Little Waldingfield Jubilee Celebrations

I have now received full details of the Little Waldingfield  Diamond Jubilee Celebrations.

These will commence on Monday 4th June with a Jubilee Breakfast in the Parish Rooms.  I understand that the tickets for this event have now all been sold.

However, from 12 noon on the playing fields there will be a family picnic with children's games, a tombola, various displays and other entertainments, including children's fancy dress and children's 'Best Crown Competition'.

The village beacon will be lit at 10 p.m. at which time punch will be served!

Everyone is welcome to take part.

Backstage tours at the Theatre Royal

Set for 'Black Eyed Susan'

 This summer The Theatre Royal in Bury has revamped its backstage tours and now there is lots more to see and do.

Nick and I were lucky enough to be invited to sample a tour yesterday afternoon and we had a very fascinating time looking all over this wonderfully historic theatre that was built in the early years of the 19th century.   It is amazing how, even today, the theatre manages to stage shows with few of the modern conveniences enjoyed by many venues.

In addition to taking a guided tour, one can wander around alone and look at the informative exhibits on show, including historic costumes and boxes that reproduce the smells of an early 19th century auditorium.  The old bar has been recreated as one typical of the Edwardian era, and there is a 1960's office which harks back to the period when the theatre was re-opened, having been a barrel store for Green King for many years.

In one of the dressing room you can try on some theatrical garments (including several from the pantomime!) and when you are tired there are teas available.  All in all a fascinating afternoon out.

Office from the 1960's

Double vision in Folly Road

Picture from the Daily Mail

Great to see Great Waldingfield making the national, as well as the local, press. (Thanks to Councillor Lawrenson for the link here!).

The two signs shown are, of course, currently informing motorists using the junction between Lavenham Road and Folly Road.

I'm afraid that lack of joined up government, whatever the explanation, is always something of an open goal for the commentariat!

Chilton under seige

Chilton Annual Meeting on Tuesday evening was very well attended.

In my address to the meeting, I said that I felt that Chilton was feeling under siege at present. This is due not only to the anticipated impact on the community of Chilton Woods but also the sad result of the recent Prolog planning application.  One small victory last year however was the success of the campaign to stop the car wash at Home Base from extending its working hours on a Sunday.  Also on the plus side the new health facility is likely to be a plus for the parish.

 Redrow gave a presentation about Chilton Woods.  Their much travelled roadshow now attempts to explain the complications that have been created by their decision to consult at the same time as the Babergh Development Framework is going through its adoption process.  However it seems that uncertainty still remains, at least in the developer’s mind, with regard to where the boundaries of the development will ultimately be drawn.  Perhaps things will become clearer next week at the second meeting of the Steering Group.

Details of Chilton’s celebrations to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee were given by Peter Clifford.  These will take place on Saturday 2 June.  There will be a cream tea (funded by the Parish Council!) in St Mary’s Church at 4.30 p.m.  The event will include a quiz.  I hope that as a non-resident I will be allowed to attend since I am fond of both cream teas and quizzes.

Moving on, but also on the subject of Chilton,   I was pleased to see Val Herbert’s spirited defence of our heritage assets in the Free Press on Thursday. (We are stewards of old buildings). How right she is!  Like Jack Owen and a number of other people, she is suspicious of the quality of the jobs that will be created at the new giant facility.  Her message is clear: ‘even if it (the development) had promised 1000 jobs, it would still be on the wrong site’.  

On the same page I was dismayed to see the article on Chilton written by journalist, Catherine McMillan.  It was terribly ill informed and I am contemplating a riposte.

Floods, NEETs and Community Safety

Flooding in Sudbury, not such a threat.

I have recently moved from the Strategy Committee at Babergh to the Overview and Scrutiny Community Services Committee.

The first meeting of the new Council Year was held today and there were three interesting papers up for discussion.   

Two out of the three demonstrated, I think, that ‘joined up government’ remains a thing of the future, although we are all much more aware of the need to work together to achieve the right outcomes. The successes outlined in the third paper however demonstrate that partnership working can work well.

The first was about Flood Risk Management arrangements across the County.  The number of people actually under threat of flooding in Babergh is lower than I had thought. Apparently a good deal of work has been done on the River Stour, for example,  to make sure that its flow rate can keep up with whatever nature throws at it.   However the representative from the County Council, Jane Burch, making the presentation, made the point that it is important that new development does not exacerbate the situation.  Problems can be caused by having too many hard surfaces, and installing sustainable drainage systems (SUDS).  She expressed disappointment that government bodies are not looking at the problems of water in a more holistic way, since conserving water is just as important as making sure that it is contained by risk management.

