Tag Archives: suffolk

Suffolk Liberal Democrats – building a stronger Party for a brighter future

SuffolkSo, we’d got all of these new members, and they were still flooding in. It was just what we had wanted over the years, a whole new bunch of enthusiastic Liberal Democrats keen to do things. And yet, there was a nagging doubt in my mind, a memory of new, keen people in the past who had come, been confronted with a tradition of doing things a certain way, or given a pile of leaflets, and who had then drifted away. This time, it was going to be different.

But, in Suffolk, where distances are greater and members rather more spread out, it wasn’t enough for the Local Parties to be left to run their own events, we wanted something that would bring people together, old and new, from across the county, but which would help all of our members to engage in all of the work of the Party, and to allow us to tap their skills and enthusiasm.

Posted in News | 10 Comments

As you were…three new unitaries cancelled

Labour’s plan to replace the existing councils in Exeter, Norwich and Suffolk with new unitary authorities has been cancelled by the coalition government.

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Eric Pickles today announced that the existing local government structures would remain.

The argument for the decision seems to be that the move to unitaries didn’t have the support of the local populations, two didn’t have the support of the independent boundaries commission and they were going to cause a lot of hassle for very little savings.

The real meat on this story looks to be down in note 4 to

Posted in Local government | Also tagged , and | 10 Comments

Boundary Committee recommends new unitary authorities

The Boundary Committee for England has just published its report into local government arrangements in Devon (including the Lib Dem minority control council of Exeter), Norfolk and Suffolk.

It says:

In Devon, the Committee has put forward a single unitary council for the current Devon county area.

In Norfolk, the Committee has put forward a single unitary council for the whole of Norfolk.

In Suffolk, the Committee has made two proposals: a unitary county of Suffolk (the Committee’s preferred alternative proposal for Suffolk); and a two-unitary pattern comprising an Ipswich & Felixstowe authority and a Rural Suffolk authority.

Posted in Election law and Local government | Also tagged , and | 5 Comments
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