A stroll around Felixstowe – along the front, and through the centre:
Spa Pavilion “up for grabs”, says councillor
Suffolk Coastal District Council has announced that that the operation of Felixstowe’s Spa Pavilion is up for tender, and possible operators have until Friday, June 8 to submit their detailed business plans.
The council placed ads in specialist national publications inviting leisure and entertainment companies to put forward their innovative ideas for the Suffolk Coastal-owned building.
Cllr Geoff Holdcroft, SCDC Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Leisure, said, “This is our next big step forward towards securing an exciting and long-term future for the Spa as a leisure and entertainment venue that is both financially self-supporting and attractive to both local residents and visitors to the resort. We are now seeking tenders from interested companies and organisations to develop their exciting and innovative leisure/entertainment solution for one of our district’s key facilities.”
“How the Spa is operated in the future is up for grabs. It could continue as a theatre, but equally we are open to firm and viable proposals that would see a change of use to develop the building as an attraction that would see the crowds return in large numbers,” added Cllr Holdcroft.
The Spa is due to stay open until after Christmas and has what the council calls “a packed and varied range of attractions” scheduled for coming months including the Felixstowe Drama Festival and the Summer Youth Project, with an exciting programme of events due to be announced shortly. For more details visit www.thespapavilion.org/
The tender process is being conducted via Suffolk Coastal and Waveney District Councils’ e-tendering solution and tenders must be submitted electronically by 5pm on June 8. Any interested parties can find further information on this tender by visiting www.waveney.gov.uk/site/scripts/download_info.php?fileID=2720 or by contacting Paul Aldrich, Procurement Officer, who is based at Waveney District Council’s Lowestoft office.
Free School – an Academy alternative?
Felixstowe Community School says it is taking a step closer to becoming reality with the directors behind the bid (made up of local parents and supporters for the school) being interviewed on 24th May by the Department for Education, with the final outcome announced by July.
Now the team behind Felixstowe Community School is calling for parents and the community to assist with the next stage by signing up at www.felixstowecommunityschool.com to show their support or visiting a drop-in session organised for 18th May. The application was submitted in February 2012.
If the bid is successful the aim is for Felixstowe Community School to take over the old Deben High School building on Garrison Lane from September 2013 and cater for 500 to 600 children.
Anna Tink, one of the directors behind the project, commented: “We are delighted with this outcome. Felixstowe is a wonderful place, we want to see it thrive and one step in achieving this is to reduce the number of parents sending their children to schools outside the town. We want to see Felixstowe as a centre of educational excellence and strongly believe that a choice of secondary education will help the future prosperity of the town.”
Anna Tink continues: “We have worked really hard to get this far and now we need support from the local community to ensure the success of the school. We are holding a drop-in session at Felixstowe Library on 18th May and would urge anyone interested to come along and find out more. If you can’t make the meeting please still get in touch as we really want this to be a community led school.”
The drop-in session will take place upstairs at Felixstowe Library from 4.30-7pm on Friday 18th May 2012. You can show show your support, find out more about the proposed school or offer assistance attending the event or you can visit the school’s website.
www.felixstowecommunityschool.com
email: info@felixstowecommunityschool.com or call: 07948 412171.
Video: Kitesurfers – the Ferry, 26/4/2012
Looks like a really great day for the kitesurfers at Felixstowe Ferry:
Haven Exchange retail park goes ahead . .
The retail park approved for the Haven Exchange site for around 17 years is finally due to go ahead during 2012 . .
What do you think? Comment on the Felixstowe Forum!
Goodbye, Ruby’s . . .
Long established cafe Ruby’s at the top of Bent Hill is now closed and the lease for the premises is up for sale.
The cafe-restuarant had an excellent reputation for good quality food well-presented and fiarly priced, but it is understood that increased local competition and declining personal spending resulting from the recession caused the business to close down early in the new year. Signs in the window originally said that the premises were being refurbished, but have been replaced by the lease for sale notice.
Have your say about Ruby’s closure on the Felixstowe Forum . . .
Video – seafront north of the pier
Here’s a short video looking at the newly recharged beaches and rock groynes north of the pier . .
Have your say on the Felixstowe Forum . . .
Council seeks new operator/plan for Spa
Suffolk Coastal District Council is asking leisure and entertainment companies from across the country for their proposals for the future use of Felixstowe’s Spa Theatre, with a special event being held this month.
Adverts have been placed in specialist national publications calling for companies to come forward with their innovative ideas for the Suffolk Coastal owned building.
“The financial reasons for why we have to pursue this approach have been well publicised but now we want leisure or entertainment companies or local groups to come forward with new proposals on what to do with the Spa in the future,” said Cllr Geoff Holdcroft, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Leisure.
