June 2008

TOWN AFFAIRS

A request from Southwold Town Council

At the last meeting of Southwold Town Council held on 27th May (full coverage in the next issue), the growing problem of posters in Southwold was discussed. The Council deplores the fact that the numbers of posters is growing and that the people responsible for them are not removing them when their usefulness has ended. This was highlighted by the case of two pictures that were recently put on the Pump in the Market Place with parcel tape. No only did those responsible not take them away but, when the pictures were finally removed, the type of tape used caused much of the paint to come off as well. It will cost £600 to restore the Pump to its former glory.

People are asked to think before they do this and, if they do go ahead, to ensure they remove them at the end. It is a form of pollution and can also be regarded as fly-posting or graffiti, which are offences.

Let’s keep Southwold the special place it should be!

The Community Emergency Committee

(Information kindly supplied by Cllr Simon Tobin.)

What is the Committee and the Joint Emergency Planning Unit?
This group of people will not be run by the Town Council or Parish Council. It is, as it says, a community group. It requires leaders to make up a group, regularly meet, eg once a month to start with, and get a team of, say, ten people in Southwold and ten people in Reydon. These people would be able to offer assistance and organisation if an emergency took place in our area.
The group would have a good working relationship with, for instance:
• the Police
• the Fire Brigade
• the lifeboat
• the Coastguard and Harbour users
• radio stations
• the Hospital and doctors, and the Red Cross
• Neighbourhood Watch
• the WRVS.
The group would also have information on halls, beds etc in case of evacuation and equipment available in the area, eg generators, diggers, chainsaws, diesel, petrol etc.

Why have a group?
To name just a few of the more obvious threats in this area:
• Close to our hearts is flooding, of course. That on 9th November 2007 was so near a major situation. An extra water height of just six inches could have been very serious for our community.
• Did you know that Southwold is one of two major ship-to-ship transfer areas in the UK? A massive 320,000-tonne oil supertanker stops 13 miles off Southwold regularly to have its oil pumped into smaller ships to be taken ashore.
• Sizewell B nuclear power station is 20 miles down the coast.
We do not wish to be alarmist, but to have basic preparation and knowledge of equipment available and where to go and contact numbers for our community could make a great difference in the unlikely event of a major problem.

Preparation can begin at home
A quick question to ask yourself – do you have at home:
(a) three days’ spare food in tins?
(b) a radio with spare batteries?
(c) a light with spare batteries?

Taking it further
Please get in contact with me on 01502 725153 for further details. A general meeting will take place over the next month for all interested parties.

Cllr Simon Tobin

JOTTINGS at the meeting of Southwold Town Council held on Tuesday 29th April 2008.

Crimes in Southwold
PCSO Ian Irvine informed the meeting that there had been eight reported crimes since the last meeting:

Four cases of criminal damage to a vehicle, beach huts and a house.
Two cases of theft (one from a beach hut and one from a house)
One case of burglary
One case of driving a vehicle while under the influence of excess alcohol.

Cllr Windell understood that damage had been caused to four to five beach huts by a party. PCSO Irvine replied that there were ongoing enquiries but could confirm there had been damage. Cllr Webb noted that there had been fireworks on the beach for half an hour the other night. PSCO Irvine responded that fireworks were permissible up to 11 pm, but he would look into it. He also undertook to look into fires on the beach after both Cllr Allen and the Town Mayor (Mrs Teresa Baggott) reported instances of this.

Property and planning

82 High Street
The meeting first considered applications for development permission and listed building consent for the construction of a second-storey rear extension at this address. This was behind the Crooked House, Cllr Doy reported. The Southwold and Reydon Society had sent a letter supporting this and she could see no reasons for objecting to it. The meeting therefore recommended approval.

28 Pier Avenue
Next on the agenda was an application for permission to construct a single-storey rear extension at 28 Pier Avenue. Cllr Windell reported that he could see no problem with it at all, so the meeting agreed to recommend approval.

Flint Cottage, Centre Cliff
Mr R Bull used the public forum to object on behalf of both himself and two neighbouring residents to the proposed construction of one house on a site adjacent to this building. Among his main concerns, he felt it was contrary to the local plan (ie it should not be built in a garden in a conservation area), it would be partly within the 30-metre exclusion zone of the cliffs, it could cause problems for the stability of the cliff because of the proposed basement and the weight of the building, it would encroach on the road, it would create parking issues (as there were only two garages for Flint Cottage) and it would cause problems for the existing drainage capacity. He also felt the application did not give a proper idea of the scale of the building, its context (particularly as regards the Sailors’ Reading Room and the impact it would have on the view) or its height in relation to other buildings. He was also not happy that the building itself would be a pastiche, which would not be acceptable in Southwold. A letter of objection had also been received from the Southwold and Reydon Society. Cllr Windell was not in favour as he was concerned about the proposed basement as it would still be a three-storey weight on the cliff, the building would be too close to the road, there was the car parking issue and it was out of keeping. The meeting therefore recommended refusal.

45A High Street
Regarding the application for permission to construct a rear dormer and replacement windows at this address, Cllr Windell noted that it would be behind the estate agents next door. He could see no problems with it, so the meeting recommended approval.

15 East Cliff
The meeting then moved on to a retrospective application for listed building consent for a replacement front door and the removal of an internal wall at this property. Cllr Windell noted that this was for work done in 1978! He recommended approval, which the meeting duly did.

