A busy week ahead - feedback welcome!

Silence from the blog does not imply inactivity….rather the reverse!

In addition to going to a Members’ Seminar for Babergh Councillors this morning which will be the subject of a later post, I have been preparing to participate in several events next week. I would very much welcome feedback from blog readers on any of the items below.

On Tuesday 27th I will be appearing before the Independent Reconfiguration Panel to try to give voice to why people in Waldingfield Ward will be seriously inconvenienced by the destruction of Sudbury’s hospitals and their replacement by very little.

If anyone has first hand experiences of hardship already experienced due to having to travel to Bury for hospital services could you please e mail me on antillj@btinternet.com before Tuesday morning. I may well be able to include this material in my presentation.

One point that I want to make is that any savings made by the Health Authorities will be clearly offset by damage to the economic wellbeing of the Sudbury area. There is an economic cost involved when time is taken off work in order to take relatives to hospital a distance away, or to visit them when they are there. Sometimes people are obliged to arrange paid child care when a relative is ill so that they can visit, and travel is increasingly expensive both economically and environmentally. In addition there are the extortionate parking fees at the West Suffolk, which I believe are a disgrace. All this drains resources out of our area, and this is before one realises that assets developed many years ago by the community are apparently being sold off without any thought of compensation.

Another issue I will address is the amount of development anticipated in the Sudbury area in coming years. Surely this increase in population warrants careful consideration when thinking about the provision of hospital services?

This brings me on to the next subject because on Wednesday 28^th the application to build 93 houses at the Piggeries site in Great Waldingfield finally reaches the Development Committee for consideration. I will be asking the Committee to take note of the concerns of residents, and echoing the representations of the Parish Council.

At the same meeting Babergh will be asked for comments on the proposal for gravel extraction at Chilton. There is to be a site visit tomorrow organised principally for County Councillors who will make the ultimate decision on this matter. Last time this issue arose Babergh urged that the scheme be turned down. As I wrote on the blog recently changes have now been made by the applicant, Brett Aggregates, which appear to address some of Babergh’s concerns. Whether this is in fact the case however is not entirely clear. More work to do on this one…..