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BBC News
6 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Southwold divided over calls for beach ban for dogs to be eased
The debate over when dogs are allowed on Suffolk's beaches has been long 2017, dogs have been banned from certain beaches between May and October every in Southwold, dogs are banned from the main stretches of beach for an extra month - starting on 1 has prompted a petition by Southwold resident Jenny Cook, who wants the town's restrictions to be the same length as the Suffolk Council bosses are expected to debate the issue later, but what do beachgoers and dogwalkers in Southwold feel about this? 'The rules should be the same' Deborah Carrington is a dog owner and would like to see the rules relaxed."In fairness to Southwold I think there is a decent amount of beach available to dogs, but if they could extend the season that would be great."And the 68-year-old does understand it can be difficult for people with children."I understand if you are a family with young children then loads of dogs on the beaches is not always for the best," she said."But dog owners are usually quite responsible. It makes sense to me to follow the same rules as the rest of East Suffolk." Nessa and Martin Howen, 56 and 58 respectively, are on holiday in the area and said they understood why the ban was in place but would like to see it Howen said: "I do understand, not everyone is a responsible dog owner and they don't always pick up after themselves, which is why there is only certain beaches dogs can use."Mr Howen added: "It would be nice if the dogs were allowed on the beaches all year round because you get to a point where everyone is on the designated beaches and then the other beaches are empty."So the extra month would do us really." 'Some children are frightened of dogs' Julie Lucas, 57, meanwhile, said: "If I had young children and they were playing on the beach, I wouldn't want dogs on that beach. "There's a lot of dogs that are very friendly but there's also other dogs that aren't, and there's kids that love dogs and there's kids that are really frightened of them."I think Southwold has a really good status quo." Steven Janes, 63, is a dog owner himself but does not believe the ban should be shortened."Some people are not very responsible with what their dogs do on the beach and that spoils it for everybody," he told the BBC."My dog is very well behaved but I wouldn't completely trust him if people came too close."So, it's only fair that people can have their beach to themselves and we can go up the other end if we need to." 'It's a fair compromise' Councillor Sally Noble, portfolio holder for environment at East Suffolk Council, said the current ban was first discussed in 2017, and a number of residents actually wanted "an outright ban on dogs all year round"."So this was a compromise really, to have the ban from 1 April, because the beach is very well used at Easter," she added."Unfortunately there are a lot of dog owners who are not responsible and while you can pick up dog mess off the beach it's very hard to stop them from urinating on it."We know some people are frustrated by this and we are listening, but we have no intention of a complete ban." Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
28-04-2025
- BBC News
East Suffolk Council staff threatened and abused by public
People are being urged to respect council workers after some have been threatened and sexually harassed in a spate of recent Suffolk Council said a number of its frontline staff that work in waste management had become victims of extreme and threatening well as this there had been an arson attempt on one of its Clements, managing director at East Suffolk Services that looks after a number of council operations, said the behaviour was "completely unacceptable". The council said it had seen a rise in reports of verbal abuse experienced by frontline it said some residents had threatened waste and refuse operatives with physical violence after disputes over their bins were also set on fire in front of staff and they were apparently told the same would happen to them. The incidents have been reported to the police. "The majority of people our staff come into contact with are grateful of the services we provide," Ms Clements said."However, recently, we have seen an increase in aggression and abuse towards our staff under a range of circumstances. "This is completely unacceptable, and the message is very clear; it will not be tolerated."We believe that everyone should be entitled to work in an environment where they feel safe and free from aggression or abuse."The council's Liberal Democrat deputy leader, Paul Ashton, said staff should be able to work "without fear of abuse or aggression"."We will seek the strongest possible action against any perpetrators," he Police was approached for comment. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
05-02-2025
- General
- BBC News
Ipswich Borough Council to introduce garden bin collection charge
More residents in Suffolk are going to have to pay a charge to have their garden waste collected - a service that is currently free for Borough Council will introduce a charge of £50 a year to have household brown bins emptied Smart, portfolio holder for environment and transport at the Labour-run council, said the decision to introduce the charge, from April, had "not been taken lightly".All other councils across the county similarly charge for garden waste collections in their districts. "Like so many other local authorities, the council has been hit by significant cost increases outside of its control," Smart said."We are the last local authority in Suffolk to implement charges to garden waste and the cost for the service is one of the lowest in Suffolk." West Suffolk Council similarly charges £50 a year for its garden waste collection Suffolk Council charges £52.50 while Mid Suffolk District Council charges £ District Council in the south of the county charges the highest at £ Borough Council said in September it was looking at cuts and changes to services to try and balance its included changes to the garden waste collection as well as increased parking charges on Ipswich Town's matchdays, both of which have now been council previously said it expected the garden waste collection service to potentially bring in £1.6m over the next four final free collection will take place in are encouraged to sign up before 14 March to receive collections between April and March next after this may incur a delay of up to 14 days to receive their permit in the post. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
