Thursday’s edition of the Sudbury Free Press was remarkable in that every article that mentioned Babergh contained inaccuracies.
In order to set the record straight I thought I should make the following points.
Firstly, the newspaper reported that the Council has decided to postpone the introduction of a season ticket scheme for those parking in the long term car parks in Sudbury. Actually the reverse is the case and a scheme will be introduced in October when the charging regime starts. In this connection, however, I would warn people that the number of permits available will be limited (a mistake in my view), so keep an eye out and if you need a permit be sure to apply early.
The newspaper continually states that Babergh is ‘debt ridden’. Actually, as I have repeatedly pointed out this is not the case. The balance sheet of the council is quite sound, it is the projected difference between income and expenditure that is problematic. In fact councils are not allowed to borrow to fund day to day business, and to call the council ‘debt ridden’ shows a complete lack of understanding of local government finance.
Finally the article about the Local Development Framework was also misguided in a number of respects. Last week, as mentioned below, we received a letter from Local Government Minister Eric Pickles informing us that he intends to abolish the housing number targets set by the Regional Spacial Strategy. This decision means that we have to postpone going out to consultation on the recently completed report on the strategic objectives of the LDF until the situation is clarified. It has no impact whatsoever on the Local Plan that is currently in force. The Free Press did not ask anyone from Babergh for their view on Eric Pickles’ letter. It might have been sensible to do so, since this is a complex area that needs to be clarified by someone who knows what they are talking about.
It really does make one wonder what is going on at the Free Press?
