Suffolk Coastal’s Leader has revealed that the Council is
pressing ahead with plans to propose a three-way split of Suffolk
that would keep Felixstowe and Kesgrave in a new East Suffolk
unitary council.
The Council will submit by September 26 to the Boundary
Committee for England (BCE) its outline of how Suffolk could be
split into three, with each of its distinct communities having
councils that would be able to offer value for money services and
be locally accountable.
“We have thoroughly reviewed our proposals for how unitary
councils could best be introduced in Suffolk and have made some
important changes to what we originally suggested in February.
However, we cannot ignore the local realities and as such we are
insisting that Felixstowe and Kesgrave should not become part of
Ipswich,” said Cllr Ray Herring, Leader of Suffolk Coastal.
“In the same way that it is clearly wrong to make Lowestoft part
of Norfolk, we believe that Felixstowe is incompatible with Ipswich
and that its future should be as part of a new East Suffolk
council.
“The BCE has recognised the need to break up the county for
unitary government to work, but it needs to go one step further and
create three rather than two councils. I appreciate that it has had
to carry out its review at breakneck speed, but it must have more
time to properly consider the future of the communities that make
up East Suffolk.
“Officers and councillors across Suffolk are currently trying to
work out the budget and service implications of the BCE’s proposed
options, but it is completely wrong that this frantic 30-day
exercise should determine the future of local government in Suffolk
for the next 30
years.
“All of us, the councils and the BCE, need to have a few more weeks
– whether it is provide all the relevant information, or to chew
over the facts before reaching conclusions that will have a massive
impact on communities across Suffolk,” added Cllr Herring.
The BCE is carrying out a review of local government in Suffolk
and Norfolk at the request of the Government with a view to seeing
if unitary councils could be introduced. After seeking views from
all local councils it published its draft recommendation on July 7
which proposed making two unitary councils, one covering Ipswich
and Felixstowe and the area between the two towns, and the other
covering the rest of Suffolk but without Lowestoft.
“The proposals presented by the BCE were a complete surprise
because absolutely no-one had suggested them. Five of Suffolk
eight main councils have all called for three councils to be
created and on reflection I still believe that is still the best
way forward for everyone if unitary councils are to be
introduced.
“I think that most people accept that one giant Suffolk council
would be too large and too remote to serve all its communities.
While it might mean only one very well paid chief executive, that
person would need many more middle managers to cope with such a
geographically spread out area.
“We are suggesting a larger Ipswich, which would take in the
Shotley peninsula and the Hadleigh area now being proposed by our
colleagues at Babergh. That would make this Ipswich and South
Suffolk council large enough to stand on its own feet and meet its
own particular challenges.
“Both East Suffolk and West Suffolk have their own particular
communities and it is right that both should be separate so they
can tackle their issues and provide local solutions to local needs.
I am sure we will provide better services and even better value for
money, and be close enough to our communities to involve them fully
in delivering the services that they want,” added Cllr Herring.
Linking Lowestoft and Felixstowe into East Suffolk would mean
that one council would be responsible for all the coastal defence
issues. At the same time, more than any other part of the county,
East Suffolk is home to regional centres of excellence, with
Felixstowe and Lowestoft Ports, BT/Adastral Park, its ‘power
corridor’ of low carbon energy providers, as well as Snape Maltings
and Sutton Hoo.
A large part of East Suffolk is an Area of Outstanding Natural
Beauty, while it also has many market towns and picture-book
villages and some of the highest quality of life ratings in the
country. It is therefore little surprise that so many tourists
visit the attractions and resorts in East Suffolk, and that nearly
ten per cent of jobs are linked to tourism.
A leaflet explaining Suffolk Coastal’s latest plans, and urging
people to have their say in the future of local government in their
county has been produced. It can be found on
www.suffolkcoastal.gov.uk/yourcouncil/future
where there is also an online form that people can fill in to give
their
views.