It’s on at Saturday 26th June from 1pm onwards.

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1. Luther Road and Station Street – We need a crossing
2. An outside view on the Ipswich Buses sale
3. Campaigning in Maidenhall Approach and Belstead Avenue

One of the nice things about getting close to the General Election is the amount of mutual aid that you get.

Here are some pictures

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1. Rectory Road to Belstead Avenue
2. Oh no, hide: Maidenhall Estate’s message to Brown
3. Ben Gummer at the Maidenhall Residents Association

Why are some through routes gritted and others aren’t?

Will our road be treated?

When you phone up to warn of impending accidents and told that the road will be gritted, why isn’t it?

I think we’ve got to be honest and say that people have been very confused as to the response of Ipswich council on the gritters.  But the problem is not that there isn’t a gritter up every street, it’s just we don’t know where the gritters are.

The council needs to tell people before hand whether or not there road will be gritted.  This will mean that people can prepare, by for example keeping rock salt.  If they want to elect someone who’s going to tax them till the pips squeak but put a gritter up every path and side road (and run out of rock salt within three days) then they can vote Labour.  That’s what a democracy is.

It’s the not knowing that’s really infuriating.   Both on the Ipswich Council site and the Highways department there’s no update or advice.  There’s no explanations as to why no pavements are treated, even busy ones such as those leading down from Belstead Road and into Burrell Road.  There’s a perception that gritting is much less than in previous years.

One of the most troubling worries is that council officials (I know that there is a taboo on publicly criticising council officials, but it needs to be done) will come down on people like a ton of bricks if they clear the road or pavement.  This perception doesn’t come about by accident.

So we need to be informed of whether or not the roads and pavements we use will be gritted.  We should be kept informed through the cold period as to what’s going on. And we need to be told clearly that we will not be punished for helping to maintain the safety of our streets.

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1. Skating rinks
2. Chris Mole, Ice King
3. Gritted road routes in Ipswich

https://www.ipswich.gov.uk/site/scripts/xforms_form.php?formID=152

As Belstead Avenue is used as a through road by drivers who dislike the incline on Luther Road this is not acceptable. I’ve seen two near accidents in the last few days.

Related posts:

1. Luther Road and Station Street – We need a crossing
2. Skating rinks
3. Rectory Road to Belstead Avenue

The fact that Belstead Avenue is slightly cut off means that the gritter lorries don’t come by and the road is an ice rink, at least the two thirds that is not linking Luther Road and the Maidenhall Estate.

What was dispiriting was talking to a couple of the neighbours, public spirited people who have cleared their drives and helped their neighbours.  When we were moaning about the lack of grit on the steep and sharp downhill bend that is Belstead Avenue.  I suggested that we get some salt and put it on the road.  ”The council won’t let us do that on their road” was the reply.

Whether or not it’s true (and to my shame I don’t know whether that’s the case) it just goes to show what the health and safety nonsense is doing to communities up and down the country.  We all moan about it but still it seems to pile on, and that’s before we get to the snow.  It doesn’t seem to matter who’s in charge the health and safety rules still come, and worse there’s a paralysis that comes to any community organisation.

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1. Gritting: It’s the not knowing that hurts
2. Rectory Road to Belstead Avenue
3. Reporting highway defects

No doubt with the madcap parking schemes being designed by the absentee Labour councillors we will soon have plenty of Rectory Road residents coming to Belstead Avenue as there will only enough parking places for half of Rectory Road when the double yellow lines come in.

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1. Campaigning in Maidenhall Approach and Belstead Avenue
2. Rectory Road and Seymour Road on the box
3. Was there a rectory on Rectory Road?

Normal service will resume and emails will be answered then. 

I’ve had someone complain about not getting through to my home number, so sorry about that.

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1. Skating rinks
2. Rectory Road to Belstead Avenue
3. The cement ship noise is back