Suffolk Tories fail to light our streets

 The Labour run Borough Council in Ipswich have called on Tory run Suffolk County Council to turn back on the street lights at night after the tragic murder of Sarah Everard. So far the Tories have refused.

The Labour run Borough Council owns about 5% of the towns street lights, mostly footpath lights, and we will be turning those back on throughout the night.

So, it's disappointing to hear from a resident that the lights in the Angus Close/Sidegate Lane  footpath have not been working at all for the last two years.

When Cllr Sandra Gage took this up with the County Council, they admitted they had known since 2019 that the lights did not work, but they had found it too hard to get scaffolding  past the cycle barriers, so they had not bothered to fix them - or even inform the Borough who own them!

This is not good enough; these lights are owned by the Borough Council and we have a contract with the Tory run County Council for them to be maintained.

After pressure from Sandra, the County have now agreed to fix the lights - the Rushmere Labour team will keep the pressure on, to make sure they do.

Vote for Sandra Gage - Thursday 3rd May 2018

If you want a hard working councillor who sticks up for her residents - then Vote Sandra Gage on Thursday  3rd May

Rushmere Ward, Ipswich

Letting down our soldiers?

Last night at the Ipswich Borough Council meeting, our Labour Group put forward a motion asking for the Government to consider scrapping the 1% pay cap on Public Service workers, Cllr Bryony Rudkin proposed the motion and it was seconded by Sandra Gage, both commented on how hard some public workers were finding it hard to get by with some nurses now having to rely on food banks.

Even members of the Tory Cabinet are now considering supporting the removal of the pay cap but currently the Chancellor is holding firm on his strict stance. The election result in June plus what their own residents are telling them has caused a number of Tory MPs to consider their own position on the wage cap. Philip Hammond, the Chancellor may not be happy with some of his MPs wavering but he would have been much more comfortable with the response of the Ipswich Tory Group.

Cllr Harsant stated she did understand the hardship that public service workers were bearing but she would still vote against the motion because she felt it was better for the country, I do not agree with her but she at least made a decent attempt at explaining her position, the same could not be said of the other Tories who spoke.

Many said that the current economic situation (all down to Gordon Brown, according to them) meant we could not afford a rise above 1% for anyone - none could explain how it was OK for some of them to vote for a much larger rise for the Tory leaders on the County council last week! Some of the other comments were far more outrageous - Cllr Carnall decided to focus on tuition fees and Corbyn (not sure what that had to do with the wage cap) but when he did speak on the motion he described the contributions by Cllrs Gage and Rudkin as 'sob stories'.

Many of their front bench seemed to enjoy informing us all that public service workers would not get a pay cut, Nadia Cenci stated she would like to give all soldier pay of £100,000 but still would not vote for the lifting of a 1% pay cap on our armed forces.

Cllr Phillips indicated that independent pay review boards settled public service pay - he was almost right, in the case of the Armed Services the Government just ignores the findings and pay review boards for other public service workers are often told that they can't recommend pay rises of over 1% before they start. So much for any form of independence.

As Bryony Rudkin later commented, the mask had slipped and the 'nasty party' was back with a bang. By this time, I had decided to speak not only because of the anger I now felt after listening to the Tories speak but also by the hypocrisy of some who stayed silent.

Robin Vickery is both a Borough and a County Councilor and has often spoken up for the Armed Services, no real surprise as he is a dedicated member of the British Legion and holds a senior post within the Suffolk British Legion. Earlier in the meeting he had asked a question about Suffolk Day where he had lamented the lack of floral displays at the recent event, his last comment had been that he had hoped their would be a better show when we remembered the battle of Passchendaele on Monday., not a surprising comment due to his role in the British Legion, but when it came to voting for a motion to ask the Tory Government to lift the 1% wage cap on our current soldiers, sailors and airmen he refused but only a week earlier he had voted for a 15% pay rise for Tory County leader, Colin Noble.

As a senior member of the British Legion I would have expected him not only to vote for but speak up for any motion that supported our current armed forces. I had earlier spoken to say that a 1% pay rise would not have stopped me from wanted to be a member of the army but this Tory Government is not just asking soldiers to take home just a 1% rise it is actually reducing their weekly pay packet as they look to introduce the 'Armed Forces Future Accommmodation Model' - a plan that is so flawed that serving senior officers are even going public in their criticism of the proposed scheme. This would mean that some young soldiers could actually see an 8-9% pay cut. But this did not seem to sway Cllr Vickery who still voted against the motion. Maybe now is the time that Cllr Vickery looked at his position within the Suffolk British Legion.

