Lots of posters in East Bergholt

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Council finances – future Budget situation Funding arrangements for Councils have changed significantly with the Government’s Revenue Support Grant decreasing from £992k in 2016/17 to an estimated £504k in 2017/18, a 49% reduction, with a further reduction to £204k in 2018/19, followed by a tariff payable to central government of £131k in 2019/20.  In other […]

New Chief Executive appointment I was pleased to be a member of the panel involved in the recruitment and selection of the new Babergh-Mid Suffolk CEO.  It was a rigorous selection process, involving a nationwide recruitment exercise, handled initially by Gatenby Sanderson, specialist consultants in this level of appointment. During the final two assessment days, […]

There have been concerns for some time about the availability of careers advice to young people in our schools.  Whilst education is not normally part of a District council’s brief, Babergh and Mid Suffolk are keen to assist in this situation.  The Navigator project is the result of joint working by Connect Education and Business […]

Capel St Mary is waiting for two significant planning applications to land on the desk.  There are concerns over both, not because people object to new homes – people need them – but rather because of the access, noise and traffic problems they seem destined to cause, with detriment to residential amenity and road safety.  […]