My letter published in the East Anglian Daily Times – Wednesday 15th February 2017
Here in Mid Suffolk there are over 2,300 planning permissions granted and waiting to be built. I agree with Fiona Cairns (This won’t fix the housing crisis – Letters 11 February 2017) that this issue is in the hands of the developers however as the opposition group at the Council we have continually put forward ideas to help solve this.
Currently Mid Suffolk District Council has a fund of over £9 million which comes from New Homes Bonus. This is the money that Government gives councils for each house built and works out at approximately £6,000 per new dwelling (over a five-year period). A further £2 million will be received in 2017/18.
We are submitting an amendment to the budget for 2017/18 to request that some of this unallocated cash reserve is set aside as a fund to kick-start these developments – and that someone is hired in a “negotiator” type role to help get this done. We suggested this last year – and the year before – but the money keeps adding up year after year and the problem remains the same.
Once again, rail crossings in our area are threatened with closure. Three immediately around Haughley and Wetherden are at risk – two on the Ipswich to Bury line (on the Haughley Green to Haughley footpath and at Mutton Hall) and one on the Norwich line (at the Leggetts footpath just north of Haughley Green). A public consultation will soon be open so please register your views. From 14th June until 5th July you can go online at 
Rachel Eburne 