Your letters
We need real change that helps the town
Recent announcements by Babergh District Council regarding free parking in Hadleigh and Sudbury, and the subsequent letters in the Suffolk Free Press have highlighted the depth of feeling in the towns regarding parking facilities.
The current situation in Sudbury allows three hours free parking, which is ample for many things, however, if you wish to stay longer, even one hour, then a £4 charge is incurred – more than you would pay at Bury St Edmunds for a day’s visit.
If we want to encourage shopping and leisure, then the pricing structure needs changing. The 30 minutes free parking proposed is too short for many things, apart from the purchase of this newspaper.
Changes to the pricing and duration of parking need to change to meet future needs, as well as a fairer way of paying for a stay of over three hours.
Visitors wishing to spend time in town would benefit from a staged fee structure, allowing flexibility and enabling parking to match the duration of their stay.
Permits and season ticket arrangements should also be flexible enough to cater for people who need to park all day.
Some things cannot be changed easily, such as trunk traffic being routed through Sudbury, but we have sites requiring redevelopment, some lying fallow for years.
Sudbury has had many proposals for change and renewal over the decades, as commented on by others; however, none of it ever seems to make it beyond the discussion stage.
We need to get beyond the discussion stage and see real changes that help the town, it’s residents and visitors into a changed future.
The need for Sudbury to have a view of this future was clear before the pandemic; it is extremely important now to get something achieved in the town, helping to meet the difficulties we will undoubtedly meet in the years to come.
D E & P A Adams
Davidson Close
Great Cornard
Deserved praise for Prime Minister
How refreshing to read the article from Steve Britt (Free Press, January 7).
At last some deserved praise for Boris Johnson and the deal he concluded with the EU.
There have been many letters in recent months carping about the no-deal scenario and bemoaning the situation we would end up with. Boris held his nerve and got us an excellent deal, as Steve described.
It was obvious from the outset the EU would make leaving the EU as difficult as possible but we can now move forward with enthusiasm and do something we do very well –respect our neighbours but plough our own furrow.
W Goddard
Halstead
Can we impeach the council as a whole?
I have witnessed a further episode in the destruction of Sudbury.
Last week’s front-page story ‘Divide deepens on plans’ (Free Press, January 14) is further evidence of Babergh’s actions, ignoring the previous concerns and wishes of our residents.
It is time John Ward and co refrain from explaining they are ‘subsidising’ parking – the parking should be provided as a service in the interest of maintenance of a healthy town centre.
How can we feel they are listening? The excellent action of Thomas Morelli in producing, delivering and collating, within a few days, a petition signed by 1,662 people was community action at its best, but it was rejected by Babergh on the grounds that it did not include addresses of signatories, only their post code.
This was ridiculous. How many petitions have you signed with only a postcode identity? The people were speaking.
On page 3 of the same edition, we read that the first draft of the budget has been approved – the rise, kept under three per cent, will cost each band D household an extra £5 per year, why not £5.50p to cover the parking and maybe the grant to the advice centre?
Is it possible to impeach the whole council, I wonder?
Lyn Gray
Cross Street
Sudbury
Edition was worthy of its asking price
I feel I must congratulate the staff of the Suffolk Free Press for the edition of January 7.
It was better than good during such dark days. It was a wonderful read, in fact, and well worth the £1.30 asking price.
The letters page was outstanding, and proved the worth of our local newspaper. There was content within for almost everyone.
I feel the only subject which was missed was the plight of the youth of the town over Christmas.
The poor devils, enclosed behind their double glazing, tortured by central heating, forced to eat food from several continents, with nothing more to keep them amused than a mobile phone, an xBox, the internet, a large flatscreen TV with only 300 channels, Facebook, Twitter, free texts, and 80 per cent of their wages paid while they languished at home wearing little more than their £100 trainers and their £60 ripped jeans. My heart bleeds.
Never will these poor souls enjoy the delight of waking to find frost on the inside of their bedroom windows, a leaking roof, or a coat on their bed which dad may need if he has to work the nightshift.
We must protect these young people from ever having to find themselves in need of a toilet at the end of the garden. They must have thought they were living in the trenches in the Second World War.
Bob Darvell
Orchard Place
Sudbury
Illusory claims of Brexit triumph
I cannot let Steve Britt’s opinion article of servile praise for Boris Johnson’s ‘historic achievement’ with the Brexit deal (Free Press, January 7) pass without comment.
He declares that it represents ‘as good an outcome as we could have hoped for’, whereas the great question, which will not be answered until years after Boris Johnston has moved on, is whether we possess enforceable economic and political claims in consequence of our forfeiture of influence in Europe.
Most economists believe Britain will become progressively relatively poorer. Tensions will be reignited each time an EU summit makes new decisions on trade, environmental and health standards. Exporters and importers will face a blizzard of new paperwork and red-tape costs.
As for control of our borders, we can indeed exclude Polish plumbers and Romanian car washers but our new found liberty does nothing to resolve the more serious problems posed by non-EU immigration, formerly relied upon by the health sector and beyond.
We are where we are and I hope to play my part, alongside Brexiteers, in making the most of this ‘historic achievement’, but to do so in the belief hailed by Mr Britt that we have just secured a ‘major triumph’ would be wrong and as illusory as the Brexiteers’ excessive claims of riches awaiting us at the time of the referendum.
K Turner
Hadleigh
Everyone at surgery knew just what to do
I was invited to have my jab at the Hardwicke House Group Surgery in Great Cornard on Saturday and would like to express my thanks to all the helpers there.
I expect they were all volunteers. They were so polite and everyone knew exactly what to do.
It ran exactly to time, I was in the building for less than 30 minutes and have experienced no after effects.
Many thanks and well done.
Ian Berry
Bures Road
Great Cornard
Great achievement
What a great achievement for local lad Justin Clark, having worked hard to build up his business to bring back a butchers shop to Long Melford. I grew up in Long Melford and can remember playing outside the shop. Well done.
Maxine Leathers
Fields View
Sudbury
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