2018 Local News Stories

[Trigger]

Latest post of the previous page:

Calls renewed for bollard to stop motorists driving wrong way down pedestrianised shopping area

Reports of illegally parked cars and vehicles driving the wrong way down a pedestrianised shopping area have left business owners fearing for their customer’s safety.
Reports of illegally parked cars and vehicles driving the wrong way down a pedestrianised shopping area have left business owners fearing for their customer’s safety.
Progress has since stalled after the group was told by Suffolk County Council (SCC) that funding would have to be sourced locally, believed to be around £10,000 due to the requirement of a Traffic Regulation Order.
Lowestoft Vision chairman Danny Steel expressed his dismay at the lack of action with the group lobbying for a solution since 2015.
He said: “The High Street Traders Association offered a solution that many of the business on the triangle supported. The idea was to install a retractable, lockable bollard that all the traders would have a key for to allow deliveries.
“I am convinced that at some point someone will be seriously injured or killed by a vehicle and then maybe something will be done.”
The group claim a collapsible bollard would enforce the High Street’s closure to all vehicles between 10.30am and 4pm, and reduce illegal parking.
Read more: http://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk/news/ ... -1-5448557

[boatbuilder]

Police stop car driven from London with ‘no brakes’ on A47

Police stopped a car on the A47 on Saturday which had been driven from London with a number of deficiencies.
Officers from the Norfolk and Suffolk Roads Policing Unit stopped the vehicle on the A47 at Acle.
The force tweeted: “#A47 no brakes as fluid coming out, no brake lights, seatbelt or tax. Driven from London in condition.”
The condition of the car was met with some shock on social media.

@phil11armstrong tweeted: “That is astonishing I drive that road regularly and to think anybody could meet a vehicle in that condition is scary #idiot.”

@ChrisLeeTM said: “Never a good thing and judging by the state of that I would say it’s down to poor maintenance.”

And @Critchtime tweeted: “We are in a world of complacency where people just don’t care. Perhaps because the consequences for personal actions don’t attract the proper penalties.”

Lowestoft Journal

[boatbuilder]

Demolition work starts at old factory site where retail park will open

Work has started on a multi-million pound development in south Lowestoft which will see a vacant factory site turned into a retail park.
New life will be breathed into the former Zephyr Cams factory site, on Tower Road, with a number of nationally renowned retailers confirmed to be moving in.
These include a drive-through Costa, Aldi, The Range, Card Factory, Greggs, Subway and Jollyes Pets. The £9.3m redevelopment is due to open under the new name Gateway Retail Park by March next year.

TPS, acting as development and project managers on behalf of Freshwater Group, secured planning in April 2016 after Waveney District Council voted unanimously in favour of the scheme. Mark Newton, development director for TPS, said: “The development will not only breathe life into a derelict site but will also bring a diverse and new range of retail offers to the town centre. The fact that we have started on site with most of the space pre-let is a testament to the hard work of the team involved.”

Full Story

[boatbuilder]

Received via email at 0850 today.

[Trigger]

Great Yarmouth church 'desecrated in satanist' attack

A Catholic church has been "desecrated" for a second time after a man lit fires and left satanic images at the altar, the diocese said.
The incident at St Mary's church, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, was caught on CCTV.
The church said footage showed a man lighting small fires before attempting to burn a sacred icon he took off the altar and put a picture of a satanic figure in its place.
Norfolk Police said it was treating it as a religiously aggravated hate crime.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-43584783

[Trigger]

Have you seen the whales off the Lowestoft coast today?

People have taken to social media this morning to report that lots of whales have been spotted off the coast of Lowestoft. Did you see them?
Speaking to this paper, Paul Howard said that “a large pod of whales or porpoises are currently off Pakefield’s beach in Lowestoft.”
He added that crowds are there watching the spectacle. Other posts on Facebook groups confirm the sighting.
However, it seems photos are yet to appear of the whales, who are notoriously difficult creatures to photograph.
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/environment ... -1-5458505

[Trigger]

Update to the previous post

Does this footage show ‘whales’ off the coast of Lowestoft?

Speaking to this paper, Paul Howard said that “a large pod of whales or porpoises are currently off Pakefield’s beach in Lowestoft.”
He added that crowds were there watching the spectacle. Other posts on Facebook groups confirm the sighting.
Emma Moore also managed to capture this footage of what she believes could be the whales off Lowestoft’s coast.
However Adam Harper later commented that, in his opinion, there were no whales off the Suffolk coast today.
He said: “It was a sandbank and southerly wind that created the ‘whales’ - combined with poor eyesight and public excitement.”
http://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk/news/ ... -1-5458505 – link includes video.

[Mel]

“It was a sandbank and southerly wind that created the ‘whales’ - combined with poor eyesight and public excitement.”

