More information about the Excelsior can be found here: www.excelsiortrust.co.uk.
Photograph courtesy of Alice Taylor.
Read more on Dressing the Excelsior's sails at the drying racks
The First Light Festival are looking to recruit a team of 150+ committed, enthusiastic and responsible volunteers to help deliver this unique event for Lowestoft.
If you are interested, you can find out more by visiting www.firstlightlowestoft.com/take-part or by emailing volunteer@firstlightlowestoft.com.
Read more on Volunteering Opportunities at the First Light Festival
An election will be held on 2 May for Town Councillors for the following wards. To view the full Election Notices as issued by East Suffolk Council on 15 March, please click here.
| Elm Tree Parish Ward | Three Councillors |
| Gunton Parish Ward | One Councillors |
| Kirkley Parish Ward | Three Councillors |
| Harbour and Normanston Parish Ward | Six Councillors |
| Pakefield Parish Ward | Three Councillors |
| St Margarets East Parish Ward | Two Councillors |
| St Margarets West Parish Ward | One Councillor |
| Tom Crisp Parish Ward | One Councillor |
Nomination forms are available from the Returning Officer at East Suffolk Council and must be delivered back to the Returning Officer between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm Monday to Friday and no later than 4 pm on Wednesday 3 April.
Electoral Services, East Suffolk Council, 2 Canning Road, Lowestoft, NR33 0EQ.
Suffolk County Council provided a presentation at the well attended Annual Assembly of the Town this week, facilitated by Lowestoft Town Council. More information was provided about the design on which the Third Crossing was based - a bascule bridge crossing the Hatea River in New Zealand. For more information please visit: https://knightarchitects.co.uk/project/lower-hatea-crossing/
For further information about the Third Crossing Project please visit: https://www.suffolk.gov.uk/roads-and-transport/transport-planning/lake-lothing-3rd-crossing/ and for information from the Planning Inspectorate please visit: https://infrastructure.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/eastern/lake-lothing-third-crossing/
Read more on Annual Assembly of the Town - Lake Lothing Third Crossing
The Town Council were pleased to support the 2018 Grit Fest and the making of this film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmSxungxY5I
We very much look forward to future Grit events. We welcome other events celebrating the history of our town or engaging our community taking place in Sparrows Ness or any of our parks. Please contact us for more information on holding events in our parks.
Thanks to the Poetry People and all those involved in making the 2018 Grit Fest such as success.
Locally important medals have been secured for Lowestoft by Lowestoft Town Council. The Town Council rarely purchases any artefacts and has a modest budget for this purpose. However, the auction of a pair of ‘Lowestoft Air Raids’ medals from the Second World, was a unique opportunity. What makes the medals special is that they were awarded in 1941 to Miss Dorothy A D Dallimer, Telephone Supervisor, Lowestoft Post Office, for her courage and devotion to duty in maintaining an efficient telephone service throughout the air raids during periods of constant danger.
The first issue medal to Miss Dorothy Ann Daphne Dallimer is a British Empire Medal (Civil) G VI R on a lady’s bow riband and was sold in a slightly damaged card box of issue. The second issue to Miss Dorothy Anne D Dallimer BEM has the surname partially corrected and was sold in the card box of issue, extremely fine.
At a time when the achievements and contributions of women to society are being particularly highlighted, it is timely that Lowestoft Town Council has acquired these medals to ensure they are accessible locally. Arrangements are in hand to ensure their safe delivery and display at the Council’s office at Hamilton House, Battery Green Road.
Understandably, the medals attracted considerable interest but were secured by the Town Council for a total price, including fees, of less than £2000.
The Town Council is currently developing an Acquisitions and Disposal Policy to ensure it can deal appropriately with gifts of artefacts from members of the public and organisations. The Town Council recognises that some items are important to the Town but it must make pragmatic decisions about which gifts to accept and which purchases to make, given the long-term responsibility for careful guardianship of such items. In practice, it is likely that few items will be accepted as so significant to Lowestoft that the Council will take them as gifts and items at auction will rarely be purchased.
