By David LennardA MAJOR north Suffolk tourism initiative costing more than £1 million has moved a step closer with the announcement of a £391,000 grant from the European Union.

By David Lennard

A MAJOR north Suffolk tourism initiative costing more than £1 million has moved a step closer with the announcement of a £391,000 grant from the European Union.

The plan for a new riverside centre in Bungay, with a new bridge over the River Waveney and other town centre improvements, has been successful in bidding for a grant from the Objective 2 European Union fund.

The announcement was made yesterday by David Morrall, head of the European Unit at the Government Office for the East of England, which manages the Objective 2 programme.

“In Bungay, the improvement in the community, commercial and visitor facilties of the town will result in a major boost to the economy,” he said.

Bungay Town Council has been working hard to help bring the ambitious project to reality and its efforts have attracted support from Suffolk County Council, Environment Agency, East of England Development Agency, Broads Authority and Waveney District Council.

The imaginative project involves a new riverside centre and activity base at Bungay Staithe, a new bridge over the River Waveney, enhancements to the riverside and new trails linking the river to the town centre.

There are also plans to improve the town centre with better signs, new traffic measures and improvements to the Bungay Castle site.

Businesses in the Bungay area are set to benefit from the new scheme with experts calculating some 30 jobs will be safeguarded and at least five new ones created.

Bungay town clerk, Peter Morrow, said: “This scheme will not only benefit the residents of Bungay and its visitors, it will also be a huge boost to the whole of north Suffolk.”

The new riverside centre will become the base for the Waveney Valley Canoe Club.

It will also have IT facilities and rooms where schoolchildren and other groups can learn more about the environment of the Waveney Valley.

“We hope that as many people as possible can come to the centre and enjoy spending time by the river and in Bungay itself,” said Mr Morrow.

Plans for the new centre are currently being discussed by members of the Broads Authority.

“The next big step is when we get the plans for the new building approved and we are not anticipating too many problems as we have involved environmental groups and the Broads Authority at every opportunity,” said Mr Morrow.

david.lennard@eadt.co.uk