“We will be holding an opportunity on Monday, April 16 for interested parties to come along, look at the building, see the potential of the Spa, Felixstowe and our district, and to discuss their proposals in principle with us.
“This event will be the first big step towards securing a long-term future for the Spa as a leisure and entertainment venue that is both financially self-supporting and attractive to the large potential audiences in our area,” added Cllr Holdcroft.
The Spa is due to stay open until after Christmas and has a “packed and varied range of attractions” on stage over the coming months including the Felixstowe Drama Festival and the Summer Youth Project, according to the council
Suffolk Coastal is ending its contract with the Spa’s current managers Openwide Coastal as it cannot afford to make the large investment needed in the building, or continue with its annual grants to the theatre.
Consultants brought in by the Council had concluded that if no major investments are made the Spa will quickly become unfit for purpose and that the building is already out of date. Audiences at the Spa have been falling to a degree that each ticket was being subsidised by the Council by well over £7.
“Despite the best efforts of Openwide, we are faced with a theatre that is struggling to attract break-even audiences, and a pressing need to both invest in the fabric of the building and in its operating costs that this Council is not in a position to agree to.
“One of the options that we hope will be presented to us is for a theatre trust like that which has taken over the running of Lowestoft’s Marina Theatre. However, we must open up the prospect of running the Spa in the future to the market, to find out what leisure or entertainment proposals and potential investment outside companies and organisations may come up with,” added Cllr Holdcroft.
Anyone with a serious interest in taking the Spa into the future can request an information pack and book an appointment for April 16 by contacting Lacey Crowe on 01502 523301 or email lacey.crowe@suffolkcoastal.gov.uk.
You can find out more about the Spa’s forthcoming programme here: www.thespapavilion.org/
Discuss this story in full on the Felixstowe Forum
Spring Survey 1
As the beach huts blossom on the shingle, lets look at the resort of Felixstowe . .
Discuss it on the Felixstowe Forum!
Video: Rail service update . . the real story
Filmed on Thurday, 22nd March – off peak trains busy and thriving . . see for yourself, and hear why Felixstowe News thinks we need to keep a good rail service:
Discuss this and more on the Felixstowe Forum
Felixstowe Hospital goes private . .
It was announced today that Serco, a private company, has been selected as the preferred bidder and will take over from existing NHS services, which provide specialist and community nursing, children’s services, speech and language therapy and other much valued community services.
This means that the Felixstowe Hospital, a much valued and highly-rated local facility provided by the NHS in Suffolk, will be managed for profit by a private company.
UNISON, the principal healthcare union is extremely concerned about the changes. UNISON Eastern region’s Head of Health Tracey Lambert, said: “It’s an extremely sad day for the people in Suffolk and NHS staff who’ll see their community service sold off in this way.
“The Trust has always been recognised for delivering good quality integrated services, there is no reason for it to be hived off. Crucially Serco may have experience of managing hotel services for hospitals, but they do not have a proven track record in the provision of medical care. We would be hard pressed to know what Serco could possibly add to existing patient care and services.
“There is no evidence to show that they will improve patient care or provide better health services. In fact the SHA is gambling with people’s health by awarding contract to company with no experience in running the full range of primary health services.
“This is an ideological move, purely to save money. Yes, they will have a duty to provide patients with care when and where they need it, but let’s not forget this is a private profit driven organisation; its sole purpose is to make money for shareholders. It’s inevitable that there will be cuts in order to ensure those shareholders’ pockets are being lined.
“With the government passing the much maligned Health and Social Care Bill earlier this week, this is likely to be a bitter taste of things to come. This is taking the ‘National’ out of the NHS and putting tax payers’ money into individual pockets.
“This contract is worth an estimated £140m. The question UNISON wants answered is just how much of that will be ploughed back into patient care and improving services and how much will go directly to Serco shareholders.”
South Seafront development latest . .
The Southern Seafront development by bloor homes comes up in front of Suffolk Coastal’s planning committee on the 29th March – so here’s a look at the plans:
and discuss it on the Felixstowe Forum!
Video – Olympic Torch route . .
Join us for a high-speed trot along the Olympic Torch route through Felixstowe!
and discuss it on the Felixstowe Forum!
Olympic Torch route through town . . .
The Olympic Torch is due to pass through eight of Suffolk Coastal’s towns and villages on Thursday, July 5 and today the exact routes have been confirmed.
Felixstowe – 4.42pm A1021 Beatrice Avenue to A1021 Hamilton Road to A1021 Orwell Road to A154 Garrison Lane to B1082 Undercliff Road West to Sea Road to Beach Station Road
Torchbears through Felixstowe will include:
David Wardle, 72
John Beer, 64
Matthew Miller, 12
Miranda Rayner, 44
Shaun Andrews, 39
Tom Baty, 28
New shop in town . .
