The Bollard Project
A few years ago, many of the bollards in the town centre were painted. Some had floral or abstract patterns, and some denoted the activities of nearby businesses.
They added a colourful and interesting dimension to the streetscape. Over the years, however, they have become damaged and faded, and some relate to businesses that have closed or moved away.
A Working Group, made up of residents, business owners and councillors, was set up by the Town Council in 2022 to find ways of making the Thoroughfare safer and even more appealing to residents and visitors. Along with changing street signs and clarifying parking arrangements the Working Group decided that refreshing and refurbishing the bollards along the Thoroughfare and extending this into the Market Place would be an ideal way to add to the attractiveness of our town centre.
Funding has been secured from East Suffolk’s High Street Regeneration Fund and the Town Council has agreed to supplement this if needed. The money will pay for renovation, materials, and a local artist to help design and oversee the group of community artists who will undertake the painting.
The starting point has been to map out the bollards and determine their present condition. There are 43 bollards in total with 10 unpainted and another 10 painted, but not linked to any business. Just 16 relate to present businesses. The next step is to develop ideas for possible designs. Discussions with businesses will be starting soon.
Approval for the work must be obtained from SCC Highways department through our County Councillor and we are keeping her informed along the way. It is hoped to have the bollards decorated for the summer and in time for the event in September celebrating 800 years of Halesworth having a market charter.
  

Halesworth Town Council Precept Statement

At the January monthly meeting Halesworth Town Council had to make a difficult decision to increase the precept. Last year the Council kept the precept unchanged for tax payers in the town but for the next financial year the Council was juggling with a much higher budget for 2023 – 2024, potentially over 20%. The Council agreed to minimise this rise and take up some of the shortfall from its reserves. The net result is an 8.49% increase which in currency terms is an additional £6.91 per year for a band D house, or 13.3p per week.

A comparison to other Market Towns is shown below, again using the average band D house as a mid-point. This is comparing Halesworth’s 2023 – 2024 precept against the other town’s 2022 – 2023 precepts because we do not have their data for 2023 – 2024 as yet. You can see that Halesworth has a lower precept than all of our local towns in the district except Beccles, which is supported by additional income from other sources. We have also shown all the other house bands for your information in the table further below; however, the percentage increase will remain the same across all bands.

It is worth noting that the precept has nothing to do with business tax which is determined at Government level and administered by East Suffolk Council.

Typically, the precept for towns and villages in 2022 – 2023 represented just 3.9% of your Council Tax. The vast majority of your bill goes towards paying for District and County services and the Police.

However small these precept numbers appear, relative to the overall Council Tax bill; the Town Council is very conscious that this increase may add to other household burdens and it may be difficult for some residents. If you are concerned about this and you are on low income or claim benefits you may be able to claim to up to a 100% reduction via the Government Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

The reason for the increase in Halesworth is to improve our town now that East Suffolk Council has begun the process of transferring the London Rd Building, Public Toilets, the Park and many Open Spaces to the Town Council’s ownership. It is needed in order to improve these assets for residents and visitors, to provide more services, increase the staff to manage these assets and to deliver on many new projects and events for the benefit of all.

All House Bands                        Precept Per Annum                             Increase Per Week

2023 – 2024                                   2023 – 2024                                        2023 - 2024

Words in memory of Jen Berry who died in December 2022 from one of our Cllrs:

Jen was an inspiration to many throughout her years, especially recalling her time at the Greenham Common peace camp. Having spent nearly many years in Chediston, she moved into Halesworth and was a welcome member of Halesworth Town Council. She stood for election of the Green Party, year after year and was so happy when we took our first local seat last year. A massive hug and donuts were the order of the day.
She was well known through the town as the 'Litter Picker', walking around with her litter picking stick, rain or shine, although she preferred snow.
Perhaps we can start a local working party of litter pickers in her honour?
She would love to know that people were caring enough to carry on with something she thought so highly of…. Our environment.

Jen Berry receiving a Tamsyn Imison Award for services to the Community from Leslie Pyke 2019