My week ahead 17 - 23 June 2013

Monday 17 June – 4pm, Culture Portfolio meeting
6pm, Labour Group meeting

Tuesday 18 June – 5pm, Sidegate School, Finance meeting

Wednesday 19 June – 9am – Ipswich Borough Council, Planning meeting – Grafton House

Thursday 20 June – 7pm, ‘Refugee Week’ Quiz with a twist! PJ McGinty and Sons Pub

Friday 21 June – 7pm, Launch of Ip-Art, Ipswich Waterfront

Saturday 22 June - 10am, Labour campaigning, North West Ipswich


Many people moan about the town we live in, but Ipswich has far more going on in it than most towns of a similar size and certainly far more than when I was growing up in the town. The best bit is much of it is free and there is something for all ages to see or participate in.

This week we had the final of the ‘Tour Series’ cycle races and it was without doubt a great success and more pleasing was the organisers stating it was the best event of the whole series. The trick now is in conjunction with the County Council to work towards hosting an even bigger cycling event. Manchester may have the velodrome but when it comes to road events, Ipswich (and Suffolk) is certainly becoming a second home for British Cycling.

This week we launch Ip-Art in the town, again a vast range of events and many aimed at our younger residents and many free. The Sherlock Homes play by the Pantaloons, to be staged outside Christchurch Mansion is the one event that I have pencilled in to attend. But I am sure that even the biggest ‘moaner’ will find something they like happening over the next few weeks.

A number of meetings to attend over the next week, planning will see the thorny subject of yet another application for another bookmakers to be opened in the town. The Government and our local Tory MP keep implying that we (the local council) can do something but this is case, similar to phone masts where the Government needs to give more direction.

I also have a further meeting at Sidegate Primary School, the staff – and the pupils are working so hard to improve standards but often it seems the Tory Government just want to pull the rug from underneath them with the Tory County Council not helping but just saying “how hard to you want the rug pulled?”

Any spare time will be spent campaigning in the five wards that are under threat of seeing a bus route removed or reduced. The Tories seem to have just focussed on one ward and spent most of the time scaremongering rather than looking for a solution. Fortunately Labour run Ipswich Borough council has a fund of £140,000 that can be used to help subsidise bus routes- a fund the Tories did not want us to have!

My week ahead 2 - 7 July 2012

Monday 2 July 4pm - Culture Portfolio meeting
4.30pm Elections Working Group

Wednesday 4 July 4.10pm - 'Crash of the Elysium, Crown Street Car Park
6pm - East Ipswich Housing Working Group

Thursday 5 July 4pm - Olympic Torch arrives in Ipswich

Friday 6 July 6pm - 'Mayor at Home' Christchurch Park

Saturday 7 July 2am - Depart for Borneo, taking a group of teenagers to SE Asia to work on a community project.


Last week I managed to experience Ip-art for the first time this year. Wednesday I was in Christchurch Park to watch the ‘Pantaloons’ preform ‘The Importance of being Earnest’. The backdrop of Christchurch Mansion made a it a superb venue and other than every church in Ipswich seemed to want to ring their bells on that evening it was a great evening of entertainment. Two years ago I visited Cambridge to watch one of their Shakespeare ‘open air’ plays – no doubt to me that this was far better. Make sure you go next year.

This show was just one small part of Ip-art, this week I am off to the Dr Who show with a group of school kids! Then Thursday is a day I never thought I would see – the Olympic Torch coming to Ipswich. I have tickets for a number of events and the torch arrival now makes me realise how close we are now to the whole event.

This week we continued with our Operation ‘No safe Tory Ward in Ipswich’ – with canvass sessions in Bixley and Holywells. It now seems the Tories are using the same slogan! Trouble for them is that we have never taken any seat in Ipswich for granted.
We continue to have large numbers of members and supporters out campaigning each week, but we also have time to play and on Saturday we held a fundraiser at Roundwood Bowl’s club- somehow my daughter and boyfriend managed to beat/hammer me!

On Saturday I am off to Borneo taking a group of teenagers to work on a community project. So when I return the Olympics will be about to start we may have had an English ‘Tour De France’ winner and the rain may have stopped!