Suffolk Bitesize: Our weekly council round-up including in Ipswich, Lowestoft and Bungay

Here’s some of what your representatives across the county have been up to since Monday, December 11.

The increase in Babergh District Council’s car parking charges has taken a step forward despite the ongoing row.

On Tuesday members of Babergh’s cabinet unanimously decided to move forward with a consultation to determine changes to car parking financing.

This comes after the council announced it could no longer pay the £452,000 bill relating to all car parking stays under three hours in council-owned car parks.

Council leader, John Ward, said: “Financially, we have no realistic option. This will, despite protestations to the contrary, benefit the towns in the long run, and it is fair.”

The consultation process is expected to start this month and run through to early February, lasting between four and six weeks.

Plans to cut funding from children’s centres have been labelled as ‘incredibly short-sighted- by Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for Ipswich, Jack Abbott.

Children’s centres, also known as family hubs, are set to see funding cut by £717,000 as part of Suffolk County Council’s proposed 2024-25 budget.

Cllr James Reeder, said lessons from the pandemic and advances in technology altered the way families access services, with cuts serving as a way to redesign their delivery.

He also maintained families would still receive the support that they need.

But Mr Abbott said he could not see how the cuts could go ahead without further closures of children’s centres.

He said: “Given past experience, it is unlikely that ‘redesign’ is anything other than a creative way of saying ‘closures’.”

Thousands of long-term empty houses and second homes in Babergh and Mid Suffolk are set to see a significant council tax rise.

The proposals will see owners of second homes and long-term empty dwellings liable to pay a council tax premium.

They were unanimously approved by cabinet members from both councils.

For empty homes, the hike will see owners pay four times as much tax depending on how long the property has been vacant — this change will come into force from April this year.

Second homes, on the other hand, will see owners pay double council tax from the beginning of the next financial year, on April 2025.

The changes are expected to affect up to 2,400 homes across both districts, with some exception guidelines still to be announced by the Government.

A new report has found a quarter of shops in Lowestoft’s town centre to be empty, its worst rate in the last five years.

The data was revealed during Monday’s meeting of East Suffolk’s strategic planning committee which looked at the council’s authority monitoring report for 2022/23.

In the district, only Lowestoft and Bungay have a retail unit vacancy rate which compares unfavourably against the national average of 13.9 per cent.

Although Bungay’s vacancy rate currently sits at 18 per cent, it represents an ongoing drop since 2021, when it sat above 20 per cent.

In Lowestoft, its 26 per cent vacancy rate is equivalent to 96 empty shops out of 366.

A council spokesperson said the rate is a result of a cultural shift but that steps are already being taken to address this issue, focusing on quality over quantity.

Social housing in Ipswich is to remain affordable for struggling residents despite a rent increase, councillors have said.

Members of Ipswich’s executive unanimously approved an increase in social housing and affordable homes’ rents to 47.7 per cent of market levels, up from 40 per cent.

Cllr Alasdair Ross, who moved the proposal, said the council was committed to making sure social housing remained affordable to residents.

He added: “What we don’t want to see is people on the street, and that is increasing because they can’t afford the rent private landlords ask — our rents are still far cheaper.”

The £3m the move is expected to generate will, Cllr Ross said, be invested into improving the current social housing stock as well as building new houses.