Cllr James Mallinder has written to Cllr West, Suffolk County Councillor responsible for Highways   asking for a commitment of funding to improve Deben highways from Bawdsey to Butley.

Cllr James Mallinder, Deben ward member and previous cabinet member for the Environment at East Suffolk, wrote to Suffolk County Council demanding a strategic focus on our rural roads.

As a countryside champion he knows the principal focus should be supporting our rural residents. Many live in isolated areas with access via one road. Once this road floods or is damaged it prevents access to properties and could possibly put lives at danger if emergency services are not able to access such areas. Suffolk County Council needs to prevent the flooding of our highways, at the moment flooding occurs due to a breakdown in relationship between the County Council and local landowners, with larger commercial vehicles damaging drain and road edges along with a lack of ditches and ponds to naturally act as a buffer.

Cllr Mallinder says:

“I therefore ask for a task group with officers of Suffolk County council and East Suffolk, Cllr West and myself along with all landowners to look at initiatives to solve the reoccurring problems.

The village of Butley in particular has a number of areas that regularly flood making access almost impossible which reoccur year after year. With changes in the climate and increase in frequency of heavy rain storms we need proper investment along with discussions with all users of these roads. Bushey Land in Hollelsey suffers from soil run off which clogs the drains and makes driving incredibly dangerous.”

Cllr Mallinder also asked for a commitment from the County Council to maintain and repair a large number of broken road signs across the Peninsula. These signs are very important to the many visitors that the peninsula sees each year. Broken road signs mean visitors are not warned of road junctions and dangerous areas and of course we all get lost when the direction signs disappear.

East Suffolk also has responsibility to assist to keep highways and footpaths clear of debris and so Cllr Mallinder has been asked to advise the coalition administration at East Suffolk in how to tackle these issues.

As cabinet member for the environment at the last East Suffolk administration he worked tirelessly with officers to deal with issues on highways and footpaths, and constantly highlighted issues to the Suffolk County Council.

East Suffolk needs to work hard to support each resident, and working in partnership with the Suffolk County Council and we hope to see East Suffolk will be part of the discussion to improve standards.

Cllr Mallinder stated:

"I care passionately about the countryside, but it needs to function for all users and in particular for those that choose to live in these areas.  I sometimes suspect due to the lower number of residents our needs are ignored. Here on the peninsula, we are very sensitive if one of our roads floods or is damaged, it creates real access issues and worries me enormously.

I hope some of the recently announced funding by the County Council for highways issues will be ringfenced for the Deben peninsula which is desperately needing an upgrade. It doesn’t help anyone making small repairs, but roads need proper drainage and a repair in road foundations - sometimes it feels like a applying a sticky plaster on a broken leg.

‘Signs posts have rusted and fallen into the verge and just haven’t been repaired, there is a broken sign at the end of my road which has been left for over two years, where has the civic pride gone in Suffolk? We must do better, and I will continue to support my parishes and residents in demanding better.”