The Government expects Council rents to reach the same level as in the private sector within ten years. However this year they have extended the timescale to 2015/16 enabling Mid Suffolk District Council if it wished to restrict the increase to 5.3%. However, at today’s Executive Committee, the Conservative led Executive without Liberal Democrat support have voted to push ahead with a 6.4% increase which they estimate will give the Council some £100,000 to spend on housing repairs. Garage rents are to increase by 5.0%.

The hot news is the decision by the Suffolk County Council Conservative Administration to put its controversial incinerator in Great Blakenham. No other options for sites have been released and the Council now intends to consult with the public. Given the Conservatives record on consultations in the last few years they are very unlikely to listen to what local people actually think about this. The decision to build an incinerator also co-incides with Council’s decision to delay its ‘aspirational’ target of a 60% recycling and composting rate for Suffolk to 2015 set under the Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy (JMWMS) of the Suffolk Waste Partnership. This was originally to be achieved by 2010. The Conservatives are now focusing their attention on a tired technology at a time when the national mood is changing towards more green, innovative technologies for waste disposal and increased recycling. The disadvantages of building an incinerator include pollution of the environment and increased threats to the health of people living in Suffolk. Such a facility will also act as a dis-incentive to investing in recycling and will cost an estimated £500 million. Campaigners in Hull, Norfolk and many others parts of the country have successfully fought against incinerators. Watch this space.

The Government announced in December that it was not minded to accept Ipswich’s Unitary Bid in its present form. The Secretary of State has since asked the Boundary Committee for advice on and the rest of the county to see if there are alternative options for Unitary Councils including solutions that may cross the existing Norfolk/Suffolk border.  Although unexpected this provides an opportunity to look at a number of options. On the assumption that any proposal over 200,000 population would meet the affordability and value for money criteria it is proposed a range of different options are to be examined. This issue will be discussed by Suffolk Liberal Democrats on 9 January and by Mid Suffolk’s Full Council on 10 January. I have been giving a great deal of thought about local government over the holiday period and will be seeking the views of the electorate in my ward during the coming round of Parish Council meetings.