On 7 May elections will be held in Suffolk. All County Council seats are up for election, and one third of councillors are being elected for Ipswich Borough Council. In almost all cases there are five candidates standing (Conservative, Green, Labour, Liberal Democrat, Reform UK), and in some there are others as well.
To inform our readers, we invited the leaders of the five main parties to each contribute a short piece, outlining what their party would hope to do for Suffolk if elected. We stressed that, since this is a local election, we wanted to avoid national issues (for example county council has no responsibility for immigration), and there is no need to tell us that they will want to listen to constituents and use council money wisely (they will all claim that).
We set the end of last week as a deadline for them to respond, since postal ballots are going out now. As of today we have only had a response from the Greens. So here we publish that. If the other parties respond later we will add their contributions.
Greens
A Green county council would:
Prioritise finding better methods for maintaining roads and pavements by preventing potholes before they happen, rather than patches and mends that don’t last.
Reduce road damage by revising lorry routes to ensure HGVs are confined to appropriate roads.
Review the Highways maintenance contract with a view to bringing it back inhouse.
Not build new roads until we can work out a way of maintaining the ones we have.
Prioritise investment in new buses, walking and cycling to: reduce emissions and congestion, reinvigorate local communities and local independent businesses, and make our streets safer and quieter.
Review all speed limits and lower those that are inappropriately high, based on a survey of average speeds.
Work with the district and borough councils and the NHS to devolve child and adult social care to cross disciplinary neighbourhood teams, ahead of the dissolution of the county council in 2028. Encourage these teams to use community and voluntary based support options for children and adults as an alternative to expensive residential care.
Use community grants to encourage investment in nature recovery, flood prevention and a circular economy.
Push for business rate relief to be expanded to support small scale, independent businesses that are benefiting a circular economy and minimising climate emissions.
More from East Anglia Bylines
Friends of Bylines Network
There has never been a greater need for grassroots journalism that investigates the stories that really matter, holds power to account and champions the voices of everyday citizens. We are proudly powered by volunteers but what we do isn’t free.
STAND WITH US for independent, citizen-led journalism that makes democracy stronger, and you will even get some exclusive benefits.