It was my excitement and poor eyesight that had me believing last year I saw a pod of whales off Lowestoft beach...which turned out to be a sandbank

[funkychick]

Again I viewed last year and it was very obviously the curve of the waves on the sandbank that made it appear to be whales looking at videos and photos of this years ‘sightings’ they are exactly the same so I am afraid I really don’t think we ve had any visitors and it is so shallow there if there were any whales they would be beached on the sandbank
It’s romantic and exiting to think there is a visiting pod but I don’t believe so

[Trigger]

Southwold 'not interested' in council's rickshaw plans

Plans to allow motorised tuk-tuks and cycle rickshaws have been welcomed in all but one town in north-east Suffolk.
A decision on the proposals, which have been part of an eight-week consultation, is due to be made by Waveney District Council on Wednesday.
Beccles, Bungay, Halesworth and Lowestoft have all supported the plans.
But Southwold Town Council said it did not want "any such vehicles to operate within the town".
The proposals will be discussed by councillors on Waveney's licensing committee.
Under the plans, drivers of motorised or cycle rickshaws will have to be granted a Hackney Carriage licence, similar to taxi drivers.
They will also need to hold a UK driving licence, even if operating a cycle rickshaw as the council said it wants "any person using one of these vehicles to transport the public to have a good knowledge of the road".
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-43630345

[muzzy]

Good to see they're all planning on killing off any potential local business. I can't see any one person planning a rickshaw, going through all the rigmarole of applying for a Hackney Carriage license. I especially can't see a person with a cycle rickshaw doing so. We had a cycle rickshaw a few years ago on the promenade, which I thought was a nicer idea than the silly car train we've had the past few years. I wonder of the car train will also have to apply for a Hackney Carriage license?

[boatbuilder]

Having seen the problems they are causing in London’s Oxford Street, I think it’s.a crazy idea.

[Trigger]

Further to the "whales" seen seen off Lowestoft, I came across this recent article in the EDP:

The EDP – dated 14 March - the opening sentence of the article is as follows:

“There was excitement on the north Norfolk coast today after reports of a lost penguin on Trimingham beach.”
http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/environment ... -1-5433475

[Trigger]

The Hold, Ipswich: Work to begin on £20m archive project

Work on a new £20m archives building will begin this spring after the project received lottery funding.
The Heritage Lottery Fund is providing £10.3m for The Hold, to be built near Ipswich's waterfront.
It will house the majority of the Suffolk Record Office's collection and provide facilities for the university.
Suffolk County Council, which has pledged £5m toward the project, said The Hold is scheduled to open by the end of 2019.
It is to be built on a site at the junction of Fore Street and Grimwade Street, opposite the main University of Suffolk building.
The council, which is responsible for the Suffolk Records Office, said the new building will "enable existing and new audiences to explore 900 years of archival material and share Suffolk's treasured stories".
Councillor Tony Goldson said: "The Hold project will enable us to deliver many more archive-related events, learning activities and digital programmes than we can currently offer across the whole county, whilst completely transforming our ability to care for and showcase our county's records and collections."
The University of Suffolk has also part-funded The Hold and its registrar and secretary, Tim Greenacre, said the building will provide "some outstanding new teaching and conference space".
It will replace the existing Suffolk Record Office building on Gatacre Road in west Ipswich.
Some of the archive held in Bury St Edmunds will be moved to Ipswich, but about 15% of the county collection will remain there.
A consultation about the future of the office in Lowestoft, which houses about 8.6% of the county's collection, is due to begin later this spring.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-43655135

[Trigger]

Bats must be built new home before £9m Norwich hospital revamp can take place

Ambitious plans for a multi-million pound replacement hospital in Norwich have been lodged - but bats will need to be found a new home before demolition work can begin.
Health bosses are looking to spend about £9m on a major revamp of the Norwich Community Hospital (NCH) site, off Bowthorpe Road and have submitted proposals to Norwich City Council.
It would see the current hospital knocked down, with a replacement five-storey hospital built, along with new care units, a care home and accommodation for workers.
But the discovery of bats in one of the existing buildings means that, if planning permission is secured, a new home for the mammals would have to be provided before demolition could begin.
A Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust spokeswoman said: “The trust has now submitted the outline application for redevelopment of the old NCH site to provide a new hospital."
Read more: http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/health/bats ... -1-5468217

[Trigger]

Twitchers stunned to see rare American bittern make an appearance at nature reserve

An American star with stripes has lured hundreds of birdwatchers to an East Anglian nature reserve - and has provided a boost to a £1m appeal to extend the site.
Twitchers from many parts of Britain have been converging on Suffolk Wildlife Trust’s Carlton Marshes, near Lowestoft, to see an American bittern - a species rarely seen in Britain and never before in Suffolk.
Related to the great bittern for which East Anglian reedbeds are famous, the rare transatlantic visitor is distinguished by its smaller size, longer bill, greater contrast in its wing pattern and, most obviously, prominent brown neck stripes.
Hordes of birdwatchers have visited the reserve, filling its overflow car park almost to capacity, and donating generously to the trust’s Sir David Attenborough-backed Broads Appeal. The trust aims to extend Carlton Marshes by 384 acres with the purchase of Share Marsh - which is being frequented by the rare visitor - and Peto’s Marsh, together with new infrastructure that includes a new visitor centre.
Trust warden Matt Gooch said about 600 birdwatchers visited on Sunday and others were arriving yesterday. About £400 was raised for the appeal on the first day - boosting the fund which now stood at about £903,000.
Read more: http://www.lowestoftjournal.co.uk/news/ ... -1-5469074