Aims of the Society

The Society was formed over three decades ago, initially to save Red Lion cottage (next to the Red Lion pub), and has the following aims;

• To promote high standards of planning and architecture in or affecting the parish;
• To educate the public in geography, history, natural history and architecture of the parish;
• To secure the preservation, protection, development and improvement of features of historic or public interest in the parish.

In 2009 the committee is considering broadening this remit to include the challenge of being a more sustainable community.

Could EBS be more proactive - for example in promoting East Bergholt as a lower carbon community? Could we learn from and work with the growing Transition Towns movement, which is looking at how communities of all sizes can respond to the challenges and opportunities of peak oil and climate change? There are many individuals and places in our village already ‘doing their bit’, with some significant results. Are there opportunities now to draw closer together and share best practices on issues which will increasingly affect us all?

Once we have found out more about this we plan to invite the membership, and wider village community, into a debate about the challenges of sustainability and what we can do about it.

Following success of similar events, we plan to stage another photographic exhibition later in the year, we are considering making our newsletter twice yearly allowing us to dip into the many historic records available to us for items of interest and perhaps more importantly providing a synopsis of developments and plans impacting upon the built and natural environments around us. We will continue to take an active role in commenting on planning matters where they have a material impact on the village. We have recently been invited to join the Babergh division of the Suffolk Preservation Society planning meetings to input this Society’s views.