Samford Report June 2024
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Pupils champion active travel in Suffolk schools
Pupils from four Suffolk schools have been awarded nearly £2,000 worth of funding to deliver
projects that promote active travel to and from their schools.

Suffolk County Council and sustainable travel experts Modeshift invited pupils from Beccles SET,
Claydon High School, Farlingaye High School and Thomas Gainsborough School to pitch their active
travel ideas at the Active Travel Ambassador (ATA) Campaign Junction event last week.
The event gave the pupils the opportunity to suggest solutions to transport challenges affecting their
school community and to answer questions from an expert panel.
The pitches included ideas to increase walking and wheeling by making crossings safer, introducing
walking and cycling competitions and running a ‘Park and Stride’ promotion.
All of the participating schools were successful in their pitches and have been awarded up to £200
from Modeshift, with a match fund contribution from Suffolk County Council, to deliver their projects.
Funded by Active Travel England, the ATA programme works with schools and Local Authorities to
increase and promote active travel to and from schools.
Free compost, expert advice and bargain compost bins to help Suffolk residents
As part of International Compost Awareness Week (from Saturday 4 May), Suffolk Waste Partnership
is supporting several initiatives aiming to help residents get composting.
Ipswich residents, schools and community groups have the chance to win compost for their project
with their new compost competition ‘Make it Grow with DiGBY!’
For those interested in making their own compost, the Suffolk Waste Partnership is continuing its
successful compost bin promotion, which helps residents buy compost bins and other food digesters
at discounted prices to suit most resident’s needs and budget. Prices start from only £19.98 for
compost bins and £26.50 for food digester systems.
On average, more than a third of the contents of Suffolk’s rubbish bins could easily be composted at
home. Each household in Suffolk could compost 150kg of organic material a year, turning this waste
into free soil improver for their garden.
For details of all the discounted items available to Suffolk households through the offer, and to
order, please visit http://www.getcomposting.com/ or call 0800 316 4454. Information about
discounted compost bins will be available at all events listed. Further details on Compost Awareness
Week and home composting please visit www.suffolkrecycling.org.uk
Six new projects announced for Ipswich as £2 million investment fund progresses
A new viewing platform on Stoke bridge, lighting and sound equipment for music gigs and a theatre
project to bring together young people from across the town are among six projects which have
secured funding from Suffolk County Council.

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The funding, totalling over £500k, will go to half a dozen projects in Ipswich:
• Stoke Bridge viewing platform (£125,000 – Ipswich Central / LOCUSMS)
New seating and planting will be installed with new permanent interpretative displays and a viewing
gallery on the bridge.
• London Road premises work (£100,000 – Lofty Heights)
Work to complete a fit out of London Road premises so that bespoke training courses for young
people not in education, employment or training can be run through the Trade Skills Academy, giving
young people practical skills in the construction sector.
• Lighting rig and tour-grade PA for music venue (£76,674 – Sounds East)
Supporting a local music venue to purchase its own lighting, PA and DJ set up enabling them to
promote more events on a regular basis and attract local and national promotors and artists.
• Achieve Vocation project (£137,862 – Inspire)
Designed to engage with young people who are facing various challenges within school or are
already disengaging from school. The project supports personal development, employability skills,
well-being, and vocational experiences.
• Risk Avert programme (£16,095 – SCC Public Health)
Funding for a Risk Avert one-year pilot to 8 secondary schools and 4 Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) in
Ipswich. Programme explores ways of helping young people understand and manage risk.
• Our Town Heritage theatre project (£50,000 – Red Rose Chain)
To create a new heritage theatre project, ‘Our Town’, which will bring together disadvantaged and
disabled young people and young adults from diverse communities in Ipswich through exploring the
heritage of the town. A programme of drama workshops working with different groups across
Ipswich which will feed into the creation of an illustrated book and inspiring celebration of the untold
history of Ipswich, written and directed by Artistic Director Joanna Carrick.
The money comes from Suffolk County Council’s £2 million Ipswich Investment Fund. This fund was
established following the council’s Cabinet approving recommendations from the Ipswich Policy
Development Panel (PDP) back in March 2023. It was set aside to support the delivery of projects
across the town, following engagement with a wide range of local partners and stakeholders.
These recommendations include boosting employment opportunities for young people, working with
partners to develop the town’s arts, culture and leisure offer and enhancing sustainable travel
options, on a project specific basis.
Norwich to Tilbury pylons: council to object to plans and call for pause
Suffolk County Council’s Cabinet will formally object to National Grid’s current proposals for pylons
between Norwich and Tilbury.

