Ipswich Green Party Condemns IBC Betrayal in Northern Fringe Plans

10 April 2018

Green Party calls on IBC to back their own policy

 

Ipswich Borough Council have caved in to developer demands over housing standards in the proposed Northern Fringe homes.

Ipswich Borough Council have backed developers' plans for nearly 2,000 new homes in Ipswich's Northern Fringe (see the Ipswich Star story - "Committee backs plan for 2,000 homes to be decided later this year", 4th April).  In doing so they have showed how insincere their commitment to sustainability really is.

The council's own policy demands that new developments should be built to high efficiency standards, with at least 15% of energy from low carbon sources. Yet the developers have been waved through without hitting this target, on vague justifications that it would make the development "unfeasible".

The developers have not been challenged on this despite basing their estimates on solar panel costs that are at least 2 years out of date; our estimates suggest using up to date figures would  reduce costs by 40%.  Ipswich Green Party call on Ipswich Borough Council to explain in full what makes the Northern Fringe exceptional, or to admit that their policy is dead in the water without the political will to support it.  

The Northern Fringe houses will be in place for decades to come.  Does anyone on the Council seriously think they will be fit for purpose in 2050?  Their website has a handy page telling residents not to overfill the kettle - while they sentence thousands of residents to inefficient homes.  And let's be clear; it is the residents of these houses who are being asked to pay extra to cover the developers' cost cutting.

This is in keeping with a Labour council which is one of the few across the country not to have signed up to the UK100 pledge to make our towns and cities clean by 2050.  This is an administration that does not have the strength or vision to stand up for the needs of Ipswich residents.

Affordable Housing targets are similarly well below the Borough Council's policy minimum, and again the developer has been allowed to set their own target.  Why would any developers follow council policy, when doing so is so clearly optional?

A Green voice is urgently needed on Ipswich Council to hold the Labour administration to account. We now have a chance to vote for the kind of town we want to be building: please vote Green on 3rd May if you agree that a better Ipswich is possible.

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