The announcement today by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to cancel May’s local elections in Suffolk is very disappointing.

We support the principle of devolution which should mean powers and funding moving out from Westminster and closer to residents.

 It is therefore alarming that the first step in the process is for the government, aided and abetted by the Conservative administration at Suffolk County Council, to take away a democratic opportunity for Suffolk’s residents to express their views at the ballot box.

The Deputy Prime Minister stated that going ahead with May’s elections would be an unacceptable cost and a waste of public money and stressed that elections would only be postponed by one year.

Whilst we accept that a mayoral election will happen in May 2026, we have seen no realistic timetable showing that elections to new unitary authorities could happen at the same time. Therefore, elections will inevitably be postponed by more than one year. It is completely unacceptable democratically if Suffolk county councillors were sitting for two or possibly three years longer than their initial term, which could be seven years in total.

The creation of mega councils of 500,000 people will break the connection between communities and the councillors who live and work within them. Wards will be much bigger, and councillors will not have the in-depth local knowledge to draw on when decisions are called for. Councils will become more remote from the people they serve.

There is no evidence to suggest that large councils are better councils. What evidence does Councillor Hicks have for saying that local government reorganisation will “deliver efficiency, accountability and streamlined services?” Not from unitary Somerset where the council leader has just said two-tier areas need to “think very carefully” before reorganising and he “can’t imagine” how other areas would reorganise to make way for devolution at the pace set by the government.

The Green leaders of Babergh, East and Mid Suffolk councils have not been consulted by either central government or the county about these changes, but we assure our residents that we will fight to protect their communities, services, and their democratic rights.

We welcome change and will engage with the process of developing the shape of future local government in Suffolk, but we are very concerned that in practice, powers and funding will be drawn up into the mayoral authority, further away from our residents, this would be the opposite of devolution.

The post Fast Track Devolution programme appeared first on Babergh Green Party.

A county councillor has hit out at the “arbitrary” decisions on Suffolk speed limits made on the “whim” of a single Conservative politician at the authority.

Green county councillor Robert Lindsay, who represents Cockfield village, had supported residents and Cockfield Parish Council in their request to cut the 60mph speed limit to 40mph on a half mile stretch of the A1141 in the village.

The stretch is between an existing 30 limit and 40 limit but children on their way to and from the village school have to cross the road in the 60mph section.

Mr Lindsay said: “This section is the most direct route to the nearby primary school for children living in the new estate. Residents need to feel safe walking in their own village. The half mile of national speed limit is sandwiched between a 30mph limit and a 40mph limit so it is encouraging drivers to accelerate just where children need to walk and cross the road.

“But our application, which took much time and discussion to produce, has been refused in three sentences. The reason given is because it has not “definitively” met any of the Conservative’s eight criteria, many of which are vague and subjective. The officers themselves state in the report that they are unsure whether the various criteria have been met or not, and the Conservative administration has never stated how many of their criteria have to be met to win approval.

“In addition, there is no record kept by the council of applications that are refused, nor any minutes of decisions taken. They are taken by a cabinet member in consultation with one officer.

“The result is that we get an arbitrary decision on the whim of a cabinet member. Perhaps it depends on whether he’s had a good lunch, or whether the councillor applying is a political ally. Who knows? The process at the moment is completely opaque.”

Last summer, an application by Woolverstone Parish Council backed by Green county councillor Simon Harley, to cut the limit from 60mph to 40 at an accident blackspot on the B1456 was rejected, on the basis it didn’t meet the Conservative council’s criteria. The parish council submitted a Freedom of Information request to find out how the decision was made and were told that the meeting was not minuted.

Mr Lindsay said: “It’s time Suffolk improved the whole process, using one or two simple measurable, objective criteria, like average speed of traffic, and an open panel that the public can attend with the local councillor allowed to speak and put forward the wishes of their residents.”

The post Tories accused of arbitrary decisions on speed limits appeared first on Babergh Green Party.