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Babergh District Council is seeking the views of all 37,000 of its households on the main issues facing the Council. A questionnaire is being sent to every home in the Babergh district in Babergh Matters!, the Council’s twice-yearly magazine.
Throughout September, Babergh held a number of meetings at which the public were able to raise their main concerns and these form the basis of the current 14 question consultation exercise. Questions include the extent to which issues such as crime, anti-social behaviour and graffiti are a problem, how residents would like to access Babergh services in the future, whether residents feel that they have an influence over decisions affecting their local area and their satisfaction levels with Babergh’s services. There are also specific questions as to whether residents would support paying extra for a new Hadleigh Swimming Pool – even if that meant less money being available for Babergh’s other service priorities.
Babergh’s Strategy Committee Chairman, Cllr. Nick Ridley explained that “Babergh’s Corporate Plan sets out how we hope to improve our services across a number of priority areas. As a result of the consultations carried out to date, it is clear that in some cases, notably our efforts to increase recycling rates and increase the number of affordable homes, there is a great deal of agreement between residents and the Council. However, in others there are some differences of opinion and emphasis and it is on these that we are seeking the views of as many people as possible”.
“We have also included a couple of questions on the funding of a new pool for Hadleigh as we recognise that the likely cost of a new pool will have a major impact on future Council Tax levels for all of the people of Babergh and not just those in the town itself and its immediate vicinity”.
“Babergh has some difficult decisions to make in order to balance the demands of residents for as low a Council Tax increase as possible with the need for ever improving services. The views of residents will contribute to helping Councillors make these judgement calls”.
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