News

Westleton Common Advisory Group

New Seats on The Common

We are delighted to announce that new benches and seats have been placed on The Common. Three are in new sites and one a replacement of an existing bench which has seen better days. Two are on the north side and two on the south. Most notably, two substantial seats have been placed “back-to-back” on top of the ridge at the southern tip of The Common, not far from the steps at Black Slough. These seats face west, providing spectacular views towards Middleton and east, looking out over the Common and the sand martin cliff. A path has been cleared to give access to the seats.

We are extremely grateful to 'Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heath National Landscape' who not only provided the seats but also arranged for their installation.

April 2025

A Thank You

The Common Advisory Group wishes to thank the Suffolk & Essex Coast & Heaths National Landscape organisation for donating £700. This has enable the group to restore the cliffs on the Common in the hope of attracting more nesting sand martins.

Safety Audit 

The report of a safety audit of the Common carried out in April 2024 is available to read here.

Roy Jones 1935 to 2023

In 2005 Arlette Smith, then Chair of Westleton Parish Council asked Roy Jones, a fellow councillor, if he would lead the Common Advisory Group. Roy had always taken a keen interest in the Common, so he was happy to accede to Arlette’s request. Roy chaired the group from 2015 until 2020 and continued as member till his death in 2023.

The common was very important to Roy and he understood how valuable it was to Westleton and its people. He saw it as a resource for leisure, exercise and stimulation and appreciated its importance in maintaining local and national biodiversity. Westleton is and must remain an attractive place for visitors and Roy understood how the common makes Westleton a place worth visiting. During his time as our chairman Roy always made sure we kept all these factors at the heart of our discussions.

In our Annual Report for 2022 we wrote;

Roy provided the group with strong leadership and kept the rest of us focussed on the issues that mattered when we showed signs of getting side-tracked onto less important topics. He would always make sure that proper procedures were followed and that we abided by the various obligations under the funding agreements and, of course, our statutory duties. He had a clear vision of what was important to the success of the common project.

Roy will be missed by everyone who has an interest in the common.

Nick Shearme and Westleton Common Advisory Group

Reporting Wildlife Observations

We would like to encourage visitors to Westleton Common to report any wildlife observation to the Suffolk Biodiversity Information Service. You can do this through their website of by using an app which runs on iPad and iPhone. More information is available from the SuffolkBIS website; https://www.suffolkbis.org.uk/record

Thank you.

Westleton Common Advisory Group

Emergency Access to Westleton Common

The Westleton Common Advisory Group gave advice to Westleton Parish Council on how to improve emergency access to the common.

There was further discussion of this project recorded in the minutes of the Advisory Group meeting held on 15 November 2021.

Intention was to improve access to the Common for emergency vehicles.

The two wooden posts on the footpath leading from the storage container and parking area on Mill Street onto the Common will be modified so that, in an emergency, they can be dropped down more or less flat. These posts will be secured in their normal upright position using digital locks. The code to the locks will be issued to the emergency services only (Suffolk Fire and Rescue and East of England Ambulance Service). This code will not be available to the general public, although members of the Common Advisory Group will have them. The locks on the posts will be of a design that can be cut with bolt cutters if the first emergency vehicle on site does not have access to the codes.

The vegetation adjacent to the path will not be cut back and the path will not be widened. A pair of wooden posts to the right of the path a few metres beyond the posts will be removed. In the event of an emergency the drop-down posts can be opened, and the emergency vehicle can drive through the undergrowth onto the Common. It will be necessary to ensure that the vegetation does not become so dense as to inhibit the emergency access; this would be done as part of normal maintenance in line with the management plan.

The advantages of this approach are;

Existing width restriction is maintained.

No disturbance of habitat.

No interference with existing management plan.

Access by large vehicles would only be required in an emergency so non-emergency access is inhibited.

People can be assured that there is no intention to use this footpath by vehicles other than in an emergency. Access to the Common by other vehicles will continue to be via the track from the Reckford Road only. The gate to this track is secured by a padlock and chain, Common advisory group members have access to the key. Suffolk Fire and Rescue vehicles carry bolt cutters so, should it be necessary, they can access the Common through this gate.

There may be rare and unanticipated circumstances when access to the Common by vehicles is essential but the track from the Reckford Road is inaccessible. Under these unusual circumstances we would allow access via the footpath. We feel it would not be sensible, nor in the best interests of the management of the Common, to neglect essential management work, that should not or could not be delayed, because the Reckford Road track was not useable.

The work was to be completed during September and October 2023.

Subsequent Note (January 2025)

The drop-down posts were installed in 2024.  The padlock codes have been given to Leiston Fire Station and the East of England Ambulance Service. Access for emergency vehicles is facilitated whilst still preventing casual and non-urgent vehicular access.

Westleton Common Advisory Group