Snippets 1

Westgate Centre

Ipswich Borough Council has bought the Crown Court building in Civic Drive. If eventually demolished and added to the site of the police station (Elm Street) both sites could be added to the former Civic Centre site to make an area large enough for a mixed use development, including retail as was originally envisaged by Turnstone which bought the Civic Centre.

Valuable corner

The prominent corner shop at the junction of Westgate Street, St Matthew's Street and Crown Street (known to older Ipswichians as 'Hyde Park Corner') is to be the home of Eastern Savings and Loans credit union. Previously a useful baker's shop, it should also be useful in its new way as an alternative to 'loan sharks'.

Using buses

The many people who use buses to and from Ipswich Hospital may have forgotten how inconvenient it used to be contrasted now with the several routes that converge on the A&E and South Wards in the hospital grounds.

Lottery money

A striking letter from Mark Ling in the Ipswich Star drew attention to the disparity of Lottery money awarded to the three major East Anglian towns. Ipswich has received £60m since the system began in 1994. Norwich with an almost identical population has received £160m and Cambridge (smaller than both) £120m. Let's hope this could be borne in mind when grants for the Ipswich Museum's proposed High Street 'Cultural Quarter' are being decided!

Record Offices

SCC had considered creating a single large Record Office to replace those in Ipswich, Bury and Lowestoft. But 'financial challenges' (i.e. cuts) to local authorities have made such moves unlikely - much to the relief perhaps of many local users in all three towns.

Ipswich prefabs

The prefabricated bungalows in the Inverness Road area were put up soon after the Second World War and expected to last some 20 years. They are still going strong. IBC owns 127 (15 have been bought privately) which are likely to be refurbished by the Council.

Sunday Markets

On the first Sunday of the summer months there will be a market on the Cornhill. Somewhat more specialist than the four times a week market it should complement those shops that do open on a Sunday and hopefully increase footfall in the town centre.

Ipswich Station

The number of people using Ipswich Station has doubled over the last few years. During the last year 3.3 million people used the station, an increase of 6% on 2012. This will come as no surprise to commuters and train travellers who can feel distinctively crowded at busy times. Ipswich is not however, the busiest station in the region; Cambridge handled 9.1 million passengers last year and Liverpool Street, the third busiest station in London, nearly 60 million travellers (Waterloo and Victoria are busier).