Tour of Britain returns to Suffolk

Tuesday 18 August, Tour of Britain launch - media ride. Thetford

Suffolk is becoming a cycling hot spot and Ipswich is doing its best to not only be involved but also to help. Today saw the Tour of Britian media launch and I got the chance to ride alongside the cycling team that ex England cricketer Matt Prior helps fund - the One Pro team, it may have been a bit soggy but was great to cycle the 15 miles alongside some of Britain's pro cyclists.

So the Tour follows the Women's Tour to Ipswich, but that is not all the cycling we have - on Saturday we have the Crafted Classique Sportive, Sunday the Sky ride hits the streets of Ipswich and later in the year the local theatre, the New Wolsey gets in the act with the cycling based play - Beryl - Ipswich is really at home on two wheels.

Cycling also seems to put a smiles on peoples faces, great for health and if we can reduce the number of cars on the road that is also a bonus. Labour run Ipswich Borough Council should be proud of the part it has played in making Ipswich a real cycling boom town.

My week ahead, 17 - 22 August 2015

Monday 17 August, 3pm – NE Agenda setting meting
4pm – Culture portfolio meeting
6pm – Labour campaigning in South West Ipswich

Tuesday 18 August, Tour of Britain, Media launch, and cycle ride – Thetford

Thursday 20 August, Campaigning all day in Rushmere ward, Ipswich

Saturday 22 August, 8am – Crafted Classique Cycle ride – Waterfront

Ipswich – the ‘new’ home of sport

This week I am at the media launch of the Tour of Britain which returns to Ipswich next month, good timing because this Saturday I am (stupidly??) entered into the Crafted Classique 100km cycle ride. The Sportive is yet another example of how Ipswich is defining itself as a sports capital.

Of course we have a head start on becoming the ‘home’ of sport as we are home to the famous Ipswich Town FC! But that is just a start and it is not just the elite sport we attract alongside the Tour of Britain we have the sportive and the Sky ride. On Friday we had our first twilight running race through the town and last week we welcomed the Rugby World Cup to Ipswich.

Much of this is due to the brilliant work of our council officers, who have forged great working partnerships with British Cycling, the FA, SCC and many others. The Labour run council has also given its full support to the drive to make this a real ‘home’ of sport and the building of a new pavilion at Ransomes is another example of the work we are involved in.

We are also lucky to have an internationally acclaimed gymnastics centre plus basketball and handball clubs which are both thriving.

Not that we get any recognition of this work from our local Tories or in particular our Tory MP, Ben Gummer – but then again the Olympic legacy that was promised is only been delivered by local authorities like Ipswich and voluntary bodies, the Tory Government have are removing much of the PE provision in schools and even the Olympic Stadium seems to have been handed over to West Ham at a very low price.

My week ahead 3 - 9 September 2012

Monday 3 September 6pm – Labour campaigning in South East Ipswich

Tuesday 4 September 6.30pm – Walking tour of Ipswich – Mayors Charity

Wednesday 5 September 4pm – Attending the Public Consultation on redevelopment of St Clements Hospital
6pm – Culture and Leisure working Group – Grafton House

Thursday 6 September 6pm – Scrutiny Call in, Tories calling in the Labour decision to improve the Ipswich Angle

Friday 7 September 7.30pm – New Wolsey, Mod Rox

Saturday 8 September 10.30am – Labour campaigning in North Ipswich

A busy week ahead as all spare time is spent campaigning but now into a full week of meetings but I have still found time to attend the New Wolsey and also learn some more about the history of our town on a guided tour of the Town Centre –and also giving us an opportunity to contribute towards the Mayor’s charities.

On Wednesday we have our Culture and Leisure working group, you may be surprised to know we have thsese meetings after reading Tory Cllr Terry’s article in the ‘Ipswich Flyer’ - she seems to use every opportunity she can to attack us on Culture and Leisure – no words of praise for the Ipswich hosting the ‘Grad Depart’ of the Tour of Britain this Sunday or the outstanding success of the Maritime Festival. But what she also forgets to mention the readers of the ‘Flyer’ is the constant pressure we are under to cut spending due to the Tory Government making drastic cuts to Council funding. Just this week a leading Tory Council leader in England, Sir Merrick Cockell has informed residents that the Tory Government cuts will bleed council reserves dry within 5 years. So Maybe Mrs Terry should also praise Ipswich Borough Council when we have achieved good results and be less critical when cuts have to be made due to her own government drastically cutting council funding.

