96 out of 98. That is bad news!

Sudbury's much needed western relief road, a road needed to protect the historic core, to reduce congestion and volume of traffic and more importantly make our roads safer so that a real attempt to promote cycling and walking has basically been binned to the distant future. Never mind the housing growth that Sudbury will get with the Chilton Woods development and others.

Last night, at the Town Hall, Suuffolk County Council told us that:
1. the scheme came 96 out of 98 in the East of England.
2. at present road building rates, it would take nearly a century to clear those schemes!

I asked Suffolk what traffic management had been implemented and what their future plans were if the relief road is a distant hope. When the relief road was turned down before, the Labour government said that interim traffic management schemes had to be tried to show need for a bypass.

Well, in the last 4 years of the Conservatives running Suffolk, nothing has been implemented and the 1 scheme (Belle Vue junction) has been downgraded and no plans were revealed to deal with traffic in the future.

To the credit of the Sudbury Society, who organised this meeting, another will be organised to discuss interim traffic management measures.

Obama

As one of my daughter's watched some of "Celebrity Big Brother" last night, there was a scene of 3 of the American contestants shedding a tear over the scenes of the inauguration they had been allowed to view. There was a sense of awe, of hope and for those in America's minorities, a feeling of being a full member of that society now.
I'm still in shock that it was through this programme (one I can't stand!) that the insight of what this new President means to many Americans could be revealed. My hope is that the burden of expectation does not become too much and that solving the Israel/Palestine question will finally find a just solution.

Town Hall finances

The Town Council budget was set and a 4.9% increase was achieved. The November inflation rate is used on contracts and this was 4.8%. Yet inflation in January is already down to 3.1% The budget setting was a painful experience. The Tories had started at a 10% increase, we had got it down to 6.9% but to get to inflation could only mean cuts in services or reducing reserves.

The council tax increase was so high simply because the Town Council had agreed to part fund a new PCSO with the Police and that infamous land purchase to the rear of the Town Hall was going to hit with an extra £17000 in the budget. The Auditor was also demanding more cash in reserves. There was only one outcome services such as the Tourist Information Centre, Eden's Youth Club and reserves for a rainy day were cut by the Tories and opposed by our Lib Dem councillors.

Now these % increases seem high yet in another way the Town Council budget is a small proportion of the total bill so an increase of 3-4 pounds for each household over the year was likely or a 10-15pence per week for each houshold. It can sound rather different and satisfactory when worded like this.

Yet the Town Council needs to budget well and get under or near inflation.
The lesson here is that the Tory councillors have committed themselves to spending through the year and at the last minute realised the consequences and cut essential services which are worth paying for and are needed.

In the same week our Tory MP was saying that tourism was a possible way out of the recession, his own councillors reduce the hours of the Tourist Information Centre. Slightly ironic.

Poor financial planning.

1 day Lib Dem conference at the LSE

Saturday was an excellent, thought provoking day at the LSE.Its focus was social mobility and raising equal opportunities for all. Nick Clegg started the conference with a very good speech (first time hearing him live!)that outlined key policies and analysis of Government and Tory weaknesses. This was then followed by break out workshops on the importance of education policy for reducing poverty, inequality and increasing opportunity. It was like going back to University with a lecture and seminar to discuss. The economists from the Centreforum think tank were superb at raising thought provoking issues and the realities of this recession on future spending priorities for any Government.
Next, came another workshop on "Who are the Poor in Britain?" This was presented by the Institute for Fiscal Studies and looked at who are the income and consumption poor. And which regions have the greatest problems. As well as the links then to policy across a range of areas.
Interesting, was the analysis of Government early success and then failure in this area and how different groups have seen their position improve and decline.
The big surprise was how non-parent adults have gone from 1 in 20 being poor to 1 in 10 since Labour came to power.
Finally, was the presentation by the Commission on Social Mobility. It had been totally independent of the Party. This presentation was headed by the Head of Barnardoes and included Vince Cable MP and Lynne Featherstone MP. It posed some excellent questions for Lib Dems to consider as well as challenges and showed how many of our policies would aid social mobility and improve opportunities for all.

End fuel poverty bill

I am delighted that David Heath MP is taking on the End Fuel Poverty Members Bill in Parliament. Many Lib Dem councillors including myself have been encouraging David to take this on and as he has been drawn second, it should get a good amount of Parliamentary time. I just hope that our local non-Lib Dem MP's will support it and make this a reality that will benefit so many elderly and poor residents as well as help our environment.
Let us hope the Government doesn't use its big majority to block it.

Economic downturn

More people are coming into the Town Hall to sort out benefit claims and housing issues. The rise in unemployment is starting to have its consequences. Recently, we have seen Woolworths, Fleetwoods, M&S go or announce closure while other employers have announced redundancies. Many fear that the service industries will shed more jobs in February and March and that Bank amalgamations will have a consequence too. Some are fearing for pubs and one wonders about Wetherspoons with its vast empty spaces.
Fortunately, the Town centre in Sudbury is going to see the return of Iceland for Woolworths and the Co-op will replace Sommerfield. Without these the high street would be quite different. Clearly retailers still want to be in Sudbury.
The weaker Euro might bring more tourists to the UK from Europe and more Brits may stay at home this summer. Companies like Hoseasons are reporting big increases in bookings on the local news.
Yet, its the claims of how difficult it is for successful businesses to get loans to expand and grow that is worrying. The Banks are taking along time to realise that the taxpayer bailed them out and they need to lend responsibly not conservatively. For this adds to peoples fears that their jobs may be at risk and so they reduce their spending fearing a rainy day ahead. There was clearly a waiting for the sales as companies now report more sales in the New Year but lower profits. Lets hope that these lean times do not have a big impact later on in the year.

Results of Poll

The poll revealed the majority 77% want a mixed use development on the bus station area in Sudbury. This was my first attempt at a poll on here. The sample of respondents was vey small but an interesting outcome . When I created the poll, the recession was not in full swing so it may be some time before anyone's aspirations for this area are achieved.

A new poll will be posted soon.