NEWS

During July and August 2008 the volunteer directors of the Saxmundham & District Community Interest Company (SADCIC) have organised a mass postal survey of households in Saxmundham and the surrounding area - to help build a picture of local needs and wants, prior to initiating discussions with Suffolk County Council and preparing major funding bids to the Lottery and other funding bodies.

The survey, involving the mailing of over 5,500 questionnaires, will cover the parishes of Benhall & Sternfield, Farnham and Stratford St Andrew, Friston, Gt.Glemham, Kelsale cum Carlton, Peasenhall, Rendham, Saxmundham, Sibton, Snape, Sweffling and Yoxford - most of IP17. The mailing will take place between June 10th and June 20th.

The current round of SADCIC consultations with residents and local community and voluntary groups, social enterprises, local businesses and other local agencies and bodies has pointed to the possibility of a multi-agency, multi-use "Community Enterprise Centre" being designed and built in 2010-2011.

It is important that as many local people as possible express their feeling by responding to the survey, which includes a pre-paid envelope to post back completed questionnaires. These findings will form a key part of the evidence required for the Business Plan (to be completed by the end of 2008) and the subsequent funding bids, which will start in 2009. The bidding/funding process is complex in its self and will probably take the best part of a year to process.

The summary research report of the findings from the mass postal survey should be completed by the end of August 2008.

A local team of Community Development Volunteers participated in Wisbech Event in April 2008.

left to right: Terry Barrow, Phil Peeling, Katie Hopkins and Don Tricker

Three directors of the Saxmundham & District Community Interest Company – Terry Barrow, Phil Peeling and Don Tricker – were invited to take part in a major regional community event in Wisbech, aimed at helping with the regeneration one of Wsbech's historic buildings.

'You've Been Fired-Up' was an EEDA-sponsored two-day event, run by Action for Market Towns, where 35 delegates from across the country learnt how to renovate old buildings to become community facilities.

Mimicking the Apprentice television series, delegates were placed in teams to undertake six tasks which helped them assess the future use of the Wisbech Institute. Tasks included market research, business planning and a mock radio interview with a BBC interviewer

Their final task was to make a presentation to a panel of experts, which included the glamourous Katie Hopkins - TV star of "The Apprentice" (with Sir alan Sugar) and "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here". The winning team was led by Liz Burton, another local Suffolk Coastal social entrepreneur with Felixstowe Radio.

NB. There is currently regional and national funding to enable community partnerships to take on the management and ownership of buildings which are underused, derelict or in a bad state of repair, in order to unlock their potential for community use.

The Saxmundham Community Plan

On Dec 11 2007 in the Saxmundham Market Hall, the Saxmundham and District Community Development Partnership (SADCDP) held a successful workshop to identify the key issues that need to be addressed in developing a plan to determine the future development of Saxmundham and the district. The workshop was attended by representatives of local community organisations, district and county organisations who support community partnerships in their role of acting as focal points for development of facilities for our market towns.

Members of The Civic Trust, who SADCDP has commissioned to assist with the development of its Saxmundham Community Plan, facilitated at the workshop to ensure that everyone had a say and provide an independent summary. This body has extensive experience in market town planning and development.

The workshop focussed on social and community issues in the morning and then broadened up to cover infrastructure and economic issues. The results of earlier town and youth surveys were summarised and available to participants as were recent questionnaires that had been issued to local parishes, businesses and community organisations.

The following key issues were identified as requiring further consultation and development. These will be addressed in the New Year when further extensive consultation and review will be undertaken.

Action areas for further review:

1. Youth facilities. This was seen as the top priority for action in the town. Little has been done in recent years and youngsters lack their own locations where they can meet up and enjoy their own facilities.
2. Community facilities. It was identified that the town's community facilities have not been enhanced to match the growth in population and needs of a modern community. Issues included indoor sport, and the disparate and aging infrastructure of meeting and activity rooms.
3. Economic development. The lack of high quality employment opportunities in the town was seen as a major barrier to the quality of life for the community with limited opportunity for young people and an ever-growing commuter population. The need for more positive support from all the agencies that influence such developments was identified as a critical issue.
4. Health Facilities . The failure of the PCT to meet the needs of the fast growing community by failing to support the proposed multi-agency health centre was seen as a key issue for the town and surrounding parishes. The lack of local NHS Dentistry was also a problem.
5. Adult Education. The Workshop identified a lack of local vocational training in areas such as IT and business skills