I was working from home today so I walked around Rectory Road, which is where I used to live. In my old house, and one of the neighbouring house there are three holes in the windows that look like they are bullet holes. They had been made on Saturday night.

I talked to people in both houses and they think that it is simple vandalism with an air gun, but this needs to be verified and whoever has done this does need to be tracked down.

There is a school of thought on crime prevention that is known as the “broken windows” theory. This is the belief that small crimes should not be overlooked as they lead to bigger crimes. This is a literal example of the broken window. It should not be seen as an act of simple vandalism, but a crime where a gun was aimed at an occupied house.

I will be keeping tabs on the police investigation.

I used to live in Rectory Road and now I live in Belstead Avenue. When I was moving I had to make the journey between the two roads a lot and I was always amazed at how hard it was to get across the road at Luther Road and Station Street.

Now I’m an able bodied man in my thirties and can look after myself. However with both Hillside Primary School and Stoke High School, let alone the Sure Start centre either in Belstead Avenue or Maidenhall Approach there are a lot of children who are from the area around Rectory Road who are expected to cross this road every day. Many of these children are very young.

If we want to encourage walking and cut down on the potential for accidents then we need to get a crossing at the part of the road where Luther Road and Station Street meet.

There will be photos shortly but we did Croft Street, the new developments around Bruff Road and my old stomping ground of Rectory Road. Therese Coffey, the candidate for Suffolk Coastal came down to help and brought a number of canvassers with her. Thank you Therese. We also had a team out in Heatherhayes to say hello to the Lib Dems and another team phone canvassing (although not in Bridge).

It was great to see a number of posters being taken and even a leaflet deliverer being found.

The best response was from a Labour voter. “Are you voting for Gordon Brown?” “Not Gordon Brown! Labour!”

So until I get the photos, here’s one to boost our chances in Ipswich:

It's Ben Gummer or this man will nick the rest of your pension

On the weekend evenings you realise the difference between Belstead Avenue and Rectory Road, there are not the hordes of people very loudly coming home from the pubs and nightclubs.  However what can sometimes be a blessing can also be less of a blessing at other times.

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.

Well at last I’ve moved from Rectory Road to Belstead Avenue, I’m still in the ward though.  I’ve made a lot of friends in Rectory Road and I will miss them (in fact as I was moving out I seemed to see most of them) but I’ve already made a few friends in Belstead Avenue and as I now own a place it somehow feels a bit more permanent and that I’ve got a bit more of a stake in the place.

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.

If you are a commuter who lives in Bridge ward (like me) then you may be interested in this facebook group.  If you are a commuter who does not live in Bridge, could you please stop parking in Rectory Road?

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=166832928595&ref=nf

There do seem to be a quite a few people who don’t live in Ipswich who want to belong to this group, which suggests that some people have too much time on their hands.  But then there are a couple of councillors who don’t live in Bridge that suggests that they don’t think their neighbours appreciate them.

Look East has an article on how Ipswich is going to be asked by the government to choose a street in which they will flatter or bully the residents into recycling more and undoubtedly foist on them more and more bins.

Don’t they see the inconvenience that the current policy is forcing on anyone without substantial gardens.  It’s no surprise that most councillors, of all parties, have spacious and well appointed gardens.  Three bins are not filling up a good proportion of their back garden.  If you live on a terrace in Rectory Road then it’s a different story.

It’s no surprise that the original policy originated in Brussels, another one size fits all European law, Directive 75/442/EEC.

As some of you know I’m moving from Rectory Road to Belstead Avenue soon (I’ll give out the address when I’m in the house).  However BT in their enthusiasm have jumped the gun which means I’m effectively without a landline until then.

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.

Yes it was back last night.  I wandered around to hear, it was quiet (although present) at the bottom of Rectory Road and I couldn’t hear it at all in Stoke Street.  However when I walked into Austin Street it was quite intrusive.  The same was the case at the top Wherstead Road (up to Purplett Street) and also down Tyler Street.  Vernon Street had it, but it was largely drowned out by the road traffic (it must get worse after abot 11) and it was clear and strong down Felaw Maltings, Great Whip Street and New Cut West.

The Noise Action Group would like to run a walkabout of the area the next time the cement ship comes, so please let me know if you would like to help.

The electricity cut that caught those of us in Rectory Road (as well as Wherstead Road, Station Street and who knows where else) did not come on in our house until 1.30 pm because they had somehow managed to trip our power switch and we had to call out an electrician.  Luckily we did not open the fridge or freezer or we could have been throwing away almost a weeks worth of food. 

These cuts have been very frequent in the last six months, even if not as long lasting.