Suffolk Bitesize: Our weekly council round-up including in Stradbroke, Debenham, Lowestoft and West Suffolk

Here’s some of what your representatives across the county have been up to since Monday, December 11.

Schoolchildren in Stradbroke and Debenham could be in danger as lorries are forced to drive through narrow roads.

Lorries have been pictured mounting pavements, sometimes within inches of houses and right in front of schools.

Odile Wladon, Stradbroke town clerk, said: “You have parents grabbing their children and jumping into gardens to get out of the way of lorries.”

The increase in traffic through some of these roads has been due, Ms Wladon says, to an experimental traffic order currently in place at Eye which restricts HGV travelling through the town.

But Cllr Tunie Brandon argued: “We were getting overwhelmed, people were getting anxiety issues and not being able to sleep. We share their pain, we are not truck-free — we still have vehicles coming from all directions.”

Young children are facing significant challenges at the ‘most critical time’, school representatives have warned.

The county’s education and children’s services scrutiny committee met to discuss some of the challenges of early years education.

The committee heard, for instance, that educators were having to change nappies regularly, with as many as 40 per cent of children aged three not secure in their toilet training.

Struggling parents, who have to work two jobs or longer shifts as a result of the cost-of-living crisis are also finding it difficult to find time and ways of interacting, playing, and ultimately educating their children.

Cllr James Reeder said he remained committed to ensuring children ‘receive the best possible education that allows them to fulfil their ambitions’.

Suffolk County Council’s climate targets are set to be missed but hopes for the future still remain, councillors have said.

SCC’s scrutiny committee analysed the council’s climate performance after it declared a climate emergency in March 2019.

Despite progress, targets are likely to not be met by 2030, the deadline initially set out for carbon neutrality.

But deputy leader Cllr Richard Rout said this could change as new technology and new habits continue to develop.

He explained: “It’s difficult to predict where technology will be, but the field is moving on at a remarkable pace, and costs are coming down over time.

“We still need to develop plans to close the gap — the shift to Net Zero is a shift in culture as much as new technology.”

Concerns over coastal erosion in Suffolk and Norfolk are set to be raised at Westminster next week.

This follows last month’s coastguard warnings that the cliff areas at Pakefield Holiday Park, in Lowestoft, where homes were evacuated and moved.

The debate will be led by Waveney MP, Peter Aldous, who said both counties had been taking ‘a real battering’.

Cllr David Beavan, East Suffolk’s deputy leader, said: “We are doing all the right things along the coast — but Lowestoft can’t become a saltmarsh.

According to Cllr Beavan, a further £120m in funding was ‘desperately needed’ to fund a tidal barrier in Lowestoft.

He added: “We really want to redevelop the whole waterfront for housing but we can’t do that if it’s in the sea.”

West Suffolk’s new strategic priorities outlining the council’s new aims and promises have been revealed.

Council leader, Cliff Waterman, has renewed his administration’s focus for the next few years, including affordable housing, environmental resilience, sustainable growth, and thriving communities.

He said: “We’re on a mission to wake West Suffolk up, it’s a sleeping giant and we’re determined to wake it up and turn it into what it could be.

“We want to embrace the whole community and work to make their lives better.”

Among these plans, are promises to make sure every part of the district gets investment.

These priorities, alongside the council’s Local Plan and council tax reduction scheme, are set to be debated on Tuesday, December 19.