Prefab Post

A few years ago the Ipswich Tories listened to the local Tory Councillor for Rushmere (Judy Terry) and decided it was time to knock down the Prefab bungalows in the North East of the town.

The Tarran Prefabs were built just after the war, with over 19,000 built in the UK, all erected under the Temporary Housing Act. Life expectancy of the Prefabs was meant to be 15 years but in Ipswich they are still going strong!

Partly due to the location, the fantastic gardens and also partly down to the community spirit the residents living in these houses seemed to have.

So when Tory, Judy Terry came up with her plan to knock them down she faced stiff opposition from the residents and I was happy as a local councilor to support them.

Fast forward to 2017, and the Labour run council has put on new roofs, installed new kitchens and our Labour County Councillor, Sandra Gage has manged to get the verges repaired and drop down kerbs put in place for the residents who required them.

It was during the campaign to save them from Tory bulldozers that we became aware that their is a 'Prefab Museum' a group supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The group came to Ipswich to speak to some of the residents and in this months issue of the 'Prefab Post' you can read about how one of our residents June Kapitan first moved into their Prefab in 1955, leaving in 1964 but returning again to live in Inverness Road again in 2010.

If you wasnt to know more about Prefabs look here

My week ahead, 1 - 7 September 2014

Monday – 1 September, 6pm – Labour campaigning Central Ipswich

Wednesday – 3 September, 9an – Planning committee

Thursday – 4 September, 10am Labour campaigning in NW Ipswich

Slightly less campaigning this week as I concentrate on catching up with all the case work I have gathered over the last month – and over 90% of that case work involves the state of the roads in Rushmere.

The Suffolk County Council seems to have just given up on Ipswich. It takes a considerable effort by our Labour County Councillors to get any work done and when they finally get a job to be done it then takes many hours of both councillor and Officer time to make sure the job is completed satisfactorily.

I pin most of the blame for these failings on the Tory run County Council and there insistence to farm out the responsibility for highways to a private firm.

Currently in Brunswick Rd, we are having work carried out to repair both the road and verges, the go ahead for this work was only made possible after constant lobbying by Sandra Gage our Labour County Councillor. The work required the road to closed but the County would only send letters to the residents right next to the closure. After further discussions it was agreed to leaflet the adjoining roads who would be part of the detour route. The County printed the leaflets but we had to deliver them.

Residents are now informing us that the road is closed but little work seems to be going on, after checking myself I have doubts the work will be completed by the planned finishing date at the end of week. This could mean the road remaining closed with pupils back at local schools.

The Tory Cabinet on Suffolk County Council seem to have regular meeting with Tory MPs, often leading to a quick change in policy or as with the location of a traveller site- dropped before the consultation even starts, so maybe at one of these meetings Mr Gummer and Poulter should be asking if the same issues we are having over highways are also happening throughout the county. I for one have a feeling that others parts of the county do not suffer like Ipswich residents do when it comes to the service they receive when it comes to highway maintenance.

Brunswick Road repairs on verge of completion

Rushmere resodents are celebrating success after the date for works to improve the state of the verges and repair the footways in Brunswick Road have been confirmed to take place in August.

Kier MG has confirmed that the works will take place between Monday the 18th and Friday 29th August. A diversion for traffic will be in place, via Whitby Road, Sidegate Lane, Colchester Road and Kingsgate Drive. The project includes the reinstatement of several sections of grass verge, with over-run areas for some off-road parking, and all footways between Beverly Road and Somerset Road to be repaired too.

Our County and Borough Councillor for Rushmere Sandra Gage has been working hard over the last year to get this much needed works undertaken, as part of a programme of verge improvements. Further work that she is lobbying for includes improved verges and footways in Inverness Road, and verge improvements in Renfrew Road. She said; “It is fantastic that the work is going ahead, I have consulted with the residents and pressurised the County Council to undertake this much needed work. The verges in much of Rushmere are in dire need of repair and I am obviously delighted that I have been able to use my Councillor locality funding to secure additional County highway funding to get these improvements for Brunswick Road. She added “residents across Ipswich regularly complain about the state of the roads and footways in their streets. These works should be done as a matter of course and should not take almost a year of pressure from the local Councillor to get on the county councils radar”.

