Felixstowe Radio

That's on the scale: excellent/good/fair/weak/poor. So says the Audit Commission report on Suffolk Coastal District Council's performance last year.

The Audit Commission wonders whether the council has made up its mind what its long-term goals and aspirations are. Perhaps they are too short-trem, too concerned with cutting services to save money?

The Commission complains once again that the council does not engage effectively with its service users. Is there any evidence to refute that? Well, not that we are aware. Too often residents are offered a fait accompli, often in the face oflocal opposition. We've seen that at the Cell Block South  development, the destruction of the Herman de Ster, where we lost £1 million in insurance, and the skateboard park, which would be much better placed on the seafront where it could serve visitors and residents.

The council is just not fast enough when dealing with planning applications, and we've heard of similar delays in obtaining housing improvement grants. Nor is it doing much to minimise waste - although we are all set to get another collection of bins to visually pollute our neighbourhoods.

Finally the Audit Commission  says there is still no real action on providing social housing. The Cell Block South should have had 30% social housing, as should all such new developments - but SCDC seem more content with 10%, or none at all.

Reading the council's response to the Audit Commission report you may wonder if tehre's been some mistake. Cllr Herring suggests 'the latest figures show that for the last year there have been excellent results in the speed of dealing with planning applications after the Council made it a priority to improve the service'.

Where he gets that from we shall never know. Perhaps he believes that moving from poor to fair is a real improvement. He should get out to talk to his Felixstowe council taxpayers a little more.