94 High Street
Another application for listed building consent was then considered, this time for a roof extension and internal alterations in this building. Cllr Doy noted that this development had been approved by them before, so the meeting therefore recommended that consent be given.

The Old Mill, The Common
Finally, an application for permission for a roof extension at rear of this property was considered. Cllr Doy had no objections to this, so approval was recommended by the meeting.

Final decisions
The Town Clerk (Mrs Jenny Hursell) informed the meeting that WDC had given its approval to the proposed developments at 23 Hotson Road, The Crown Hotel, North Parade Gardens and 42 East Street, but had rejected the proposed development at 4 Blackshore.

Miscellaneous
When considering the report of the Policy and Finance Committee meeting held on 15th April, it was noted that discussions were underway with Crabapple over the selling of fish on its premises. There was the potential for a compromise, so this item was therefore deferred from the report.
The meeting also considered a request from the Recreational Development Council (EDC) about a possible further pledge of money to the Sports Pavilion. There had been an extra cost due to new regulations requiring extra ventilation in the building. The meeting agreed to defer any decision until it was known what the RDC’s exact needs were.

With the ongoing issue of the impending local government reorganisation, the Council had received a letter from Suffolk County Council (SCC) and Mid Suffolk District Council about a ‘one Suffolk’ concept. Cllr Winter felt they should not discuss this at the moment until they had all the information as it was probably going to be the most important matter they would have to consider. This was met with general approval. Mindful of the time scale (they had until mid June to decide on their preferred option), the meeting agreed to have an informal full council meeting on Tuesday 20th May.

In response to a request from Mr P Donoghue to reduce the height of the hedge at the foot of Gardner Road, the meeting agreed to trim it rather than cut it down.

The Town Mayor and Deputy Mayor (Cllr Ladd) reported on the Four Towns and Kessingland Group meeting they had attended on 21st April. The Town Mayor noted that they had learned that all attending the meeting had had problems communicating with WDC. All present felt that the meetings and Group were worthwhile and decided to ask WDC to attend a meeting where the Group could Waveney’s representatives whether the derogations would be affected by the proposed local government changes.

Cllr Miller reported on the Healthy Living Centre meeting on 21st April. He was felt it was very good and wanted to emphasise that those behind the Centre were after support (1,000 signatures) NOT money. Nothing would happen before September, but they were very optimistic and thought it would take three to four years. The Deputy Mayor informed the meeting that he had been invited to a site appraisal on 13th May.

SCC had written a letter informing the Council that there were no plans to introduce a 20 mph speed limit scheme in Suffolk. Cllr Tobin reported that there was a petition of 40 in favour of such a scheme in Southwold, but the Police were concerned about its enforcement. The Town Clerk added that SCC had said that it would not be able to enforce it legally. The Deputy Mayor suggested as an alternative that ‘30’ be put on the road on both sides of Mights Bridge as cars did appear to speed up after crossing it either way.

Jottings at the annual meeting of Southwold Town Council held on Mondav 12th May 2008.

A safe pair of hands
The main business of the evening was the election of the Town Mayor for Southwold for 2008/09. Teresa Baggott was elected for a second year as it was felt she had done a good job in her first year and would be an excellent mayor again. It was also felt that continuity would be needed in complex negotiations with WDC. Michael Ladd was elected Deputy Mayor for a second year running on the grounds he had done a wonderful job supporting the Town Mayor last year.

Planning again

17 Field Stile Road
The meeting considered an application for development permission for the construction of a single-storey side and rear extension and off-street parking to the front at this address. A letter of objection from neighbours had been received. Cllr Webb noted that nothing had been much altered from the previous application and it would still affect the natural light of the neighbours, so therefore recommended refusal. Cllr Miller noted that the architect, in the notes, had said he had taken pains to take in comments from last time and had tried to make it acceptable. Cllr Webb responded that this was the third application on this property and it did not detract from what had been said. There were still issues about natural light, the street scene and on-street parking that needed to be addressed. After a vote, the meeting recommended refusal.

Section 106 money
Rob Temple from Southwold RFU and the Pavilion used the Public Forum to note that WDC had decided that Southwold Town Council could decide what to do with the Section 106 money coming from the Station Road development. He was, as most knew, actively involved in the Pavilion and ‘respectfully’ asked Southwold Town Council to consider using it on the Pavilion. The Town Mayor replied that they would be having a meeting alter that week to discuss this issue as they did have other things they wanted to spend it on, but they would consider his request.

The meeting considered consider a letter from WDC about the Section 106 Agreement relating to the former garage site on Mights Road. It was informed that the Section 106 contribution was not due until the building works started (there had only been clearing work so far). WDC wanted the Town Council’s feedback on how to spend this money (£14,048 in total) as it would be available soon. The Town Mayor noted that the subcommittee would discuss this. There were things in the pipeline they wanted to spend money on and they had had one further suggestion that evening. Having discussed the options, the Pavilion was looked upon favourably by the meeting, particularly as the situation with the Klondyke was still not resolved, although it would be up to the subcommittee to make the final decision.

The final word
The Town Clerk informed the meeting that WDC had given its approval to the proposed developments at 77 Victoria Street, North Green House, 39A Marlborough Road and 29 Hotson Road, but had rejected the proposed development at the Garden Gallery at the rear of Sutherland House (a decision particularly well received by councillors).