Conservatives in Stoke Park and Bridge have taken the lead in dealing with the nuisance neighbour Southern Cement, which is owned by a Spanish Company.
 
The noise from Southern Cement has been going on for three years and increasing in both frequency and duration as the operation expanded.  The Labour dominated South West Forum had constantly put it on their agenda but with little positive action.  Conservative councillor Nadia Cenci and Conservative Bridge ward activist James Spencer decided that a more assertive approach was needed.
 
James helped organise the Noise Action Group so that they leafleted large swathes of the town.  He also helped to get spokespeople on to a number of local radio programmes and arranged meetings with among others Ben Gummer and Nick Herbert, the Conservative Shadow spokesman on the environment.  He was also instrumental in exposing Southern Cement’s backdoor application to expand without dealing with noise complaints.
 
Nadia pushed the council to allow presentations from affected residents to the South West forum, to the Cabinet executive and finally getting a public meeting dedicated to this issue – to which more than 150 people turned up.  In the end the council has set up a Port Liaison group and Port focus group to help Ipswich Port communicate with their neighbours.  She was the only council member to refuse to vote for Southern Cement’s application to expand – because she was prepared to break with officer’s advice on an issue that affected her constituents, as she is within the area of the noise this issue affected her.
 
James Spencer said, “Although some Labour councillors were rather helpful, we had a very mixed response from them as a group.  I had one Labour councillor, Jim Powell, on my doorstep complaining that I had criticised Council officers over their response, which I thought missed the point when hundreds of people were losing sleep from this constant drone.  Another Labour councillor, Richard Kirby, told one of the noise campaigners that the noise was a minor issue to him and that he enjoyed voting against the noise action group (to be fair he would be more sensitive today).  And as far as Labour’s leadership, they were as much use on this issue as a chocolate teapot. In contrast both Liz Harsant and John Carnall made forthright statements calling on Southern Cement to talk to residents and stop hiding behind lawyers, and Ben Gummer even went over to Madrid to try to make Southern Cement’s parent company see sense.”
 
Nadia said “We seem to have made some progress, at last.  Southern Cement have fitted on a silencer which seems to have changed the tone so it’s not that invasive.  I'd rather Southern Cement had been involved in all the talks from the beginning and I do worry that when the weather gets better the noise will get worse, as it has in the last few years.  However at last it’s looking hopeful.”

6th March 2010