News from Bridge Ward, Ipswich including the Hayes, Old Stoke, Prince of Wales Drive, Maidenhall Estate and Wherstead Road

I still can’t get comments up, so if you want to send any reaction to something I’ve said please email james@bridgeward.org.uk

From the Suffolk Police:

A red Ford Fiesta parked on a driveway in Pembroke Close Ipswich was broken into sometime between 10pm Saturday 21st and 1.10am Sunday 22nd January. Damage was caused to the ignition and the vehicle moved approximately 200 metres along the street before being abandoned.

A maroon Vauxhall Cavalier parked in the same road was also broken into sometime between 5pm Saturday and 8.15am Sunday.

And between 5.30pm Saturday and 12.15am Sunday an attempt was made to force open a door of red Peugeot 106 in a parking area on Prince of Wales Drive Ipswich.

Anyone with information relating to any of these incidents is asked to contact Ipswich Police on 101 reference IW/12/297

OR Please use the following link to pass any useful information to Suffolk Police about this incident. http://www.suffolk.police.uk/safetyadvice/reportacrime/tellthepolice.aspx

DO NOT USE THIS LINK IN AN EMERGENCY OR IN A SITUATION THAT REQUIRES AN IMMEDIATE POLICE RESPONSE WHEN YOU SHOULD RING 999.

Also car crime has been noted in Birkfield Close, Partridge Close, Pheasant Road and Ancaster Road – so it’s a bit of an epidemic.

Ben Gummer has taken to Twitter to give ten (or eleven – have you ever known an MP to say less than he promises) reasons to back Boris Island airport.  And misses the biggest problem.

Some people that I respect, Gavin Maclure, Kevin Algar and Paul West (err, and Alasdair Ross) all took an incredibly stupid stance on HS2 because they again missed the elephant in the living room.

Let’s not worry about the nimbys.  Sometimes they have a point, often they don’t.  In both Boris Island and the High Speed 2 cases they are wrong.

The problem is that both these incredibly expensive projects are based on massive government financial backing.

Governments are remarkably bad at making decisions about investment.  This is why people clamour for government investment.  Essentially it’s an easy ride.  There are no shareholders hustling for a return.  Risk will almost always be far too steeply discounted.  Over-runs will be tolerated.  Unions will be allowed to thwart cost control.  Decisions will be taken on political rather than economic grounds.

In short the majority will pay through their taxes for a minority’s financial advantage.  In even plithier form, Bob Crow’s in favour.

If Boris Island could be privately financed (without a government guarantee) then it would be an elegant and radical way of sorting out the Heathrow headache.  However at the moment it is just une grand projet, and we simply should not be getting involved.

So the neighbourhood forums went ahead on Wednesday and Thursday and no one seemed to notice. I could not get to the South West forum on Thursday as 5.30pm is not exactly work friendly.

Kevin Algar has a good report on the South West forum, which points to a certain futility to the whole experience. Sally Wainman also writes about the North East and North West area forums although without Kevin’s rather biting style. She still thinks that this is not a game to Labour, bless her. Sally had one very good idea – monitoring public attendance.

From various reports we seemed to have the following results

• Resident participation for all four forums put together was in single figures
• The forums were held for the councillors’ rather than the residents benefit – being in the council chamber which is closer for Phil Smart or Bryony Rudkin than a drafty church hall in the middle of Bridge or Chantry (not to mention councillor’s parking)
• The meetings were far too formal
• There was no notification to people who had attended before
• As Ipswich Spy has pointed out the forums seem to have one over-riding aim now – to replicate what had gone on before

The acid test of this change – supported by the Liberal Democrats and Ipswich Spy, and with Tory abstentions – was whether it would bring more people in. It brought in less. Fingers on one hand type numbers.

There had been no attempt to see if similar changes had been tried before in other councils, no attempt to debate other changes and suggest these to neighbourhood forums. It’s a complete shambles.