A task group has been looking at what Babergh can do to help young people (aged between 16 to 18) who are not in education or employment (NEETS).  This will mainly be achieved by encouraging apprenticeships and work placements.   A scheme is being worked on by officers that will enable the council to become a co-ordinating agency between employers, voluntary groups and the young workless.  I think that this is obviously a good idea in the current circumstances, but hope that the result will prove to offer real value for money and tangible outcomes.  There seem to be a number of other agencies working in this field already.  Will we be able to ‘join them up’ or will people continue to work in their individual silos?  Alternatively is it better to leave this particular area of activity to them?  Is there a better place for Babergh to put its money?

Finally the Babergh Community Safety Partnership, of which I am the Chairman, gave its annual report to the committee. This showed encouraging trends in our four areas of focus:  the night time economy, domestic violence, anti-social behaviour, and reducing people’s fear of crime. 

The Babergh Partnership are increasingly co-operating with the West Suffolk Community Safety Partnership, which comprises Forest Heath, St Edmundsbury and Mid Suffolk.  A merger with them  is likely in due course.  This is important because the new Police Commissioner, who arrives in November, will not want to have to deal with too many separate bodies that he, rather than central government, will have to fund in future.

I enjoyed my first meeting on the committee and the Chairman, James Long, and all the members were very welcoming.

Horses for courses?

I am reminded reading my colleague Brian Riley's blog that a number of us were well ahead of the game in suggesting that none of Babergh's money should be deposited in Spanish Banks.

Scorn was heaped on us at the time, but we were proved right remarkably quickly as can be read here.

The truth of the matter was that a number of us were well aware, because of our previous work experience, that the countries that
comprised the 'PIIGS' (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain) were about to hit the buffers. We were ignored at first because 'consultants' to the council thought differently.

Councils are remarkably slow to take advantage of the life skills that many councillors have accumulated before they become members.  This at best leads to frustration and disaffection, and, at worst, some questionable decision making.

To meet the challenges that an organisation faces, Trustee Boards are increasingly subjected to 'skills audits' to ensure that the membership is well balanced and that jobs are distributed sensibly.   A similar process could be undertaken at councils perhaps?

Of course political parties, and later the voters, do not necessarily choose candidates on the basis of such matters.   However once individuals are elected,  it seems sensible to me that those with the knowledge, and even wisdom, acquired from 'real world' experience should receive some recognition and respect.

Sadly, for some reason, this does not always happen.

Monster warehouses coming to a field near you.

  
'By giving planning permission to this development today you will be giving the green light to an act of vandalism.  You will be bowing to short term demands which will destroy for ever an environment that has been developed over many centuries.

This does not have to happen.  There is a better way.'

The claims of economic growth and heritage assets – are they really incompatible?  I think not.

However this is the only conclusion that can be drawn from the very sad decision made by Babergh’s Development Committee today to approve Prolog’s application to build two vast warehouses on land adjacent to Chilton Hall and Chilton Church.

Moated Chilton Hall

Frankly, little attention was paid by the majority of the committee to the importance of the historical buildings.  They were clearly of the opinion that the need for jobs in the area is so overwhelming that all other considerations are of minor importance.  Their views were not shared by a number of organisations, both local (Suffolk Preservation Society and Sudbury Society) and national (including English Heritage), all of whom wrote strong objections to the plans.

The decision, which is of questionable legality, sets an unfortunate precedent and in my opinion sends the wrong message with regard to how the council values our built environment, a built environment which, incidentally, is among the most outstanding in England.

In addition to Frank Lawrenson and me, Peter Clifford, Val Hart and a representative from the Suffolk Preservation Society spoke against the application.

In my speech, reproduced on a separate ‘tab’ above, I tried to point out that jobs could still be accommodated if a less obtrusive development were presented, or if Prolog were to locate their buildings on the far less sensitive site at Chilton Woods.

Frank Lawrenson also spoke eloquently, making the excellent point that tourism is one of the largest employers in Suffolk.  If we continue to compromise our historical assets however, there will be nothing left to visit.

Everyone else made a good showing too, but it was impossible to shake the conviction of those who believed, wrongly in my opinion, that a vote against the plans was a vote against jobs and the prosperity of the area.

The Cranes sleep on in Chilton Church in happy oblivion