On Wednesday I will be attending the Public Consultation on the redevelopment of St Clements Hospital. The event is being held both on Wednesday and Thursday, within the pavilion at St Clements between 4-8pm on both days. This consultation is being organised by the NHS Trust. The North East Area Committee are looking at holding a further public meeting about the plans later in the year.

Though St Clements is not in our ward, the increased traffic may affect Rushmere residents. Interesting today the Mr Cameron wishes to make it easier to build on the
Green Belt – whilst in Ipswich we have both Dan Poulter and Ben Gummer keener to build on sites within Ipswich and keep the Northern Fringe clear. So we have Cameron saying one thing, our local MP’s something else, the local Tory and Lib Dem Cllrs saying we should not build on the Northern Fringe but voting for development – what do they really want? Your guess is better than mine. Seems to me they just say what they think the voters want to hear.

My week ahead 18 - 24 September

Sunday 18 September 2pm - Ipswich Labour Party Parliamentary candidate hustings

Monday 19 September Lunchtime - Meeting residents at Selkirk Road shops, Rushmere Estate, Ipswich

2pm - North East Ipswich Neighbourhood Group Meeting

Wednesday 21 September 5.30pm - Ipswich Polling Stations working group

This week I attended a meeting looking at future plans for parks in Ipswich. The Labour Group meeting enabled me to talk to members about the possible link between the Ipswich Academy and Gainsborough Sports Centre.

Wednesday was the full council meeting, where even a leading Tory - Gavin Maclure seems to think the Labour Group got the upper hand when it came to answering the questions put to them by the Tory/Lib Dem Groups




Yesterday was a busy day, with an early morning start to see the race start of the Tour of Britain in Bury St Edmunds - more here. I then got back to Ipswich in time to see the pelaton cycle through Christchurch Park. Managed to meet up with a number of Labour members in the park and we left to join others in campaigning in St Margaret's Ward.

My week ahead 12-18 September 2011

Monday 12 September 4pm - Meeting at Grafton House on Parks and culture
6pm - Labour Group Meeting

Wednesday 14 September 6pm - Ipswich Borough Council, Full Council Meeting

Saturday 17 September Tour of Britain - race start- Bury St Edmunds

Sunday 18 September 2pm - Ipswich Labour selection of parliamentary candidate

This week started with campaigning on Monday night in North West Ipswich. On Thursday I attended the North East Ipswich forum, the importance of maintaining a Safer Neighbourhood team in North East Ipswich was mentioned by many residents.
Friday was the highlight of the week as I went and met residents at Dundee House on Renfrew Road, the residents are very concerned about the future of sheltered housing in Ipswich. The Tory Government is cutting the money given to councils to assist in running these highly valued schemes.

My week ahead 29 August - 3 September 2011

Tuesday 30 August 6pm - Ipswich Council Executive. Grafton House

Thursday 1 September 4.30pm - Scrutiny Committee, Tour of the Ipswich Waterfront

Saturday 3 September 10.30am - Campaigning in North West Ipswich

This week started with a Labour Group meeting on Monday. Tuesday should have been the highlight of the week, but the 5 mile cycle ride that was part of the media launch for the Tour of Britain was cancelled!! - A severe weather warning put pay to my opportunity to pretend I was Bradley Wiggins or Mark Cavendish!



Bradley Wiggins - not Cllr Ross!

Wednesday I attended a morning meeting at Gainsborough Sports Centre, looking at the plans for the new Ipswich Academy, who will becoming our close neighbours quite soon.

Saturday, saw yet again a large number of Labour activists out in East Ipswich, informing residents of the Suffolk County Council plan to switch lights off at midnight.

Today (Sunday) I got my chance to follow in the cycle tracks of Wiggins, I joined 10 Ipswich residents on the Sky/British cycling local ride. we left Northgate School, dodged the showers and visited a number of villages to the east of the town. But where did they get those hills from!