Well done Sandra!

We are still waiting for the European results, but in Ipswich, we (the Labour Party) gained two seats from the Tories including more importantly for us we took the last Tory seat in Rushmere where we voted in Sandra Gage. Sandra will not only be a great councillor but it will also feel like a breath of fresh air as we say goodbye to the very devisive Judy Terry. She certainly will not be missed by many in our ward.

The full result is here:

Rushmere Ward

Turn out: 39.71%

Surname First name Party Votes

Gage Sandra Labour 1059
Garratt Kingsley Conservative 645
Jones Gareth Liberal Democrats 81
Phillips Max Green Party 136
Pryke Alistair UK Independence Party 536

Inverness Road - Prefab residents happy that their homes will be refurbished

Yesterday I joined Cllrs Sandra Gage and John Mowles in Inverness Road, Ipswich. It gave us a great opportunity to meet residents of the prefabs. These great homes were built just after the war and their initial lifespan was believed to be between 10 and 20 years but they have lasted much longer mainly due to the loving care they have been shown by the residents.

Whenever one becomes vacant it is not long till a new residents moves in, we call them prefabs but to residents of Inverness Rd, Humber Doucy Lane and Sidegate Lane these are just homes – much loved homes.

Residents love their homes because they are bungalows, they have great garden and they are so close to the countryside. It is obvious to any visitor that the prefabs are much valued by the residents and it is also obvious that the Tory Councillor for the ward, Cllr Judy Terry has not spoken to residents very often in her two terms as a councillor, if she had she may not have come up with the idea of knocking them down and replacing with a large amount of houses and a care home.

Her announcement last year that she had taken senior County Tory Colin Noble around the area and discussed with developers a proposal to build a care home had caused a great deal of alarm and anxiety amongst residents many of them our more senior members of the ward.

So it was not a surprise to find residents in such a good mood this week after they had heard the news that Ipswich Borough Council are just about to spend a considerable sum on re-furbishing these much loved homes.

A surveyor will visit the prefabs and homes will then be assessed with many receiving new kitchens, walk-in showers and new roofs.

Cllr Sandra Gage is also urging the Tory run County Council to do some much needed remedial work on the grass verges in the area.

The mention of the name Judy Terry did lead to one suggestion on how to fill in the deep ruts in the grass verges but not sure that would be legal!

It seems residents have not forgotten the scaremongering antics of Tory Judy Terry and I am sure many of them will make sure they use their vote in May and it will not be for Cllr Terry!

No Toll Tax on Suffolk

At last nights Ipswich Borough Full Council meeting, councillors unanimously backed a motion proposed by Labour Council Leader, Councillor David Ellesmere, in opposing the Government proposals to toll the A14.

In moving the motion, which welcomed improvements to the A14, but rejected tolls, David described the toll proposals as a tax on jobs in Ipswich and Suffolk. He criticized the government for its failure to understand that the A14 improvements represented more than a bypass for Cambridge, but had wider implications along the route of the A14, but especially for the economy of Suffolk.

David's position received cross party support with all councillors voting in favour.

The full text of the motion was:

This Council notes the Government’s recent announcement of its proposals for the upgrade of the A14 Trunk Road between Cambridge and Huntingdon.

This Council believes that there is a need to upgrade this important transport route, this Council is extremely concerned about the economic impact the proposed toll charge would have on Ipswich, Suffolk and especially at the Port of Felixstowe, given the lack of a viable alternative route for road users who do not want to use the toll road.

This Council resolves to oppose the proposed tolling of the A14 and to support Suffolk Chamber of Commerce’s “No Toll Tax on Suffolk” campaign.

It is a pity that the Tories and Lib Dems did not support the motion put forward by our own Rushmere Cllr, Sandra Gage and the County Labour Group at the Suffolk County Council meeting last week - and that they voted to still give £1 Million pounds of Suffolk money towards the building of the Toll Road. They seem to be the only groups not fully behind the work of the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, even Mt Gummer has got behind the campaign (but like Dan Pioulter does not seem to be that vocal in his oppostion to the Toll Tax)

Inga Lockington, who is both a Lib Dem Cllr on the Borough and on the County Council voted with us yesterday but did she support the County Lib Dems stance last week?

