12.03.2010 Welcome for HS2
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 Government proposals for a new high speed rail line from London to Birmingham, and then on to both Manchester and Leeds, have been welcomed nationally and locally. The three new lines will be a boost for the whole of the UK econcomy. Phil Smart, chair of Ipswich Labour Party and an enthusiastic supporter of rail travel, said: “This is fantastic news, not just for those in the major cities in the midlands and north but for Ipswich and East Anglia too. As Ipswich is just 50 minutes from Stratford, with its link to HS2 via Crossrail and with the future...
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08.03.2010 Bus sell-off stalls
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 Labour opposition has stopped the Tory and Liberal plan to sell-off Ipswich Buses in its tracks, at least until the outcome of the local election on 6 May is clear. With a little over 8 weeks until the Ipswich Borough Council elections, the last opportunity for the ruling Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to rubber stamp their proposal is the executive meeting on 16 March. The matter does not appear on the agenda for the meeting, which was published today. Councillor David Ellesmere, Leader of the Labour Group, said: “It's clear that if the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are still...
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08.03.2010 MP welcomes £600,000 KickStart for affordable housing
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 Ipswich MP, Chris Mole, pictured, today welcomed the announcement of Government funding of £6000,000 to get affordable home construction in Ipswich back on track following the recession. The funding has been provided under the KickStart scheme. This is designed to ensure that work on low cost housing projects that has been held up during the recession can now resume, which will bost employment and the supply of affordable housing. The funding is given to developers under stringent guidelines, including the expectation that they will employ local young apprentices. The funding will help re-start the building of 51 affordable houses in...
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08.03.2010 Tesco - What will it mean for Ipswich?
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 Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors have voted to let Tesco build a new superstore on Grafton Way. While investment in Ipswich is to be welcomed, there are serious concerns about the effect this development will have on the rest of the town. Traffic The proposed new store is a huge superstore, bigger than Tesco’s at Copdock. Suffolk County Council say it will increase traffic by a massive 68% on Grafton Way and up to 36% on the Duke Street and Civic Drive roundabouts. Ipswich Borough Council claims that these problems can by overcome by making alterations to the Novotel and...
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05.03.2010 Council told to rethink Housing Office closures
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 Ipswich Borough Council’s ruling Conservative and Liberal Democrat Executive has been told to rethink its plans to shut local area housing offices. The council’s Overview and Scrutiny voted to refer the matter back to the Executive after hearing that:
• The Executive had not considered alternative options to closing the area housing offices.
• The council appeared to have gone out of its way to get a poor response to its consultation on the closure of area housing offices by:
o Launching the consultation just before Christmas,
o Designing the consultation questionnaire to obscure the fact that it was about the closure of...
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04.03.2010 Tory threat to GP appointments
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 While Labour is working hard to extend the opening hours of GP surgeries the Tories would let doctors cut them. Speaking today, Bob Blizzard, MP for Waveney (Lowestoft) and deputy regional minister, pictured left, said: “Thanks to Labour’s reforms, families all across the East of England are now able to book GP appointments outside working hours in the evenings and at weekends. But the Tories say they would let GPs cut their hours, making it more difficult for you to see your doctor when you need to. “This goes to show, yet again, that David Cameron’s Tories aren’t on...
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24.02.2010 Homes boost for Ipswich
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 Chris Mole, today backed a Government scheme to put over £2 million of funding into affordable housing in the Ipswich. Housing Minister John Healey MP made the announcement to boost housebuilding in England, by confirming nearly £500 million funding to build around 8,000 affordable homes across the country. This takes total Government funding for housebuilding to over £3.3 billion since June. Every region of the country is benefiting from this extra cash to build much-needed affordable homes for sale and rent. Over 3,000 of these new homes are expected to be available through the government’s HomeBuy schemes, offering first...
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18.02.2010 Chris shouts out for Sure Start
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 Chris Mole has backed a campaign by children’s charity 4Children, which is urging MPs to ‘Shout out for Sure Start’ in their local area. Chris joined former ‘Mum of the Year’ Melinda Messenger and children’s TV star Peppa Pig to back the campaign, which is urging MPs to make protecting their Sure Start centres a top priority in the coming election campaign. The campaign believes that an investment in children is an investment in our future and that every child deserves the chance to go to a Sure Start centre. Backing the campaign, Chris, who accompanied Gordon Brown on...
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15.02.2010 Gordon Brown visits Ipswich
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 Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited Suffolk today. After a visit to the Army Air Corps at Wattisham where he met members of the armed forces, some who have recently completed a tour of duty in Afghanistan, and some who are about to be deployed there. Gordon then met up with Chris Mole MP in Ipswich and they both visited Hillside Children's Centre. Children, parents and staff were pleased to meet Gordon and Chris. They spent time speaking to the children and their parents, asking them about the services and support they receive. Gordon thanked staff and volunteers working at...
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16.02.2010 Council defies tenant opinion to close Housing Offices
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 Ipswich Borough Council has been successful in uniting the three Area Housing Panels, tenants, Labour councillors and local MP, Chris Mole, against their plans to close Area Housing Offices in Ipswich. The response to the council's questionnaire sent to tenants showed that 80% were AGAINST the council's proposals to shut the Area Housing Offices. The proposals would result in some 20 redundancies. 'The council is riding roughshod over the views of its tenants while dressing-up their proposals as an improvement to services to them. It's quite shameful' says Councillor John Mowles, Labour Housing Spokesman. A tenant representative on one of...
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