Nigel Bennett

The January meeting of the Sudbury and Cornard Safer Neighbourhood Panel agreed to keep the same 3 priorities as last month.

1. Anti social behaviour in Broom St, Cornard. 2. Anti social behaviour in Uplands Crescent area of Sudbury and 3. the educating of retail staff on crime such as shoplifting & alcohol.

Good progress has been made and residents gave feedback on the improvements over the last month in Broom St and the Police and Babergh outlined ongoing action in all 3 areas.

The next meeting where you can report and have a say in setting the Police priorities will be Thurs 25th Feb at 3pm, Sudbury Police Station.

Cllr Martyn Booth and I attended a meeting with on the “Hamilton Rd Quarter” or the bus station area. The consultation is over and the Council officers have analysed the nearly 200 formal responses to the 3 options put forward for economic regeneration of the area on the edge of the town centre and the future of the bus station. The responses to those who wanted none of the 3 options and those who suggested a 4th option were also covered.

This will form a supplementary planning document (SPD) to guide developers on what is acceptable in this area and so avoid proposals that would stop economic regeneration.

The papers will be published on the 4th Feb, a week before the committee on the 11th Feb. I will publish a link then.

We have asked that a timetable and the next steps should be included.

After your Liberal Democrats local councillors organised a residents meeting for people in Cross St, Ballingdon St, and Church St to discuss the Suffolk County Council proposals for traffic management in the area, they have accepted the publics view that the proposal to change the build out should be attempted but that the proposal to restrict car parking further should be halted.

This is a great win for local democracy. They will keep monitoring air quality and this proposal may come back but at a recent meeting with Suffolk and Babergh officers to discuss the problems a whole host of proposals will be considered to tackle further the air quality issues.

None of the local Conservative councillors turned up at this important meeting.

The schemes for evaluation will include down grading the A131 and management of HGVs. The one way system which is popular with some residents and unpopular with others will be re evaluated too.

Our councillors at the meeting kept mentioning the western bypass, the only real solution.

The Councils though are looking for cost effective measures and ease of implementation. I do not think any big projects will have the resources from Suffolk to back them.

We will keep you informed of how this all progresses.

Babergh have issued the following guidance:

“Recycling collections planned for today (Monday 11 January) and tomorrow (Tuesday 12 January) will be postponed to enable the crews to catch up the refuse collections that were abandoned last week.  Recycling collections should commence on Wednesday (13 January) with crews catching up with the Monday and Tuesday collections first. They will also be working on Saturday 16 January to clear any missed bins.”

For queries on bin collections, or to report missed bin collections in Babergh, please call:  0845 606 6045.

Why not take part in the consultation on MP expenses. Give your views on the proposals to reform the system at  http://mpexpensesconsultation.org.uk

Next week, Babergh will discuss the option for more shared services with Mid Suffolk District Council, at present the 2 Councils share a waste/bin contract. This is happening in case the Unitary option for Suffolk is not progressed. A merger of the 2 Councils into 1 new authority would need primary legislation in Parliament.

The realities of the future government spending cuts and the economic downturn mean these options have to be considered.

At the same time, it is vital that shared services and savings do not mean worse services for the public. We will watch this closely.

The Parliamentary Conservative Party is against Unitaries in Suffolk and seems to want the status quo. The reality is, which even Conservative councillors realise locally in Babergh, that our District Councils cannot afford to stay as small rural councils. It is becoming clear that small, efficient Councils such as Babergh will struggle to find these savings or will have to charge more for services such as car parking. Residents and traders do not want that in a small market town.

Labour may be about to see a double dip recession as cuts in the public sector throw the economy and unemployment in the wrong direction.

Temporary closure of 12 beds due to staff shortages the PCT claim. Others claim that this is a national technique used in the NHS. Staff are not replaced so shortages occur so beds are closed for safety grounds, never to be reopened.

When I next meet the PCT in early January, I will raise these concerns with them. The Secretary of State said that no beds should close till the community care teams and the beds in residential and nursing homes were commissioned. This is not complete, therefore the community expects all 21 beds to be open.

After Chairing the latest Safer Neighbourhood Team meeting to which 20 residents came and raised their issues and concerns, the Sudbury & Cornard Safer Neighbourhood Team have set the following 3 priorities:

1. Anti social behaviour in the Uplands Crescent area of Sudbury 2. Anti social behaviour in the Broom St & Stevenson Approach area and 3. training of shop staff for shoplifting and sale of alcohol to youngsters.

The next meeting will be Thursday 21st January at 3pm at Sudbury Police Station where you can hear the feedback on these 3 priorities and help to (re)set the next month’s priorities.

I will be chairing the Safer Neighbourhood Panel meeting for Sudbury where the public can come along and raise your concerns and inform and help the Police set the priorities for the team over the next month.

Hope to see you there or you can always raise any concerns with me via phone or email and I will raise them at the meeting.

Hope to see you there.

Chris Huhne MP is the guest of South Suffolk Liberal Democrats as he visits Sudbury today for our dinner and the Lib Dem National Draw.