Constituency Matters
Local issues in Suffolk
COASTAL EROSION
Perhaps the most serious issue that faces the Suffolk Coastal Constituency. We have 74 miles of coastline and all of it is vulnerable. We also have the important river valleys of the Blyth, the Alde, the Deben, and the Orwell and there is increasing concern at the risk of flooding and the Government's reduction in protection.
I have been fighting to protect this coast throughout my time as your MP. We worked together to get the sea-defences renewed at Aldeburgh and Felixstowe and we now have to battle to protect East Point, the Martello Tower, and the land around Bawdsey. We now have a full blown campaign to fight the Government's proposals for so called 'managed retreat' which actually means flooding our homes and land! It links together campaigners all along the coast from Lowestoft to Felixstowe, from the Hundred River to the Haven Ports.
SCAR - Suffolk Coast Against Retreat - is entirely non-political and needs the support of everbody - because we are all threatened.
FELIXSTOWE HOSPITAL AND THE BARTLETT
At the meeting held at St Felix Church Hall, we were all promised the refurbishment of the Felixstowe Hospital to accomodate the clinics that we needed and then the refurbishment of the Bartlett to provide beds for Felixtowe. It was only on that basis that people were prepared to accept the plan. Now we hear that the promises are to be broken. There is no money for the continuation of the refurbishment and we are in a worse state than we started. I am determined to keep them to their promise.
Health Care and Carers
There is an acute shortage of carers in Felixstowe and the cut-back in the Social Service budgets of the County Council has made things worse. Some individuals in Felixstowe have had their allowances for carers slashed so that people are being driven into residential homes and hospitals. This costs the taxpayer much more than we save by the cuts and drives out people who want to stay in their own homes. I have fought two cases in Felixstowe of particular hardship and I hope we can get the County Council to change its mind.
ROAD SAFETY AND FELIXSTOWE DOCKS
I am pleased that the Highways Authority has now done some of the things that we pressed them to do to cut accidents at the A14 Dock Spur roundabout. There is still more to be done with the proposed expansion of the Docks and I hope that plans to separate port and residential traffic will reach fruition.
HALESWORTH
The proposal to build a new supermarket has been resusitated after the developers had failed to find a partner. We should press Waveney District Council to do everything possible to stop the project going ahead. Halesworth has one of the best shopping centres in the region. I particularly like the Delicatessen and Toy Shop, the choice of good butchers and greengrocery. All these would find it very hard to survive another supermarket. I appeared before the Inspector to fight for a refusal of planning permission but I failed. We must not give up our opposition.
FARNHAM & STRATFORD ST ANDREW
Ever since I was first elected your MP, and for a few years before, we have been fighting the battle for the four village by-pass. Now that I have lost two of these villages to Central Suffolk, we are working together to win the fight. Suffolk County Council has now accorded it a high priority in its list of proposals that will go to Government this year. We have to help show that the environmental problems can be overcome. That is the thing that most stands in our way of getting the scheme approved. It is vital that we win for the sake of all whose lives are made miserable by living along the road where the traffic never stops. It is also vital for Lowestoft and Leiston who need quicker access to Ipswich and London. The awful hold-ups which characterise the A12, makes business reluctant to move to these locations - so it is for their sakes, too, that we are determined to win the by-pass.
NHS DENTISTRY
Over recent months we have witnessed the Government's failure to reach an agreement with NHS dentists over new contracts and pricing. We are now all suffering from the continual reduction in the number of NHS dentists. I have pressed the Government to recognize this problem and have contacted the Area Health Authority and urged them to improve their dental service. I have also pushed them to make more readily available alternatives for routine and emergency NHS dentistry for adults and pensioners, as well as children.
LINKS
Suffolk Coastal District Council
Suffolk Coast and Heaths
Suffolk County Council
Leiston Citizens Advice Bureau
The Suffolk Show
Suffolk Tourism
Suffolk Police