Editorial

Seeking your information

Jack Chapman's letter on the opposite page explains why we are enclosing questionnaires with this Newsletter. Those of you who joined years ago may have filled in an application form and indicated whether you wished to help, but that information could well be out of date now. People's situations can change so much with children growing up, or changes of occupation or retirement. Hence the need for up-to-date information. We appreciate that some members join the Society to support what we do without wishing to become more actively involved, but we do urge you all to return the completed Membership Profiles for the reasons which Jack outlines.

Re-thinking the Local Plan

Arguments still rage over whether a dock relief road should use an East Bank or West Bank route. When the revised Local Plan was presented to the Council, the problem was "solved" by rejecting both routes and advocating only a new bridge across the dock and the changed traffic priorities on Star Lane and College Street/Key Street as already set out. Councillors promptly referred it back to the Borough's Officers. That these matters are extremely controversial was well illustrated by the Council's summary of comments on that aspect of the Local Plan. We received a copy of the summary which ran to 43 pages of A4 text on just this one issue!

The Society will be holding a debate-type meeting, to hear the arguments. See page 11 for details.

Inspection by the Queen

The Queen's Jubilee procession through her realm must have been tiring and sometimes tedious for her. However such visits serve several purposes, one of which is mundane but important - cleaning up. Her Silver Jubilee visit to Ipswich helped to promote and complete the Fore Street renovation. There was no comparable specific scheme this time, but the Queen's official opening of the Waterfront symbolically heralds a bigger and more important rejuvenation of Ipswich.

And perhaps this visit wasn't so tedious after all. Standing in Westgate Street. I thought the Queen and Duke looked to be smiling genuinely. I realised afterwards that they had just passed the Ann Summers shop, in the window of which was an exhortation to smile. The Newsletter is a "family publication" as they say, so I can't be more specific here, but adults can apply to me for further enlightenment!

Not many Meldrews in this Society?

Opinion pollsters have detected a large body of the middle-aged electorate who have been dubbed "Victor Meldrews" because of their whinging and pessimism. Anything less than perfect becomes symbolic of national decline, and they grumble and sue. In consequence perhaps. the polls show that Britons trust one another less than people do in most other European countries. But Ipswich Society members aren't like that, are they? After all, the polls show that those who belong to clubs and societies tend to trust their fellow citizens more than do people who don't belong to anything. Now you know why you joined The Ipswich Society!

Please let me have all material for the January Newsletter by 20 November. The more the merrier.

NEIL SALMON, 16 Warrington Road, Ipswich, IPI 3QU

WANTED - A NEW MINUTES SECRETARY

Shirley Sadler has done an excellentjob as our Minutes Secretary for the past three years but now she wants to hand over to someone else. Please contact the Chairman or Secretary if you are interested in helping in this way. Whether or not the Minutes Secretary becomes an actual member of the Executive Committee can be left to the individual's choice.