First the Community Hospital, next post offices, then the tax office, finally the magistrates court?

The Government has announced the closure of South Suffolk's only tax office. So what? many would say but in a rural area the centralisation of services whether due to cost cutting (or is it efficiency gains?) or the greater use of the internet rather than face to face has a detrimental effect on an area where public transport is infrequent and poor for many.
But it isnt just tax offices, we have already lost several post offices and the threat still hangs over the use of local justice in our only Magistrate court and exactly where will some of the beds that are in Walnuttree hospital end up being?
Services in rural areas are more expensive to deliver so the pressure to centralise is obvious but the social cost and the financial cost to the customer in time off work or even the environmental cost in travelling further mean officals need to have a rethink.
Our market towns grow, our rural population grows but the services move further away. Not all are ICT gurus or even trust the security of some sites and some may even want to leave their homes and reassuringly talk to someone(!)
In a rural area like South Suffolk our market towns of Sudbury and Hadleigh need to be service centres so other visits and money is spent here. Government needs to understand rural areas better.

"No" to Chilton Quarry

Great news that the second proposal to build a Quarry at Chilton has been refused. An appeal is due on the first application in the New Year.
When the Police oppose an application on road safety grounds then I really think that officals should listen and proposers of the scheme realise that this is a no go.
There is a little sting though that campaigners need to think about. The Chilton Woods development will need a source of aggregate etc and the soil removed from the site will need to be disposed of. Lorry movements from that are going to be a problem for Sudbury and the villages on the A134/131. There is a need to think how this will be minimised.

Christmas Lights

Friday night saw the new Christmas lights turned on in Sudbury successfully. The layout is different to previous years, they use alot less energy and they give a better ambience. Please give your views on what you think.

Sudbury and Play equipment for all.

The other night at the Town Council we were discussing how to use the money from Section 106 payments from small developments in town. The idea of equipment that is for exercise as well as fun was looked at, the idea coming from the Town Clerk. this is equipment that any age can use whether young or retired and would be great fun.
We have enough money for 3 sites so I suggested that we look at Tudor Green, Pinecroft Rise, First/Second Avenue. A site in each ward. It is investigate. Its not definate. There nmay be issues with the sites. But its a tremendous idea.

Hadleigh's new leisure facility

Hadleigh so deserves a new leisure facility. The new plans are before Development Committee.
It was a real disappointment that Babergh could not truely afford a new Pool but in its £2 million investment for a complex next door to the existing Pool, Hadleigh will get something that a market town of its size deserves.
In the dark days, when everyone was talking of closure of the Pool, our Lib Dem Group kept fighting that leisure should be a priority in a town like Hadleigh. It did not make us popular with the Tories and even others at the Council.
Once 2012 is out of the way let us hope that lottery money becomes available again for new Pools and Hadleigh can get what it truely wants.

Go slow on Sudbury's western bypass

When the Government turned down the bypass they instructed Suffolk County Council to try traffic management. If this failed to reduce congestion and traffic problems then a bypass could be revisited.
You have to ask what have Suffolk done in the last 3 to 4 years? The Cross St scheme still isn't finished, the improved Belle Vue junction is scrapped, they have scaled down any work on Melford Rd. They have limited money for minor traffic management in Sudbury and so the bypass will remain long term.
YET, the Conservative Transport Portfolio holder keeps saying they are doing their best, it wont fall off the agenda. They promise they are telling government about Sudbury's case but dont do anything on the ground to help it. If they were genuine they would be truely showing that traffic management won't work because the geography of Sudbury makes it a traffic nightmare to resolve. Our Conservative MP needs to take his fellow Suffolk Conservatives to task. They would also admit, it was their Conservative colleagues in Essex CC and Braintree DC who opposed it last time too.

Budget thoughts

After that Budget, I know what its going to cost me but I'm unsure what I'll gain.

What worried me?
1. that the finances will not be back to normal till after 2015. 2 elections later
2. the optimistic view that growth will return in a year.
3. if this view is wrong then....
4. will VAT cuts get passed on to customers in all sectors?
5. the cut in public spending, so only 1.2% increases instead of 1.8%. If wage deals are 3year then there are going to be some real redundancies in schools, health and councils.
6. the cuts in public spending don't account for the National Insurance increases schools, hospitals will face in the future.Budgets are going to be very difficult.
7. the size of the borrowing, up to 57% of GDP.
8. the denial that Gordon and Alistair had any role in this "American caused recession!"
9. the budget admits there are significant uncertainities in the figures. More tax increases may be needed. Lets hope not.
10. if the Banks dont start lending then this stimulus is wiped out.

Finally, why wasnt it a tax cut for the low paid. The people who need it most. Some have no more to spend, some have borrowed to their limit, so how does cutting VAT help?

As for the Tories, exactly what would they have done? For a party of deregulation they have few answers.