As co-founder of Orwell Ahead, I fully understood that the proposals for the Ipswich Northern Route are emotive and affect many people.
This is the very reason why it was so important that residents and stakeholders were enlightened and educated on all aspects; including the wider socioeconomic benefits and that three Suffolk districts and Ipswich Borough have already committed within their Local Plans for 36,000 houses... with no extra highway infrastructure for Ipswich which will sustain many of them.
THE CONSULTATION - ONE WAY TRAFFIC
Sadly, the outcome of the Northern Bypass Consultation has been a farce.
The debate for Suffolk's most important piece of economic infrastructure diminished to little more than the "X Factor", where a straw poll of dots on the map (in favour and against) has trumped all socioeconomic and planning evidence, and needs.
If this was about winning dots on a map then why were TEN public consultation events held outside Ipswich, with only a single event in it?
If it were about popularity rather than need, why did those in Ipswich fighting for a single route have to take on those outside Ipswich opposing three routes?
The prospect of three routes - two phantom routes far from Ipswich - only served to galvanize twenty villages, when only five villages were directly impacted or affected by the inner route that Ipswich and its area needs.
If it was about "having all Suffolk support the Northern Bypass" as SCC Leader Matthew Hicks has subsequently stated, then quite clearly Ipswich could never hope to win the popularity contest; because as we well know, Ipswich rarely wins any concessions from its Suffolk masters because it is always outnumbered at county and district level. It’s lucky we got any spots on the map in support at all!
NAIL IN THE COFFIN
The outcome of the Northern Bypass Consultation is [as Ipswich Star chorused] much more than a "nail in the coffin" of the scheme, it is the final nail in the coffin of Ipswich as an entity.
It is the stark and final reminder of the alarming - and very damaging - lack of authority, voice, representation and ambition for Ipswich’s economic area, that I have highlighted for many years.
The fact that Suffolk so utterly dominates the former County Borough of Ipswich politically (since the catastrophic Local Government Reform of 1974), the odds were always stacked against Ipswich’s bypass needs.
Equally, we only have ourselves to blame. The most disappointing fact is that every single key Ipswich & Felixstowe institution was
actively against: Ipswich Star, Ipswich Society, Dan Poulter (supposed Ipswich North MP), Kesgrave Town Council, Therese Coffey (Suffolk Coastal MP);
or missing in action (Ipswich Borough, Greater Ipswich Chamber, Ipswich & Suffolk Business Club, BT, FPUA, Port of Felixstowe, ABP Ipswich, New Anglia LEP).
Only Orwell Ahead came out with any semblance of a campaign or comprehensive argument in favour. Yet every time we looked over our shoulders there was absolutely nothing there. No cavalry.
How many years have we been calling for a business and academic group to champion the Ipswich & Felixstowe area? How many visits, lobbies, and hours spent trying to forge a coalition?
Despite setting up Orwell Ahead in 2015, and our relentless efforts, there is no coalition for this area because none of the Ipswich institutions wants to take a lead, join it, or recognize the bloody obvious.
No one is listening, or acting. #alwaysletdownthecountytown
If Ipswich area’s political and business leaders cannot even form a coalition of support for the most important piece of economic infrastructure needed for the planning obligations of the Borough and three Suffolk Districts, then sadly Ipswich is truly “Suffolkated” and deserves to be.
There is clearly no Suffolk desire to resurrect the corpse from 1974; to properly respect and honour its historic authority or build a fitting legacy upon its illustrious past.
Farewell Ipswich.