Contact details for the Town Council: Shona Bendix (Clerk) admin@lowestofttowncouncil.uk
Tel: 0330 053 6019 www.lowestofttowncouncil.gov.uk
Read more on Press Release - Locally Important Medals Secured for Lowestoft by the Town Council
Lowestoft Town Council is currently running two surveys to gather residents' opinions and ensure value for money. The Council is asking about the current use of the Kirkley Cliff Road public conveniences and the Pakefield Street public conveniences. The opinions the Council gathers will be used to consider the future of these toilets given that they currently cost £15,000 per year (approximately 30p per use) and £9,000 per year (approximately 80p per use) respectively for their upkeep.
Both surveys can be found via our website or Facebook page.
The results of the two surveys undertaken at the end of 2018 are now available. The Town Council asked for thoughts on the development of open spaces at North Denes and Clarkes Lane. For the North Denes, the Town Council was seeking to gather initial views on the unleased land. A Town Council Working Group will now look in more detail at the future use of this land.
Contact details for the Council: admin@lowestofttowncouncil.uk Tel: 0330 053 6019
Website: www.lowestofttowncouncil.gov.uk
Read more on Press Release - Toilets Survey and Survey Results
For immediate release
Press release
The Town Council has set its precept for 2019/20. The precept is its part of the Council Tax demand. The Town Council continues to deal with the challenges faced by the unilateral decision of Waveney District Council to transfer over mainly non-revenue earning assets, many transferred in poor repair and with inadequate information and funding. A considerable amount of time and money has had to be spent on determining the condition of buildings and making repairs and improvements where possible.
Lowestoft Town Council faces large bills for maintaining assets such as the Town Hall, Marina Theatre and Denes Oval due to lack of investment over a number of years. These are to ensure that the buildings do not become unsafe or deteriorate such that they become a greater liability and expense in the future.
At the start of this budgeting process, the sums identified to carry out the immediate repairs would have resulted in a 46% increase in the precept. After months of work to identify savings and different ways of financing expenditure, this was reduced by over two thirds. The Council did not want to cut public-facing services but ultimately determined a further reduction on the increase, totalling £120k. It did this through delaying some budget items to future years and making small savings across the whole budget.
Part of the Council’s strategy for dealing with the financial commitments, is to consider taking out a loan to spread the cost of needed repairs over a longer period. However, every element of the expenditure will need to be subject to individual project-plans and costings and residents will be consulted on whether to seek loans for relevant projects.
For a Band A property the increase will be £8.31 per year (16p per week) and for a Band D property the increase will be £12.47 per year (24p per week). The precept will rise by 9.62%.
The Mayor, Cllr Ian Graham, said “We are delighted that we have already been able to improve many assets under our care. Play areas, such as those at Normanston Park and Stoven Close have seen major improvements. We created a beautiful memorial garden and helped deliver successful events in our open spaces in the town. Our Town Hall has had some emergency repairs and we anticipate that we will be progressing a viability study on its future shortly. The Marina Theatre is now more secure owing to our purchase of the Box Office Building and we will be investing to keep the main Theatre fit for purpose. We made use of our leisure facilities free in 2018/19 and we were greatly encouraged by the major impact this had on usage. We are looking at new ways to incentivise improvements in use and facilities through working with the Clubs in 2019/20. Although we are faced with an unavoidable increase in the precept, in real terms the figures are low compared to the impact of the bigger budgets of Councils such as Waveney District Council. The Town Council is focused solely on delivery benefits for Lowestoft.”
Contact details for the Council: shona.bendix@lowestofttowncouncil.gov.uk Tel: 0330 053 6019
Further information on the Town Council can be seen at: www.lowestofttowncouncil.gov.uk
Read more on Press Release - The Town Council sets its precept for 2019/20
On Monday 29 January the Mayor, Town Councillors and Friends of Kensington Gardens unveiled a new plaque at the tree planted by Waveney District Council in 2002 to mark Holocaust Memorial Day. The original plaque near the west side entrance to the park had become illegible and in a poor state of repair and the Town Council is pleased to provide a replacement. A wreath of yellow flowers was laid and a silence observed to remembers all those who had lost their lives through genocide.
Next year,2020, will mark 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz. The Town Council will work with local organisations on events which will recall the role the town played when the Kinder Train arrived at Lowestoft Station and how the people of Lowestoft offered their homes to victims of the Holocaust.
