FELIXSTOWE SHOULD NOT BE AN ADDITION TO IPSWICH IN BOUNDARY REVEIW
| Published: 4th September 2008 11:02 |
COUNCILS ARE STILL UNITED OVER FUTURE SHAPE OF SUFFOLK
Suffolk Coastal's Leader has insisted that most of the county's local councils are still united in wanting three unitary councils to be established even though there are disagreements on how the boundaries should be drawn.
The review of Suffolk by the Boundary Committee for England has proposed splitting the county into two new unitary councils, with one covering Ipswich and Felixstowe and the area between them, and the other covering the rest of Suffolk with the exception of Lowestoft which would be moved into Norfolk.
"Five of Suffolk's seven district and borough councils have called for there to be three councils, rather than two, as the best way to provide value for money services that are locally accountable to their communities if unitary government is introduced. All of us are also united in demanding that Lowestoft should not be moved into Norfolk," said Cllr Ray Herring, Leader of Suffolk Coastal.
"What we have not been able to agree between us is the future shape of the unitary council around Ipswich. As the representatives of the communities of Felixstowe and Kesgrave we better than anyone know these areas. We know that they would be best served by being part of East Suffolk, rather than becoming satellites of the aspiring city of Ipswich.
"We have revisited the Ipswich boundaries and have made suggestions that we believe are sensible and workable but because of our local knowledge we know that communities like Felixstowe and Kesgrave should be at the heart of East Suffolk, not an addition to Ipswich," added Cllr Herring.
will submit to the BCE by September 26 that are based on an East Suffolk, West Suffolk and an Ipswich and South Suffolk Council.
Linking Lowestoft and Felixstowe into East Suffolk would mean that one council would be responsible for all the coastal and estuary 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.
"The BCE has recognised that if unitary councils are to be introduced then the county needs to be broken up, but I hope it will now take the time to reconsider its proposals and recognise that on closer reflection that three councils is the way forward.
"In the same way that I expect that the BCE will accept the strong local reasons for keeping Lowestoft in Suffolk, I would hope it would understand that would make its Rural Suffolk proposal unbalanced and that the best solution would then be an East Suffolk council.
"An East Suffolk without Felixstowe and Kesgrave as part of it is as unthinkable as Lowestoft being in Norfolk. It may at the moment seem that is only those who live in this area who recognise that but I trust the BCE to be open-minded enough to see the strength of our argument, if unitary councils must be introduced," added Cllr Herring.
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