Lowestoft

East of England

Lowestoft is the most easterly town in the UK and is a popular seaside destination, but needs to respond to the changes in the leisure and tourism market in order to enable economic growth.  The Lowestoft Coastal Community Team was set up in 2015 and has focused on developing and delivering a Seafront Strategy that ensures the seafront is an attractive high-quality and exciting environment for residents, businesses and visitors throughout the year. The team’s aim is to enhance the existing built and natural assets and to focus on a number of key projects in both the North and South Beaches that will serve as a catalyst for regeneration.

South Beach

The vision for the South Beach is being supported by the designer Wayne Hemingway who is working with the Coastal Community Team to put the area back on the map for regional, national and European visitors. Wayne is looking at the redevelopment of a number of assets on the South Beach which could create a step change in the local economy. The South Beach has been successful securing £30k Costal Revival Funds for the East Point Pavilion.

The First Light Festival will be the first non-stop 24 hour free festival in Lowestoft. The festival is directed by FlipSide and is a brand new multi arts event which celebrates the first light of midsummer’s weekend.  It will be a unique shared experience with music, dance, film, talks, walks, sports and workshops as well as the best local and regional food, drinks and produce. Our festival site extends out across the promenades and gardens to offer arts, activities and entertainment in a beautiful seaside setting.

For more information on The First Light Festival click here

The popular Royal Green Play Park has been awarded £123,500 of CIL funding for the play area extension to help support the provision of toddler play in the area with inclusive play provision for disabled users. In 2015, Sentinel Leisure Trust updated the Play Space Evaluation Report and Action Plan Strategy which noted the completion of the first phase and continued to highlight the need for good quality toddler play provision along the seafront.

The extension to the play area at Royal Green, Lowestoft will provide important new facilities at a strategic location on the seafront which will support the council’s plans for the seafront and the upcoming First Light Festival this project was driven by East Suffolk District Council in partnership with Sentinel Leisure Trust and Waveney Norse and supported by the CCT.

The Ness

The North Beach will benefit from the creation of ‘The Ness’ which is to be established next to Birds Eye on Whapload Road, this will deliver a new gateway to Ness point Britain’s most easterly point. The site will be regenerated with £1m secured from the Coastal Community Fund to be delivered in 2019. ‘The Ness’ will be a contemporary park and an interactive community space celebrating the local maritime heritage. There will be a natural landscape to maintain the heritage features whilst improving cycling and pedestrian access to the seawall and coastal trail. The park has the potential to become a popular visitor destination and the start of trails and events. There are further plans to develop public art work and sculpture trails at Ness Point making it a cardinal point destination which then will be in line with Land’s End and John O’Groats.

For more information on ‘The Ness’ click here

The Town Centre

The future vision for Lowestoft town centre retail area is set out in the soon to be adopted Waveney Local Plan. The Lowestoft town centre programme aims to enhance the vitality and viability of the area by positively utilizing and transforming derelict sites and brown field land, whilst enhancing the quality of design and linking to the heritage of the area.

Enhancing the public realm by improving accessibility and developing the urban landscape, will act as a catalyst for investment and link the whole Lowestoft area from the south beach to the Heritage Act zone area. Development of the former Post Office and Battery Green car park will address the need for a central leisure offer, whilst residential development and the utilisation of vacant properties will develop the area as a community hub, following the aims of the Waveney Local Area Plan. There has been an application made to the future high streets fund to help drive the regeneration of the town centre forward.

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