Our history

Two years ago our campaign for seats on the Mid Suffolk District Council (MSDC) was based on it’s poor performance rating and our belief that the Council was ignoring the voices of local people.

Two of our three candidates were elected. By immediately forming a coalition with two Greens and an Independent, and thus getting representation on all the Council committees where most of the decisions are taken, we have been able to punch well above our weight and play a constructive role.

The performance of the Council has meanwhile considerably improved and financial reporting, financial management, internal control and value for money are all performing well, but problems nonetheless remain.

Planning

One of these has been the lack of integrated planning between MSDC and Suffolk County Council and this is particularly relevant to the Gipping Valley, where leisure, housing, land-fill and possible incineration projects are in potential conflict without serious overall attention being paid to the infrastructure and social consequences. I have been pressing for some considerable time that these developments should not just be looked at on a piecemeal basis and I am glad to say that an overall exercise, involving the two councils and the Highways Agency is now taking place.

Jobs

In these increasingly hard times, we wholeheartedly support the plans of the Suffolk Strategic Partnership to bring new jobs to Suffolk and create additional training opportunities. We also actively encourage high-tech employers who wish to establish job opportunities in the Cambridge to Felixstowe corridor.

Communications

Another example of the lack of adequate communication between the councils was the closure of the purpose-built Day Care Centre in Bramford, where although the building is owned by the District Council, the County’s decision was apparently taken without consultation. This should not have happened and is an example of why Suffolk Together needs to be represented on the County Council. We are extremely concerned at the way the Conservative-led County Council is diminishing services to the elderly and we will fight to reverse this trend.

At the other end of the scale, when it looked as if the pre-school in Bramford was also going to have to close after the County Council had rejected it’s original application for a new building, I was delighted to be able to bring new life to the campaign, which led to an eventual change of heart and a successful conclusion.

Local Government re-organisation

On the question of Unitary government coming to Suffolk, we strongly oppose the official Liberal Democrat policy, which supports a two Unitary solution, as this would result in Akenham, Barham, Bramford, Claydon, Little and Great Blakenham ending up as part of the urban Ipswich authority which none of those parishes want.

Your candidate

Regardless of how you cast your European parliamentary vote, remember that politics should begin at the grass roots level and Suffolk Together is the local party for local people.

Finally, politicians in Westminster are rightly being castigated for the outrageous way many of them have abused the parliamentary expenses system. For the record, in the fifteen years I attended the House of Lords, which included several years on Select Committees, I never charged for expenses - nor have I in my two years on the District Council.