District Councillor Report June 2025

Project: Have Your Say on the Future of Local Government Babergh & Mid
Suffolk District Council
Suffolk’s five district and borough councils are launching a county-wide survey
asking people for their views on the future of vital local government services. I would
encourage you to take the survey and share it with other residents. The Council will
also be sending promotional materials to each Parish Council so they can support
local residents to have their say. Here is the link to the survey:
Devolution and Local Government Reorganisation – Babergh District Council –
babergh.gov.uk / midsuffolk.gov.uk
Suffolk County Council has been visiting parishes to discuss their plan for one
unitary council for Suffolk. Babergh and Mid Suffolk DC will meet with us on 23
June.

Free Tree for Life Scheme
The Tree for Life scheme is open to all families across the districts who have
welcomed, or are set to welcome, a newborn baby or adopted child during the 2025
calendar year.

The initiative, which runs every year, gives parents the opportunity to mark their
child’s arrival by planting a fruit tree, which can them grow alongside them.

Parents that may have lost a child during the same period are also able to apply for a
memory tree as part of the scheme.

Since its inception, the councils have given out well over two thousand trees, with
300 hundred families applying last year alone.

As well as helping families mark special milestones, Tree for Life also has the added
benefit of increasing tree coverage across the districts. Each applicant is given a
choice of which tree they would like when they go to collect it, as well as expert
information about how to plant, pick and care for it.

Tree for Life applications can be made via the council website
at www.babergh.gov.uk/w/tree-for-life
Local Plan
The government has released a working paper on proposals to make developers
build out the planning permissions they have been granted. Babergh has 3,400
granted planning permissions in place but only 400 are currently being built out. The

proposals are very welcome as, in my opinion, this is the real reason why houses
are not being delivered – not the planning system itself.
The government is also planning to reduce the role of planning committees in the
belief that they are a blockage to development. Again the evidence does not show
this. I heard the head of the Planning Advisory Service speak last month – she said
there are isolated examples of inconsistent and inefficient planning committees,
however in general the committee system works well.
The council continues to prepare for the review of the Joint Local Plan which will
formally commence next March. There will be a new call for sites and community
engagement both formal and informal is being built into the process.
There is also a move in parliament to ensure that local development plans include
policies to provide and protect land for community gardening and allotments. I
certainly support this move.
Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)
CIL is money paid to Babergh and Mid Suffolk Council by developers to support
growth in communities. I was on the panel that recently reviewed the Council’s
policy for granting Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). The panel is proposing that
community gardening and allotment projects are eligible for this funding, along with
community pubs and cafes. The proposals will hopefully be adopted by full council
in June. The panel also proposes that there will be no more application ‘rounds’
with deadlines – instead applicants can apply for CIL whenever they are ready.
During the panel conversations, I raised whether District CIL should be available for
road traffic projects. This matter has apparently been raised repeatedly over the
years. The majority on the panel felt that traffic infrastructure is so expensive that it
would place too great a strain on the CIL funds and leave less for other projects.
However, communities can use Neighbourhood CIL to fund traffic improvements.
Rotating Leadership
In line with the agreement reached when the coalition administration was formed in
2023, leadership of Babergh District Council has now passed to the Independent
Group from the Greens. John Ward is now leader of the Council until Next May
when the Greens will assume leadership again.
Some committee positions have changed, notably on Overview and Scrunity which is
now chaired by an opposition Conservative councillor and Planning which is now
chaired by a Green Party councillor.

Councillor Sallie Davies. Sallie.davies@babergh.gov.uk