1 week Ago
Did you ever see that Yes Minister episode when Jim Hacker is taken to seen the country's most efficient hospital - and discovers it has won the accolade because it has no patients? Frankly I found it very difficult to get that episode out of my head when I was writing about the new playground and visitor centre that has been built for the Henley Gate country park on the Ipswich Garden Suburb. What we have there is a real dog's breakfast of a crazy situation that has arisen because central and local government think they know what is best for an area without engaging their brain cells . .
. or talking to local people. Why can't children go on new playground? We've had local government coming along through Homes England splashing the cash - a figure of £10m has been mentioned - on infrastructure projects that won't be needed, and will actually be fenced off, for years.
Meanwhile the medical needs of the same area are being crippled because the NHS couldn't stop navel gazing and lost the chance of building the new medical centre that it desperately needs. The people of North West Ipswich have every right to feel totally let down by the government and the local councils who don't seem to have a thought for the actual needs of the area. What is extremely disappointing is that some people seem to find the fact that so many infrastructure projects have been built years before they were needed as a triumph.
Neil MacDonald said it was good Ipswich council moved quickly to get the infrastructure built quickly. (Image: Lucy Taylor) Ipswich Council leader Neil MacDonald said this week he thought it was good that the borough moved quickly to get the money spent. I'm sorry, but I totally disagree.
I don't think it's good to see things built years before they're needed to just sit there deteriorating before anyone can use them. What would have been good would have been for the borough to do due diligence on what is actually needed in the area and tell the government that while they would be needed in the years ahead, possibly not until the early 2030s, what was needed now were decent healthcare facilities - not just piling more and more patients into two surgery buildings that are already totally inadequate for the area's needs! Surgery plans scrapped because of rising costs The issue now is, of course, that we are where we are - and there appears to be no good outcome to this God awful mess. Mr MacDonald says the council is talking to the developer about bringing forward plans to extend the road and utilities to the visitor centre and playground.
I must say having heard from the representatives of developer Crest Nicholson there is no indication that they are planning to progress work any faster than that agreed in the planning permission. And at the present rate of progress that means the 700-home target agreed in that won't be reached for another five years. That's not criticism of the developer.
Why should a business like theirs put themselves at a commercial disadvantage just because central and local government fouled up when looking at the timescales for local infrastructure needs? Two new bridges have been installed over the railway line - but they're unlikely to be used for years. (Image: Paul Geater) Because it isn't just the visitor centre and playground we're talking about here. There are two new bridges over the railway line that won't be used for years because they've gone up far earlier than needed.
So far as this part of infrastructure planning has been concerned the current, and future residents of north west Ipswich have been badly let down by both local and national government. Let's hope they both learn from this total shambles - and really look at what is needed in the area and when it is needed to avoid these dreadful mistakes ever being repeated. The opinions expressed in this column are the personal views of Paul Geater and do not necessarily reflect views held by this newspaper, its sister publications or its owner and publisher Newsquest Media Group Ltd.
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