Our planning policies are decided by the committee and carried out by a
planning sub-committee. Some of our members act as Planning Monitors and
take turns to examine the weekly planning applications and to make
formal comments to the council on behalf of the society.
Their work is co-ordinated by the sub-committee and overseen by our Planning
Co-ordinator who will present important or contentious proposals to the
committee. The representations made to the council are summarised in
each newsletter.
Below is a letter of recommendation sent to the Boundary Committee by the
Executive Committee of the Ipswich Society.
THE IPSWICH SOCIETY
In Association with the Civic Trust
President - The Worshipful Mayor of Ipswich
The Boundary Committee for England
Trevelyan House
Great Peter Street
London
SW1P 2HW
May 2008
Dear Sir
Structural Review of Suffolk
The Ipswich Society Committee is pleased to be able to submit the
following suggestions to assist the Boundary Committee in consideration
of the Structural Review of Suffolk. The Society is the premier Civic
Society in Suffolk with 1200 members. Founded in 1960, its aims are to
maintain and enhance the appearance, character and well-being of
Ipswich, its past and its future, making it a pleasant place in which to
live and work.
Our proposal is for three unitary authorities based around the large
towns of Ipswich, Bury St Edmunds and Lowestoft,
with parishes allocated
according to their nearest centre, (peripheral parishes being allowed a
choice).
At present the two tier system maintains a level of rural-urban
interaction in Suffolk. We are concerned that any division of Suffolk
into unitary authorities should not be to the detriment of connections
between Ipswich and the surrounding rural area for which it acts as a
service centre.
The populations of south-east and central Suffolk travel to Ipswich for
employment, education and services. They benefit from having such a
large, vibrant, cosmopolitan urban centre as their county town, just as
Ipswich benefits from the ideas, income and vitality they bring to the
town.
Encouraging people to travel to their nearest urban area, our proposal
of three unitary authorities is a more sustainable option which should
in the long term reduce transport miles in Suffolk. Ipswich in
particular is a routeway focus with excellent bus and rail links with
its rural hinterland and well-developed park and ride facilities for
those travelling by car.
The Society hopes that the Committee will take the above issues into
account and we would like to be consulted at later stages of the review.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs. C.J.K. Markham
Hon. Sec. Ipswich Society
Unitarian Meeting House reflected in Willis Building (both Grade I)
Holywells Park