Last week Babergh Council Leader, Cllr. John Ward wrote an article in the Suffolk Free Press extolling the various initiatives the Council was taking , “to protect this green and pleasant land for generations to come.“ So I was shocked to read in the four-year Council Budget that one of its overarching principles was “to reduce climate change and biodiversity impact, where financially viable.”
The climate and biodiversity crises should not be an afterthought, only tackled "where financially viable" but be the first thing to consider, with policies being guided by that goal. For example, the Council is spending increasing amounts on maintaining car parks and nothing on promoting and encouraging community transport such as buses. In fact, it refuses to put up charges at those car parks if they had then the Council Tax increase would have been less than 2%.
This is the same council that declared a climate emergency in 2019 and pledged to try and reach net zero by 2030. If the Council isn’t going to take leadership, why should local businesses and residents?
Even though the Council has to rely on the New Homes Bonus from Westminster to balance the books that doesn’t mean it should go easy on developers. We want the Council to encourage developers to provide public transport links and promote safe cycling and walking.
The Council has been cutting costs for years. We doubt there is any further fat on those bones. Emergency entails a sense of urgency. There is little urgency in this budget. Plenty of words such as “reviewing, remodelling, and reinventing the way the Council operates,” but little indication of new thinking
