The following is issued by East Suffolk Council regarding the events of Storm Babet on Friday 20th October:

As you will be aware, we have encouraged the public to use our telephone numbers to call us about issues and impacts relating to Storm Babet.

This includes our ‘out of hours’ telephone number which is managed on our behalf by East Suffolk Services.

Call handlers will manage emergency enquiries appropriately. However, we do not expect further flooding over the weekend, so the majority of calls should likely be considered as non-emergency.

In these cases, callers will be reassured that the Council will deal with their enquiry, but that they should contact our Call Centre on Monday morning.

We have updated our web page to that affect with the following information:

If you need advice regarding housing, waste clearing or street cleansing, please call 0333 016 2000 during normal working hours (Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm).

If you are faced with an emergency situation outside of working hours, including the weekend, which require an immediate Council response, please call our out of hours number: 0800 440 2516.

Please do not call this number during normal working hours as it is diverted to other services, and ONLY call in the case of an emergency (such as further flooding or homelessness).

If your property was flooded in the recent storm(s), please complete the spreadsheet below to inform the local authorities. District Councillor Vince Langdon-Morris will collate the information so please send your completed entry to him by email at the following address:  Vince.Langdon-Morris@eastsuffolk.gov.uk

#ShakeItOut

The #ShakeItOut campaign has been launched by the Suffolk Waste Partnership to encourage households in Suffolk to help improve recycling rates across the county by making sure black bin bags and other plastic sacks are not thrown in with recyclable materials.

The Partnership, made up of the county, district and borough councils in Suffolk, says more than a quarter (26%) of the materials in Suffolk’s recycling bins in 2022/23 were not able to be processed as they were spoiled.

Items that contributed to spoiled recycling collections included:

• Materials that were not clean and dry, or contained food and drink residue
• Rubbish sacks or plastic bags containing recycling
• Non-recyclable items, such as nappies and food waste

Plastic bags and rubbish sacks are a particular problem – recycling handlers can’t see what’s inside them and they are often full of rubbish or other non-recyclable items.

For more information, visit: www.suffolkrecycling.org.uk/shake-it-out

Dear Framlingham Town council and neighbouring parishes,

Hello, this is Community Action Suffolk (CAS) calling, seeking your assistance in publicising an upcoming Ukraine support meeting we are hosting in Framlingham on Thurs 8^th Dec. Please find attached a flyer we’d be very grateful if you could share as appropriate. This informal gathering is for Ukraine hosts and guests in the Framlingham area. We have held similar meetings previously – this one has a something of a festive theme and as well as a social event, is also an important opportunity for people to share information and make new contacts. As neighbouring councils / supporting parties your members might also be interested in dropping in – please call CAS on 01473 345400 or email ukrainesupport@communityactionsuffolk.org.uk to discuss this or any other matter related to Ukraine community support.

Many thanks for your support.

Seamus Bennett

Community Development Officer – Ukraine Support

Tel: 01473 345390

Email: seamus.bennett@communityactionsuffolk.org.uk

Suffolk County Council have produced a Cost of Living Support Leaflet. We will get some hard copies for people in the village not able to view online and these will be available in the village in a few weeks time. We will confirm here where you will be able to collect a copy.

Sunday 2^nd October 2022, St. John The Baptist Church, Badingham

Badingham Community Council were very pleased to present a cheque for £1000 to Revd Martin Percival for the church roof fund. The BCC raises funds to support causes that benefit the local community.

The church roof is a fine example of a single hammer-beam roof. It is the same design as that used in Westminster Hall seen recently during the Queen’s Lying-in-State. Sadly it is in need of repair and already a lot of money has been spent on the initial investigations and the large amounts of scaffolding required to support the roof.

BCC Chairman Duncan Horrocks (pictured centre with Revd Martin) said: “It’s a drop in the ocean compared to the amount you need but we hope at least it can help towards the cost of the scaffolding.”

Revd Martin, who is Priest in Charge of the Upper Alde Benefice, received the cheque on behalf of the church.

Also pictured above are BCC’s Michael Skinner, church wardens Bob Foster and Victor Warne, and members of the congregation.

Roadshow will provide advice on rising cost of living

Over the coming weeks, East Suffolk Council are holding a series of events across the district to help provide advice to people who might be struggling with the rising cost of living, or have concerns about their finances over the coming months. The financial roadshow is offering free professional advice to residents on dealing with rising fuel costs, benefits and debt management as well as information on financial support available to them and money saving tips. As well as representatives from East Suffolk Council, advice and support will also be on offer from local groups and organisations.

The roadshow is part of a wider set of cost of living projects being developed by East Suffolk Council to help ease the squeeze on households. The roadshow will offer an opportunity for people to speak in confidence with a professional adviser, or to make an appointment for a chat at a convenient date in the future.