Neighbourhood forums are not important to councillors and council officials but they are the closest thing to direct democracy that we have in Ipswich. They are important because they are a chance, admittedly an imperfect chance, for the people to control the agenda.

This was not simply a failure of the Labour Party in Ipswich – that David Ellesmere is an incompetent manager is hardly news – it’s a failure of the whole political class in Ipswich.

i use this cash point!

From the Suffolk Constabulary:

Police are asking residents to be vigilant when using ATM machines to withdraw cash after a device was found on an ATM on Austin Street in Ipswich at around 3pm on Tuesday 10th January. A resident went to withdraw cash from the machine that didn’t dispense the money. They returned to the same machine later on and found a plastic strip over the dispenser. £20 had been stolen. Police would like to trace a man who was seen loitering around the area talking on a mobile phone and left when staff discovered the device. He is described as white, around 5ft 6 tall, of medium build and was wearing a dark coloured jacket with a hood and dark coloured trousers.

If you have any information about this incident please contact Ipswich police by dialling 101 quoting reference IW/12/134.

It may not be immediately apparent to ATM customers that there is anything suspicious about the machine, so Police would urge people to be alert, and check for any signs that the machine has been tampered with. If there is anything suspicious about the machine, then customers should either alert the branch immediately, or contact police.

Customers can also take extra measures to protect themselves against fraud, such as covering the keypad with their hand when they enter their PIN, and checking their bank accounts regularly to keep track of their funds.

Details about all types of card fraud in the UK can be found at www.cardwatch.org.uk including tips on how to prevent it happening to you.

Anyone who feels they may have been the victim of fraud should contact their banks immediately. If you have concerns that a device is attached to an ATM then please contact the police on 101.

Or

Please use the following link to pass any useful information to Suffolk Police about this incident.

http://www.suffolk.police.uk/safetyadvice/reportacrime/tellthepolice.aspx

There is a meeting of the South West Area Committee – Labour’s attempt to neuter local involvement. 

This will be meeting at 5.30 at Grafton House.  I know that this is a work unfriendly time but if you want to kill off local democracy like David Ellesmere does, you’d want to hold all four committee meetings in two evenings.  That way you’d get the unpleasant business of local representation over with as soon as possible.

Governments are appalling at allocating capital.  That’s why the Soviet Union collapsed.  It’s why Labour always bankrupts the country.  So why does the government think that will change when they are spending £32 billion on High Speed 2.

Forget the annoying Nimbys, this is a massive misallocation of capital – that’s why it should be stopped.  It’s not a good time to grow the deficit.

Ed Miliband has been told that he’s too ugly to be Prime Minister.  I think that this is unfair. 

To stop this unfairness it’s time for Ipswich’s own camel lookalike, David Ellesmere, to come to Ed Miliband’s rescue. 

So here’s my proposal.  David Ellesmere should get his picture taken with Ed Miliband.  A lot.  I’ll plaster them all over this site, just as I did with Gordon Brown and Chris Mole.  All in the interests of fairness, you see.

In this way people will realise that Ed Miliband is not Britain’s ugliest man.  That’;s beacause this individual will be in the photograph.

So go on David, use your unique powers to scare young children and turn milk sour to your party’s advantage.

Time to take up the load, Ellesmere

For those people who remember the death outside the Smock, Paul Dell has been found not guilty.

On the 10th January the Council Executive will meet with a 6PM start at Grafton House on Grafton Way.  They should be discussing their plans to put voluntary groups out of business.

From Ipswich Police

Between 12pm Monday 2nd and 8pm Sunday 8th January on Bostock Road, Ipswich offenders have entered a property via a kitchen window and taken a Freeview box, surround sound speakers and an Ipod docking station from within.

Were you in the area at the time, did you see anything suspicious? Do you know the name of the offender or offenders? If you have any information please contact Suffolk Police on 101 quoting reference IW/12/96.

Or

Please use the following link to pass any useful information to Suffolk Police about this incident.

http://www.suffolk.police.uk/safetyadvice/reportacrime/tellthepolice.aspx