A NEW group is being formed to celebrate the pride in a north Suffolk market town.The inaugural meeting of The Halesworth Society is taking place on Monday, March 3, at the New Cut Arts Centre, beginning at 7pm.

A NEW group is being formed to celebrate the pride in a north Suffolk market town.

The inaugural meeting of The Halesworth Society is taking place on Monday, March 3, at the New Cut Arts Centre, beginning at 7pm.

It was at an open meeting of the Halesworth and Blyth Valley Environment Group that more than 50 residents came together to express their views informally about the local community in the area.

Richard Woolnough, who chaired the informal meeting, said many good things about the area were identified.

"There was a lot said about the friendliness of the local people, the good local shops and the nice atmosphere in The Thoroughfare.

"These are all things we are anxious to preserve," he said.

It was not only the good points that residents wanted to highlight as a number of issues including the future development of Halesworth, the litter problem, and the unfortunate spate of vandalism were all mentioned.

"The meeting asked for volunteers to join a small informal group to identify ways in which the community of Halesworth can join together in building on the many advantages that the town has to offer," said Mr Woolnough.

The Halesworth Society will not have any financial support of its own to start with but will have a set of aims and objectives.

These include:

· To promote civic pride and encourage public participation in the community.

· To promote high standards of planning and architecture.

· To protect and enhance the landscape, wildlife and historical heritage.

"Without the help of the local community it will be difficult to put the plans into action so the more people who can volunteer to help, the easier it will be to spread the load and make the improvements that we all wish to see," said Mr Woolnough.

Officials from Waveney District Council will be at the meeting to report and discuss the new Local Plan for the district that will provide the planning blueprint for the next few years.