Mayor urges residents to help shape town’s future

Summer in Beccles means that we can enjoy our great town to its fullest. This naturally includes our quay.

Not only do we welcome lots of visitors who come via boat, but the quay also hosts some great events. Last Saturday we had the Harvest Moon Festival. It has been going for 10 years and this year was one of the best yet. This coming weekend we will be having the carnival, which will naturally end up at the quay and in September the annual visit from the fun fair will occur.

The quay is one of many focal points in Beccles. We are very lucky that we have such an attraction. Waveney has started to repair the footpath and moorings there. The quay is certainly starting to look better. Waveney and Beccles Town Council have commenced discussions regarding the future and ownership.

Another key tourist attraction, the Bell Tower, is unfortunately about to be covered up by ugly scaffolding. Beccles Town Council had managed to delay this work for a month, but our time is up. The work needs to be done in relatively dry and warm weather. Waveney have decided to do a significant amount of work all at once whist the scaffolding is erected to ensure the long term future of our tower.

Finally Waveney District Council have produced a draft document detailing their plans for our future. They are proposing some 1,437 new homes in the Beccles and Worlingham area in the next 20 years. They have asked us for our comments. This is our future, and it is important for all of us. So I ask everyone to look at their plans and comment on them. They can be found on their website at www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/planning/local-plans/waveney-local-plan/new-waveney-local-plan

Come to their exhibition at Beccles Library in the morning of September 5 and see what they have to say. Come talk to your local councillors who will be manning a stall on the Friday market on August 25. Make your views known.

Beccles Town Council will be preparing a response to this local plan, and we want to know what our residents think so that we can reflect this. The planning committee will be reviewing the detail of the proposed plan on August 23 and the full council will be discussing our response at the council meeting on September 5. We want to preserve Beccles and its unique character. We want to have a sustainable future that does not endanger this.