I was going around getting posters up today and was amazed at firstly how many places I had to go around and secondly how many posters were already up. With the exception of the flats around Vernon Street and Maidenhall Approach (where the Labour candidate lives), the Tories are out-postering Labour in Bridge. Previously that’s unheard of firstly because Tories tend to be more shy and secondly because Bridge is a ward that was so safe for Labour they’ve treated it as a safe seat to parachute in absentee councillors with their eye on higher office than being a “mere” ward councillor.

And frankly that’s been an insult to Bridge.

Once again I’m getting a bit overwhelmed by the election, so I thought I’s showcase another Ipswich blog with its focus on the Old Stoke area of Bridge, formerly Ipswich.

The Bell Inn had the most Labour posters (3) of any building in Bridge Ward at the County Council elections.  That’s a sad fact that I suspect a lot of people don’t know.  A sadder fact is that we had as many Tory posters up.  Two of the ward’s Labour councillors have larger houses than I do, and I’m sure they’ve put up loads of posters but as they don’t live in the ward they can’t enter this rather nerdy competition.

I wondered why this soon to be derelict pub would do that.  I still don’t know.

However this ia a more interesting fact.  The Bell Inn will be gutted and is applying to become a Sports Bar.

Bridge has Labour councillor Phil Smart on the planning committee.  It will be interesting to see if he feels that he can vote on whether one of Labour’s biggest backers in Bridge should be able to gut the oldest pub in Ipswich to provide some godawful copy of the Drum & Monkey.

I was at the Maidenhall Residents Association yesterday and they have been a victim of typical bureaucratic heavy handed over-reaction.  Essentially due to out of area drug users sheltering in the flats in Station Street they’ve cut the trade access to all the flats across the ward.

This makes sense near the town, for example Station Street and Vernon Street, but the Maidenhall Estate is not in the same position.  It’s a decent walk from the town and there have been few complaints of drug users sheltering down there.  This means that there’s no post, no milkman, no visitors.  If you are out in Station Street you have around twenty neighbours to buzz you in, in Maidenhall Approach you only have three.

The solution – to petition separately for each group of flats – is not practical.  So Station Street has a genuine problem and the housing department did the right thing there.  But Maidenhall Estate was happy with the current set up.  Can’t they just get it back?

This sort of one size fits all knee jerk solution is what Labour specialises in.  A Conservative led administration should do better than this,

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.