My week ahead, 13 - 19 May 2013

Monday 13 May – 4pm – Culture Portfolio meeting
6pm – Labour Group meeting

Wednesday 15 May – 6pm Annual Meeting of Ipswich Borough Council, Town Hall

Saturday 18 May – Labour campaigning in North East Ipswich

This week seemed strange, no doors to knock on, no leaflets to deliver but rather than being thankful for the rest I felt bored and also felt the need to be out campaigning. Good news for me is that we will (Ipswich Labour) be back on the doorstep this Saturday!

But I have managed to spend some of the week speaking to Rushmere residents, on Friday we had the launch of the ‘No Cold Call’ zone (NCZ) in Whitby Road. Now a certain Tory will say we are taking the credit for something that was the brainchild of our former Tory County Councillor! But the force behind the Whitby Road scheme was a resident (as it should be for the setting up of a NCZ) and Labour activist and she was assisted by our new County Councillor, Sandra Gage. Sandra had got a NCZ set up in Meadowvale Close and she was able to help the Whitby residents work alongside Suffolk Trading Standards to get the scheme operating. Our former Tory County Councillor has had nothing to do with the scheme.

The launch of the NCZ did give me a chance to ask the Treading Standard officers how they intended to implement the Suffolk Tory manifesto policy of a Suffolk wide NCZ – from their answers it seemed obvious that they had not been consulted on the proposal and secondly they did not think it would work!

On Wednesday we have the formal business of the Annual Council meeting, let’s just hope the Tories do not use it as they have in the past to make stupid little points of order!

Well done Sandra!

First off I must say it has been a pleasure to campaign for and alongside Sandra Gage. There is no doubt in my mind that Rushmere will now be far better represented than previously now we have Sandra as our County Councillor.



She lives in the ward, her children went to local schools and she cares passionately for the community she lives in. Her previous experience at Suffolk County Council will also be a great asset as she starts to work for us - her constituents. Working alongside Tracy Grant and myself she will make sure we have a strong Labour team in Rushmere, she will also bring a number of skills (plus passion) to our North East Ipswich team.

There certainly is no love lost between myself and Tory Judy Terry so I am glad that she is no longer representing us on the County Council, her disastrous handling of the Library service and more locally her involvement in the dispute over a the provision of a lollipop person outside Sidegate Primary School means she will not be missed by many residents. She has certainly let down many Rushmere residents with her ill thought out statements about the prefabs in Inverness Road but it does mean we have plenty of work to do to repair the trust between those residents in the prefabs and their elected representative's.

We also can't just ignore the number of votes that UKIP gained in the ward, we must listen to their concerns - was it just a protest vote? It is understandable that many residents have concerns about immigration and debate on the matter is needed but it is not helped by the inflammatory leaflets put out by UKIP (highlighting the number of Bulgarians that could enter the UK) or some of the very right wing press reports written by the likes of the Mail and the Express.

We will soon be delivering a leaflet to all Rushmere residents giving our contact details. But for now it is just to say 'well done' Sandra and 'thank you' to the Rushmere residents who voted for Labour.

Candidate Name Party Name Votes
GAGE, Sandra Labour 1117
TERRY, Judy Conservative 628
ELLIS, Peter UK Independence Party 401
WILMOT, Kirsty Green 94
JONES, Gareth Liberal Democrat 90
JACKSON, Dale Independent 34

My Month ahead - now till May 2nd, 2013

Allegedly we are now in Spring! Which means in Ipswich we start the final push towards another set of elections- this time for the Suffolk County Council.

Now as we approach April, it may even mean you bump into an Ipswich Tory activist, but that may depend on where you live in the town and you might even get to see one of their leaflets - but do not hold your breath if living in Gainsborough or Priory Heath. There might even be a rarer sight on the streets of Ipswich, a Lib Dem activist! But unless your walking on a street within sight of Christchurch Park you are unlikely to see the lesser spotted Lib Dem.

Ipswich Labour have continued to campaign since May last year and our results in Ipswich during the PCC elections indicates that the Ipswich public would rather be represented by a party that works all year round on behalf of the town rather than just appear during the month of April.

So last week we moved from campaigning two days a week to every day of the week- we will also be campaigning in EVERY WARD in the town, there are not any 'no-go' areas for Ipswich Labour.

Normal council work and meetings do continue and campaigning has to be fitted round these plus work- and also some downtime is needed to last through till May.