Madison has just opened as a ladies fashion store in town, taking up one of the previously vacant shops between Ashton KCJ and the old Lloyds Bank branch.
Good to see a new independent business opening in this end of Hamilton Road, and we wish them well for the future.
Discuss this topic on the Felixstowe Forum!
Our port 2 – battle of the business parks . .
Here’s part 2 of our report on the future of the Port of Felixstowe – this time looking at one of the key factors claimed by the new competitors, big warehouse and logistics estates right beside the dock . .
More online soon!
Discuss this topic on the Felixstowe Forum!
Port chief suggests passenger rail link closure
The restored frontage of Felixstowe's original Town Station
The Ipswich Evening Star quoted Mr Gledhill as saying that “we need to start looking at how the best use can be got from the existing lines,” and suggesting that off-peak passenger services are replaced with freight slots. His proposal is to replace the cancelled services with express bus service between the two towns.
The paper also quotes Richard Holland, chairman of Felixstowe Travel Watch, who said that that the suggestion is a distraction from the main issue, managing and operating both passenger and freight service on the line with the maximum efficiency, and bringing forward the planning doubling of the rail track.
Today's single platform rail station, just beside Homebase.
felixstowe News comments: Cutting passenger rail services of any sort between isolated communities while we are struggling with increasing cost of personal transport is a very questionable tactic from a company which claims to have both green issues and the local community at it’s heart.
What do you think? Comment on the new Felixstowe Forum!
Felixstowe vs new London Gateway – part 1
On the day that the Star publishes pages of praise for the port of Felixstowe, we take a look at the Port’s latest competitor . . and this one is serious . .
More reports on this topic soon . .
Town centre shopping . . March 9th, 2012
Let’s take a look around our town’s main shopping street – Hamilton Road . .
Bartlet development plans approved . .
After 6 years of dereliction, the Bartlet is now to be converted to flats . . if the NHS can sell it . .
New school, New Tesco’s . .
Many people have commented that they’re not sure whats happening Walton . . Academy, Tesco’s – whats it all about. Here’s our illustrated explanation!
Discuss this topic on the Felixstowe Forum . .
New weekly service for Port of Felixstowe
The Port of Felixstowe reports that it is celebrating the start of a new Transatlantic service which called at Britain’s largest container port on Saturday 3rd March 2012. The service which is operated by The New World Alliance Lines will serve Northern Europe, the UK and a selection of US East Coast ports and Panama.
The Americas Europe Express (AEE) service is the Alliance’s third transatlantic service and complements the two existing weekly services that call at the Port of Felixstowe. Amongst its many features, the service offers shippers extremely competitive Westbound transit times (of 8 days) between the Port of Felixstowe and New York.
David Gledhill, Chief Executive Officer for Hutchison Ports (UK) Ltd, which owns the Port of Felixstowe, commented:
“This new service is a great addition to those already calling at the Port of Felixstowe and further cements our position as the UK port of choice. We are pleased to be able to offer our customers easy access to the most comprehensive transport infrastructure in the country whether via road, rail or coastal feeder. ”
The Alliance (APL, Hyundai Merchant Marine (HMM) and Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL)), has deployed high-reefer-capacity ships on the weekly service with an average effective capacity of 3,200teu. APL will supply three of the vessels deployed whilst HMM and MOL will contribute one each. As with the Alliance’s APX service that already calls at the Port of Felixstowe, Maersk Line will take slots. For Hyundai it marks a welcome return to the Port of Felixstowe as a vessel operator.
The first Eastbound vessel (APL INDONESIA) is expected to arrive at the Suffolk port on Saturday 24th March.
The AEE service rotation is: Manzanillo (Panama), Charleston (US), New York (US), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Bremerhaven (Germany), Felixstowe (UK), New York (US), Charleston (US), and Manzanillo (Panama).
Police warn about money changing scam
Police are urging shop workers and businesses to be alert after two men carried out a money changing scam at premises at Martlesham Heath and Felixstowe on Saturday afternoon, 3 March.
The first incident happened around 2.45pm at premises at Undercliff Road West in Felixstowe. Two men entered a cafeteria area and one bought an item for 50p using a £20 note. He then asked to swap some change for a £10 note and continued to ask for swaps and change, confusing the cashier. As soon as the man left the cashier realised she was £10 down and called police.
A similar incident happened at Martlesham Heath, at premises in Gloster Road, around 3.40pm. Two men entered and asked to change a quantity of notes. Again after repeated requests about how he wanted the change the cashier became confused and inadvertently handed over £70 in the process.
Police are carrying out enquiries to trace the men – in both cases described as white and around 5ft 8ins tall – but are asking anyone with information about who they are to call PC 1778 Shirley on 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously if required, on 0800 555 111.
Officers are also urging those dealing with taking payments from customers to be alert for the scam and to call police immediately if they suspect they are being targeted in this way.