Lots of posters in East Bergholt

Late on the afternoon of Tuesday 25th April – the day before Babergh’s Planning Committee was due to hear (amongst others) the Hopkins application, proposing a development of 100 homes on land off Days Road in Capel St Mary – I received this email: “Regarding Items 1 and 2 of Paper S134, the Chairman of […]

Some years ago, a local council planning officer said to me: “People in Suffolk will have to get used to sitting in traffic jams!” Really?  Is this the kind of future we want? The Copdock interchange is bad enough now, but there are literally hundreds of homes approved on the edge of Ipswich – yet […]

Big meeting in Capel St Mary last evening about the proposed developments in the village. Place was packed, had to keep bringing in more chairs, and people were still standing or sitting on tables at the back. We were all on the same side.  Residents acknowledge that some development is desirable, but that it does […]

For 26 years I have been a councillor on Babergh District Council. During that time, I believe I have helped many people with diverse problems, and along with my colleagues, I have campaigned on some big issues including efforts to make the A12 safer. We proved that between the Essex border and the Copdock Interchange, […]

  I cannot recall a time when the state of our roads has been so poor. From the A12 and A14, to village estates, there are pot-holes everywhere. And it hasn’t even been a severe winter. Driving out of Ipswich this week on London Road – the A1214 – the surface is so broken up.  […]

Just recently I dropped in on Chantry Library and was really impressed by everything going on there. At the time there were two groups of older people enjoying games of dominoes and scrabble; several other adults were working on the computer terminals; and small children were in the play corner or enjoying their own selection […]

Planning, Housing Delivery and Infrastructure Following publication of the White Paper, “Fixing our Broken Housing Market”, Babergh has reviewed some of its own issues. It’s well known that most of the rural housing numbers proposed in the current Local Plan (60% urban, 40% rural) have already been given permissions, (not that these numbers are the […]

Judicial Review (JR) CO/2375/2016 Councillors recently had a briefing on the outcomes and potential impact of the JR relating to East Bergholt Parish Council’s claim against Babergh DC and the planning permission given with respect to 10 single-storey dwellings for the over-55’s on a site off Hadleigh Road between two listed buildings – Gatton House […]

Change of Governance – adopting a Cabinet-Leader model At a meeting of the Council on 20th December 2016, a majority of councillors voted to change from a committee system to an “Executive” model of governance. Whilst opposition Members have concerns about this change, the Administration believes that it will mean greater levels of openness, transparency […]