This week I have two meetings at Sidegate School plus later in the month I am taking a group of teenagers on their Duke of Edinburgh Gold expedition to Mid Wales. So until Mid May, I am suspending my weekly blog post - 'My Week ahead' now the blog post was heavily criticised by one Ipswich tory activist- but guess what? He has now copied the idea and posts his own 'week ahead' post each week.

But as from now till the 2nd May - it will have campaigning down on almost every day - I think you know what I will be doing each day without looking at a post and of course I hope to speak to many of you as I spend most evenings knocking on doors.

I will be working as hard as I can to help Ipswich Labour win every County Council seat in the town (and the wider county) in particular I will be fighting hard in Rushmere Ward to get our superb candidate Sandra Gage elected - a local resident who understand the concerns of her Rushmere neighbours - a skill (understanding residents concerns)that it has become obvious that our the current Tory incumbent Judy Terry does not possess - with the her latest statements about the Rushmere Prefabs yet another example of how out of touch she has become.

So on the 2nd May - Vote Labour - where ever you are in Suffolk but in particular in Rushmere Ward, Vote for Sandra Gage, local resident, community champion and Labour activist.

So on May 2nd - where ever you are in Suffolk- Vote Labour and in Rushmere Vote Sandra Gage - local resident, community champion and Labour activist.

My week ahead 17 - 23 December 2012

Monday 17 December, 8pm – Labour Group, Christmas Dinner

Tuesday 18 December, 9am – Finance meeting with Head at Sidegate Primary School

Wednesday 19 December, 9.30am – Planning Meeting
5pm – Meeting about Murray Rd Recreation Ground

Thursday 20 December, 6pm – East Housing Meeting

This week I have had a number of meetings about providing youth activities on Rushmere Estate in 2013, I hope to be able to announce some good news about this in January.

Friday, I joined local community campaigners in Whitby Road. Gemma Farrow a local resident hopes to have Whitby Rd declared a ‘no cold call zone’. I went out with her on Friday to ask residents what they thought we were joined by local police, Suffolk trading standards plus Sandra Gage. Sandra is a ‘community champion’ who was the force behind Meadowvale Close becoming a ‘no cold call zone’.

The good news for Rushmere Residents is that Sandra will be joining Tracy Grant, I and the local North East Ipswich Labour team in 2013, campaigning on a number of issues that affect Rushmere residents.

On Thursday, I have my last meeting before Christmas, the East Ipswich Housing meeting, interesting to see if the Tory and Lib Dems councillors turn up ( they have failed to attend the last two meetings) always a good meeting as we have a great group of residents covering the whole of the east of Ipswich on the committee with us.

Road safety in Whitby Road , Ipswich

Whitby /Beverley Road News

Over the last month a number of residents have been in contact about installing white lines at the Beverley Road/Whitby Road junction.

Give way lines are not always needed on residential streets. However, at this junction it is not as obvious who has right of way and with the proximity of the junction to Sidegate Primary School, the road safety concerns raised by residents have been considered.

Sandra Gage, one of our local campaigners, and myself approached the council highways department to ask that new give way lines were introduced at the Beverley Road/Whitby Road junction. Last week those lines were painted onto the roads. I am sure this will help improve road safety for not only residents but also the young children and their parents who walk along Whitby Road.

Sandra has also brought to my attention the need for more road safety measures at both the Khartoum/Woodbridge Rd junction and the Leopold/Rushmere Road junction. We have approached the council to see what we can do in those streets.

Meadowvale Close No Cold Calling Zone Launch‏

Last week I was invited to the Meadowvale Close No Cold Calling Zone Launch‏, it was a great afternoon and gave me an opportunity to speak to a number of residents about issues in our ward.

This was the seventh No Cold Calling Zone to be set up in Ipswich and the first in Rushmere Ward.

The scheme was the idea of 'Community Champion' - Sandra Gage. If every street in Ipswich had someone like Sandra living in it, Ipswich would be an even better place to live in than it is already.




Well done Sandra, the Officers from Trading Standards and PCSO's from Heath Road.

Just in case anyone gets the wrong idea, I went to meet residents not just to eat cake!!

Promoted by John Cook c/o Ipswich labour Party, 33 Silent Steet, Ipswich, IP1 1TF on behalf of Alasdair Ross and the Labour Party Candidates, . Hosted (printed) by Blogger.com (Google Inc) of 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043 who are not responsible for any of the contents of these posts.