District Councillor Report June 2022
Cllr John Hinton; East Bergholt Ward, Babergh DC.

June has arrived and the weather seems to have taken a backwards step and is more like
April with showers!
Baberghs Annual Council meeting was a little confrontational, now that there is a new
political balance in the chamber.
The make up of the cabinet had already been agreed as the Leader is in post for the full four
years and has the authority to appoint whomever he chooses to his cabinet.
What remained were the council chair and vice chair and the chair, vice chair of the
committees.
Unfortunately, I was not able to attend as I was isolating before a medical procedure the
following day, but I watched on U-Tube and it was clear from the start that the
Conservatives, all grouped on one side of the chamber, were going to be voted against by
everyone else, on the other side of the chamber. And so it was with Independent chair and
vice chair of council and chair of all the committees. I was proposed and elected as chair of
Overview and Scrutiny, apparently, “I forensically study the papers and always question the
items to gain clarity”. I thought that was just being thorough, but now I have more meetings
and briefings and will have to sing for my supper much more eloquently.
Cabinet are discussing how they can help reduce the effects of the cost of living crisis. It’s a
bit late with council tax increased, and council house rents increased, and the rest of any
“effective” action is in the hands of the Government and I do not mean cash hand outs.
There are numerous indirect taxes, Green levies, VAT, Fuel Duty that could be addressed to
create an equitable and fair range of assistance to households!
The roadworks on the A12 continue with overnight closures. Everytime there is a closure,
Fiddlers Lane is closed. That means that for the not so bright that the diversion sign at the
end of Gaston Street helps to route overnight A12 traffic down Gaston Street and through
the village centre! Giant HGVs at 3am can be quite sleep disrupting. As far as the road works
are concerned it’s a case of spotting what they have done. There seems to be so little that
one wonders what they actually do?
The consultation on the Pylon routes continues. It all seems a little 19
th
Century to me. The
grid was set up because coal produced electricity and so the power stations were near the
coal. Hence the north south corridor down the middle of the country. Now rather than
generating the electricity near where it is needed we put big nuclear and wind farms on the
coast or at sea and then lose money and energy transmitting it to where it is needed. Can
we not be more imaginative and put generation near to the user? Thinking with our minds
set in the past is hardly progress. I would rather have wind power at sea, if at all, so lets take
the power under the sea to where it is needed rather than covering the countryside with
pylons.
Fracking to give us gas security, mini nuclear reactors from Rolls Royce, to generate power
where its needed, (rather than huge foreign owned seaside plants,), solar panels on top of
buildings rather than covering productive food producing land. Currently energy is the big
concern, but we still import 40% of our food so should we not be producing more of it?

My mantra in all things, energy, food production, planning has been one of “Joined up
Thinking!”. Is it so difficult to think outside the box? I like the coffee bag advert. Thats a bit
of thinking outside the box.
Well I hope your Jubilee celebrations went well and that the “April Showers gave way to
Flaming June. We all needed an uplift and Her Majesty certainly deserved our thanks for all
her leadership and service over what has been a once in several generations experience.
Thank you, Your Majesty.

Cllr John Hinton
East Bergholt Ward
Babergh DC
1
st
June 2022.