Dates and venues for each of the events taking place are as follows: (attached flyer also contains a full list of event venues and dates)

• Southwold United Reformed Church – Tuesday 18 October (11am-2pm)

• Woodbridge Community Hall* - Tuesday 25 October (10am -12noon)

• Beccles Blyburgate Hall – Thursday 27 October (11am-2pm)

• Halesworth St Mary’s Church – Tuesday 1 November (11am-2pm)

• Felixstowe St Philips Community Hub – Wednesday 2 November (10.30am-1.30pm)

• Carlton Colville* Uplands Community Centre – Friday 4 November (10am-12noon)

• Reydon Village Hall* - Friday 11 November (2pm-4pm)

• Framlingham St Michaels Church – Tuesday 15 November (11am-2pm)

• Saxmundham Smile Café (The Fromus Centre) – Wednesday 16 November (10am-2pm)

*These events will take place as part of Community Cuppa, organised by Communities Together East Anglia.

Free refreshments will be available at some events.

You can find out more about East Suffolk Councils package of support for residents to help ease the squeeze by visiting www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/squeeze or call 0333 016 2000.

Kind regards,

65,000 letters have been mailed out to Suffolk’s residents as well as a media campaign, but we are aware that there will always be householders who may not be aware.

Suffolk’s local authorities are again working in partnership with independent experts iChoosr to roll out Solar Together Suffolk, a group-buying scheme which has helped over 1,500 homes in Suffolk to install solar panels and batteries for the fifth time. Support is on-hand throughout the whole process which, together with information sessions, will allow households to make an informed decision in a safe and hassle-free environment.

iChoosr has a strong track record of delivering group purchase schemes for local authorities. It has worked with 160 UK local authorities on its collective energy switching schemes. iChoosr’s schemes have also been delivered in partnership with local authorities in five countries. Over 70 schemes led to 110,000 residents installing solar PV systems.

Solar Together Suffolk is supported by Suffolk County Council and all local borough and district councils.

Suffolk residents can register for free with the group-buying scheme, with no obligation to go ahead with an installation:www.solartogether.co.uk/suffolk

It is open to anyone interested in:

• installing new solar panels (with the option for battery storage and EV charge points)
• adding battery storage to an existing solar panel array

The innovative scheme builds on four years of the highly successful Solar Together programme run across the UK. To date, Solar Together Suffolk has:

• installed 17,900 solar panels at over 1,500 Suffolk households
• retrofitted over 200 batteries
• avoided carbon emissions totalling 28,730 tonnes of CO₂ across the county

Solar Together Suffolk is one of the projects which contributes to Suffolk’s Climate Emergency Plan, to support and guide residents, communities and businesses to make the changes required to help Suffolk achieve Net Zero by 2030.

How does it work?

• 22 August to 26 September: registration is open, it is free and with no obligation
• 27 September: pre-vetted installers take part in the auction to bid against each other to offer the best deal
• 17 October: a few weeks after the auction you will receive a personal recommendation based on your registration details
• 25 November: your deadline to accept your personal recommendation and proceed with an installation

It maybe of interest to know that, that depending on the size of install, Community Groups / Parish Councils are able to apply to the current Solar Together Suffolk scheme which will enable them to make large cost savings in installing any solar.

The main requirement for participation is that you have to be the owner of the roof, or receive permission from the owner, to have solar panels installed.

Since the scheme is mainly aimed at domestic households, we offer a standardised package consisting of 4 to 50 solar panels. This limit is set to avoid complex issues with the system’s connection to the National Grid. Additionally, a large number of panels may require additional in-depth surveys and measures to ensure the roof can handle the weight. Generally, a maximum of 50 solar panels will provide 15 kW.

Community Projects and SMEs are still welcome to register for the maximum of 50 panels and can express their interest in more panels to the winning installer. The personal recommendation will provide the winning installer's contact details.

However, it is important to note that the winning installer is under no obligation to make a (customised) quote for any solar PV system above the 50 panel scheme limit.

We hope this information is useful.

https://solartogether.co.uk/suffolk/home

Many thanks

Emma Dixon Bsc (Hons)

Suffolk Climate Change Partnership Manager

(hosted by Suffolk County Council on behalf of all Suffolk councils)

Please come along to the Annual Parish Meeting in the village hall at 7pm.

This is a public meeting, organised by the Parish Council but often includes a number of other organisations. This is the opportunity for the village to come and ask questions, listen to speakers, and find out what has been going on and what plans there are for the future.

Badingham Parish Council applied for a grant of £4000 from the Community Partnership group, as part of the East Suffolk District Council, so as to regenerate the area around the village hall. It will be supported by a grant of £1000 from the parish council. 

The intention is to remove all the debris from the area at the back of the hall and create a community garden. This will offer a space for people to meet and enjoy the views, chat to others or just sit and think. When there are events in the Village Hall, such as the bacon butty breakfasts, people will be able to sit outside and enjoy their fare. There will be access for people with disabilities and will provide sensory planting.