Reasons to love South Suffolk (1) South Suffolk Food Day

James and Jimmy's Farm produce

 Yesterday evening, along with other Babergh District and County Councillors,  I was lucky enough to be invited to the Palace of Westminster to attend South Suffolk Food Day.  This event was organised just off Westminster Hall by our Member of Parliament, James Cartlidge, and took the form of a series of displays from some of the very fine food producers that are based in the South Suffolk area.

Delicious morsels were on offer from a number of companies.  I particularly enjoyed the opportunity to sample some of the wines from Gifford Hall Vinyard in Hartest. The dry as dust pink was particularly delicious!  The charming proprietor told me how the volume of wine that he is able to produce is gradually increasing year on year.  Gifford Hall wines are now sold nationwide in Loch Fyne restaurants,  and locally by Waitrose. We enjoyed an interesting conversation about how wines were produced in our area as long ago as Roman times.   Many legionnaires from the Roman army settled on land around Camolodunum, now Colchester, principally it seems because the local wines in the area were renowned across the empire.

Then on to a diet busting session with local chocolatier, Hadleigh Maid.  It seems that a number of the visitors present were unaware that we have a local chocolate manufacturer in Hadleigh.  I do recommend the chocolate bars and other products, some of which can be purchased at Hollow Trees Farm Shop in Semer, selected outlets of the East of England co-op and Heeks in the Market Square Lavenham.  Mail order is also available.

Jimmy's Farm, pictured above, needs no introduction to those who have followed Jimmy's progress on TV from his earliest struggles to his current fame and fortune.   The farm has developed a great deal from the early days and now, in addition to its own butcher's shop, hosts a number of other interesting shops.  A taste of two sorts of sausages reminded me of the Farm's unwavering commitment to producing a real quality product and I vowed to make a trip there before Christmas.  Once again mail order is an option.

Adnams Brewery and the Suffolk Food Hall also had displays, and an honourable mention must be made of Mrs Bennett's pickles in the goody bag! All in all it was an impressive showcase for gastronomic South Suffolk.

After the event we were taken on a conducted tour of the House of Commons by James.  Despite having worked in the House for a couple of years in early youth, I picked up a number of facts that were new to me.  We were lucky that the House of Commons was not sitting and we were able to walk through the voting lobbies.  The method of voting has remained unchanged for hundreds of years and to be able to simulate the experience was quite exciting for those of us for whom it is too late to do it for real!

Suffolk Food Hall outside Ipswich

An invitation from the Mayor

Pictured above is Brian Lazenby,the current Mayor of Hadleigh, who was a Babergh Councillor until 2011, and with whom I served on the HR Committee.

Brian is always a mine of good sense and was a pleasure to work with.  He was kind enough to invite me to his Civic Service in Hadleigh Church, followed by Tea,  last weekend, which I much enjoyed.

Hadleigh's mayoral robes are among the most distinctive locally, and echo real 16th century style.

The people's voice is listened to....by some

Delighted to receive an e mail from Brian Riley, Councillor for Hadleigh, telling me that the application by Tesco to build an unwanted and uneccessary supermarket in the town was today turned down by the Planning Committee.

As predicted the vote was very close, but the recommendation of the officer to approve the development was defeated by 7 votes to 6.

I am pleased that some councillors  listened to what the people of Hadleigh wanted.  There is no doubt that residents of the surrounding villages that I represent were also on the whole against the plans which threatened to put the small traders in the High Street out of business.

Additional note added to this post on 29th September.

There has been some comment in the press this week that suggests that Conservative Councillors were in favour of 'big business' and voted on the side of Tesco.  This is not the case.  The numbers were as follows.

For the Supermarket

Conservatives 2
Independents   3
Liberal Democrats 1

Against the Supermarket

Conservatives 4
Liberal Democrats 3.

I am happy to name names if required.

Tesco trauma

The Tesco application to build a supermarket in Hadleigh comes before the Planning Committee this week and gives its members another chance to shine.

What really enrages me about this issue is that Tesco's actions are clearly predatory.  As a huge national concern, the company has the power to put up with inadequate returns itself for several years while it drives the small shops in the High Street out of business.

The main problem is that reasonable economic arguments apparently do not count as 'good planning reasons for refusal'. The Prolog application a few weeks ago was granted by the Committee on the basis of economic benefit. It is absurd that economic disbenefit should not be seen as a good reason for refusal in this instance.

I predict that the vote will be very close.  I just hope that enough members of the Committee see sense for once.