Churchill insurance – which is a decent sized Ipswich employer – is going to be forcibly sold by RBS on the orders of the European Commission.  Hopefully no one in Ipswich will lose their job as a result of this.

The problem is not the breakup as such – it’s just that it is made by a foreign official with no democratic accountability.  The EU is having a greater effect on the lives of the people in Bridge. 

Here’s some of the ways in which EU rules have made life less pleasant in Bridge:

- Competition laws stop bus operators picking up the phone to talk to each other to get Wherstead Road covered by a regular service
- The Post Office in Austin Street had to be shut down in order after an EU mandated programme to liberalise delivery services made this Post Office marginal
- The stupid, stupid, stupid seperation of train and track with the consequent lack of accountability for track problems which does so much to make train journeys long and was done in order to comply with a daft EU directive to open up train services to – well it’s never quite clear
- Open tendering rules which mean that the London Olympics could only look at price and could not look into environmental effects when awarding the cement importing contract to Southern Cement
- The Eastern European influx which even the Conservatives are not intending to control which has driven up rents and driven down wages across a whole swathe of Bridge

Some people claim that membership of the EU has given Britain “incalculable benefits”, which could simply mean don’t bother to tot up the costs and benefits.  Some say that the only problem with Europe is that there’s a “democratic deficit” which is true as there’s no bloody demos and never will be.

This is not a rant to say that we should not learn from how some European countries do things, that would be stupid.  It’s just a reminder that ratifying the Constitution of Europe, now renamed the Lisbon Treaty, will mean more decisions taken by people who don’t understand us and whom we have no mecahnism to recall. 

Just the sort of thing an absentee Labour councillor accustomed to a safe seat would love.

There’s been some media reaction to the meeting yesterday.

Radio Suffolk and Town 102 both publicised the event.  Here is the Mark Murphy show that has me (24 minutes in) and Matthew Ling of the Environment Services (1 hour 37 minutes in)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p004kwht/Mark_Murphy_06_10_2009/

We also got a write up of the meeting from the Evening Star:

http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/content/eveningstar/news/story.aspx?brand=ESTOnline&category=News&tBrand=ESTOnline&tCategory=xDefault&itemid=IPED07%20Oct%202009%2006:18:54:530

They estimated about 100.  I’d say it was closer to  (actually slightly over) 150, having done church attendance counting almost every week for the last four years.  Still packed.

It’s such a shame that the Labour supporter Chris Ward had to put in such an ignorant response:

Just finished the noise meeting which was quite productive.  There were about 150 people there.

Some of the highlights:

• No one from Southern Cement wanted to speak or identify themselves, which was expected.  No one from the Port of Ipswich did either, which was disappointing.
• There are plenty of people outside the Noise Action Group who are very angry.  If Southern Cement and Uniland think that these people won’t cause problems if they’re snubbed, then Associated British Ports after the animal rights protests will have a different idea.  Dialogue with the Noise Action Group will keep hot heads cool.
• It was nice of Chris Mole to turn up, but he gave a poor speech.
• Phil Smart gave a better speech than Chris Mole, and had the germ of a good idea with getting residents to talk to the port in general.
• There were lots of ideas for quietening the operation, some better than others.
• Nadia Cenci, who suffers from the noise, gave a great speech, asking not why, but how, to sue Southern Cement and Associated British Ports to close them down.  Again this is another worse alternative than dialogue.
• There are people miles away who hear this.  We knew that, but we found more.
• The dust is an emerging issue which is angering a lot of
• Council officers sounded well and truly peeved with Southern Cement’s refusal to talk to residents.  After all at times they were being abused because Southern Cement won’t talk.
• Only one person refused to give their contact details at the end of the meeting.

So Southern Cement, I know that you read this blog, and I know you want a way out.  It’s d-i-a-l-o-g-u-e .  It’s better than being shut down.

A lot of Tories were canvassing on Wherstead Road and Bostock Road yesterday and got most of the expected concerns, port and traffic noise and the buses – together with a new concern of parking.

You know how serious this port noise is getting when one of the people you talk to is in the process of moving only because of the noise.

This is why you need to be at the public meeting on Tuesday 6pm at the IP-City Centre.

However the strength of the feeling on port noise.

Just a quick reminder that there is a public meeting on the port noise:

Date: Tuesday 6 October

Time: 6.00pm – 8.00pm

Venue: IP-City Centre, Bath Street (near Wherstead Road)

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. 

“Nice idea, not enough pictures” has been a comment I’ve heard about Bridge Ward News.  Fair comment.  Until I get my digital camera working with this computer I’m going to have to show a few stock photos from around the area.

I quite like this one, which is the Three Angels, a sculpture which is on the Wherstead Road river bank.  I’m usually a fan of art produced before my Dad was born, but this fits in well with the docks.

(If you have any photos of the area that you would like to share please email them to james@bridgeward.org.uk

If you live near Wherstead Road, or even further away, then you will be aware that Ipswich docks have become noisier recently.  Some people have compared it to living next to a nightclub while others have said it’s like having the washing machine on, all night.

The culprit is a cement ship used by Southern Cement, and this noise, which people have likened to a continuous howl, has been going on continuously.

This is pollution, as certainly as if cement dust was blown over Stoke Park.  While no-one denies that Ipswich needs a thriving port, we need to ask a few questions:

1)  Why does this work need to be carried on at night? 

2)  Why aren’t sufficient measures being taken to lower the noise?

3)  Why is the noise reaching people in places like the Hayes and even Pinewood?

If you have had any issues with this then you are not alone.  A noise abatement group has been set up to deal with this issue.  They need reports from people who have suffered and they will also need help with leafletting and other elements of the campaign to bring this noise down to a tolerable level.

If you have had problems with night time noise that you think may be from the port then please email me on james@bridgeward.org.uk and I will pass on any emails I get to the organisers of the noise abatement group.