Speed calming and the Thoroughfare have been top issues for Woodbridge over the last weeks as I’ve been working with like-minded people from a number of fields to try and produce a global scheme to calm and improve traffic conditions across the town. Other issues of importance include Suffolk Norfold Devolution, now about to got to a final yea or nay vote, and the throrny question of the new telecoms boxes at the Sandy Lane junction,
Proposed 20mph zone & Thoroughfare calming in Woodbridge I have recently been working on initial – ambitious – proposals for speed calming in Woodbridge. These include :
- a) the outline of the whole-town speed calming and 20mph zoning which Woodbridge Town Council will be discussing later this evening and which will hopefully be the foundation of a document that can finally be put before Suffolk County Council’s Speed Limits Panel and
- b) the reforming of the Thoroughfare Working Party to try and tackle the continuing issue of the Thoroughfare, in relation to the roads around it.
I am grateful for the assistance and expertise of Nigel Barratt in examining the roads usage round the town in order to work on these issues.
I am hoping that the ‘Walkers are Welcome Woodbridge’ initiative will be supported by these proposals, and that they might link in with issues as diverse as the air quality work at Melton Hill, the passage of school children to school, and the rat-running from Wilford Bridge along the Ipswich Road – producing really joined up planning for traffic and tourism.
Conservatives lose their majority on Suffolk County Council With a LibDem win at the Hadleigh byelection last month, the Conservatives finally lost their precarious hold on Suffolk County council and are now a minority administration. The balance of power is now:
Conservative 37 – Labour 15; LibDem 8; UKIP 10; Green 2; Independent 3
Suffolk County Council’s vote on devolution deal – 23 November Suffolk County Council – together with all district councils – will be voting on the Suffolk Norfolk devolution deal at the end of the month. For the county council, this is:
- The extraordinary County Council on 2pm 23rd November
- The extraordinary Cabinet on 5.30pm 23rd November (or following the extraordinary Council meeting if later)
with the orders currently scheduled to be laid before Parliament on 24th of November.
The deal requires the 2017 election of a Norfolk & Suffolk Mayor, and the formation of a “super-authority” in which all councils from both counties would be represented equally.
This authority would have a budget of £100m to spend on an inflated governmental requirement for 240,000 new homes ( far more than required locally so presumably aimed at London overspill) for the next five years and would have new powers (but little new funds) to fund the required infrastructure programmes needed to support the development the deal requires.
Although Suffolk’s County Council and all its district & borough councils backed the principle of this devolution deal in the summer, in Norfolk the reaction was much less positive – four of the county’s seven districts (including Norwich City Council) voted to reject the deal .
New Telecoms boxes update After I raised the issue of the 5 telecoms boxes in Sandy Lane on both social media and BBC Suffolk, EE finally got in contact with the Suffolk Highways Officers. We are now in hope that the issue can be rectified without legal proceedings becoming necessary.
Parents urged to Have Their Say on New School Admissions Policy Suffolk County Council is seeking views from parents and carers on the proposed school admissions policy for the 2018/2019 academic year. There are proposals to make minor changes to the admission arrangements for schools in Suffolk and the policy aims to ensure school places are offered to children in a fair way. The consultation will run until Tuesday 13 December 2016.
Dutch Kitchenware Cold Callers Suffolk Trading Standards warn that they have had reports about (specifically Dutch) salesmen cold-calling door-to-door in Suffolk. They say these appear to be people who have targeted other areas in Britain.
The caller is typically a man selling knives, saucepans and cutlery sets that he claims that he has had left over from a trade fair. His story is that he needs to get rid of the products quickly because he is returning to Holland later in the day and cannot take them back through customs.
Although the products are described as being reasonable quality, trading standards are concerned that consumers may be paying over the odds and there are no customer rights. As ever they are concerned that undue pressure is put on elderly and vulnerable people.
Suffolk Trading standards ask that if anyone becomes aware of these (or other) salesmen operating in their area, to please contact via 03454 040506. They also remind Suffolk residents of the door stickers they supply to discourage cold callers.
Firebreak training in Hollesley Bay In late October I spent an afternoon at a ‘Firebreak’ passing-out parade at Hollesley Bay prison. This is a practical but inspirational programme taught by the fire brigade (Essex, not Suffolk, on this occasion) – and the first time ever this programme has been delivered in a prison!!
Outcomes were outstanding: 12 hard-to-reach prisoners of very different ages and backgrounds had worked together to become a team, learned the cooperative and practical skills needed in firefighting, got a serious qualification, and all reported they have gained a lot from the course.
This was resoundingly echoed by guards and instructors. I very much enjoyed watching the presentation drill, and talking to the participants and instructors afterwards.
Most interesting of all, the training started to introduce the subject of ‘restorative justice’ and met with such success that the team was returning to the prison to run some sessions specifically on this, with the same prisoners.
Huge plaudits all round: to the Shaw Trust for funding it, Essex Fire Brigade for delivering it, and of course, Hollesley Bay for having confidence to go ahead with this pioneering training in the first place