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The total length of pylons would be 183 kilometres, consisting of around 158 kilometres of new
overhead line supported by 520 pylons. There would be also four sections of underground cabling
running through, and in the vicinity of, the Dedham Vale National Landscape and Waveney Valley.

A paper to be presented by Councillor Richard Rout at the Cabinet meeting on 21 May 2024, will
recommend that the council’s position is to call for a pause to consider alternative options, such as
an offshore solution, or High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) undergrounding.
It will also object to the current proposals for a number of reasons, including:
• the need for additional undergrounding of cables in the Waveney Valley and elsewhere along
the route
• the need for much greater clarity regarding the relationship between the proposed project
and proposed solar projects, and the cumulative effects
• potentially serious implications for at least six airfields, including pylons close to runways
and, in some cases, possibly stopping all flying
A number of recent reports help to support the council’s position:
The ESO East Anglia Network Study by The National Grid Electricity System Operator, explored
better ways to connect offshore wind in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex. The council previously stated
that it was critical for National Grid to take these findings into consideration as they continue
planning their Great Grid Upgrade, including the Norwich to Tilbury project.
The “Valued Landscape Assessment” of the Waveney Valley, commissioned by Norfolk and Suffolk
County Councils, acts as a timely reminder to National Grid, of the need to respond effectively and
robustly to the sensitivities of Suffolk’s landscapes and communities.
The Hiorns Smart Energy Networks report, also commissioned by Norfolk and Suffolk County
Councils, suggested that it is possible for the Norwich to Tilbury project to be paused in order to
consider alternatives.
The Norwich to Tilbury project is currently in a statutory consultation phase until 18 June 2024, and
it is expected to
New cabinet changes announced as Council Leader sets out plans for next year
In the Annual General Meeting, Matthew Hicks, leader of Suffolk County Council, announced
changes to his Cabinet at Suffolk County Council with immediate effect.

The new Cabinet and Deputies will now consist of:
• Richard Smith – Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Economic Development
and Skills
• Beccy Hopfensperger – Cabinet Member for Adult Care
• Paul West – Cabinet Member for Ipswich, Operational Highways and Flooding
• Andrew Reid – Cabinet Member for Education and SEND
• Bobby Bennett – Cabinet Member for Children and Young People’s Services
• Philip Faircloth-Mutton – Cabinet Member for Environment, Communities and Equality
• Chris Chambers – Cabinet Member for Transport Strategy, Planning and Waste
• Steve Wiles – Cabinet Member for Public Health and Public Protection
• Alexander Nicoll – Deputy Cabinet Member for Transport Strategy

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• David Roach – Deputy Cabinet Member for Fostering and Adoption
• Nadia Cenci – Deputy Cabinet Member for Property and County Farms
• Debbie Richards – Deputy Cabinet Member for SEND
• Heike Sowa – Deputy Cabinet Member for Transformation
• Richard Rout – Deputy Cabinet Member for NSIPs
• Judy Cloke – Deputy Cabinet Member for Flooding
• Craig Rivett, former Cabinet Member for Public Health and Public Protection, has resigned
his position as county councillor for the Pakefield Division. Richard Rout has also stepped
back from his Cabinet position.
As is customary for the Annual General Meeting, Councillor Hicks, who begins his seventh year as
Leader of Suffolk County Council, set out his plans for the year.
You can read the speech from the meeting.