Babergh spurns Mid Suffolk's advances in local poll

Mid Suffolk Leader Tim Passmore with joint
Babergh and Mid Suffolk CEO Charlie Adan

Suffolk continues to break the rule that local government is boring with a sad story of unrequited love. Recently residents of Mid Suffolk and Babergh, two small and predominantly rural districts in Suffolk, were asked if they wanted their councils to merge. They have already appointed a joint Chief Executive and started to merge other operational aspects of the Councils.

The results can be summed up as Mid Suffolk loves Babergh but Babergh doesn't love Mid Suffolk. In Babergh 39.1% of the 31,468 of Babergh residents who voted, voted ‘yes’ whilst 60.9% voted ‘no’. In Mid Suffolk, 59.9% of 32,061 residents voted ‘yes’ whilst 40.1% voted ‘no’.

This means that the merger won't go ahead. A lovesick Tim Passmore, Leader of Mid Suffolk District Council is quoted on the Babergh website saying:

"It is extremely disappointing that we have a split view from our local communities about our innovative approach. We still face the difficult challenge of meeting very demanding financial savings while delivering front-line services and it is unfortunate that we cannot work more closely to achieve our radical and innovative idea for merger."

Recently appointed Chief Executive Charlie Adan who is, I suppose, the "love child" of this relationship said:

"I would urge everyone to put their differences on the question of merger behind them and support both councils in our efforts to find even more integration savings, reduce spending and raise income to meet the impact of our financial constraints on services that residents need from us."

Meanwhile the Mid Suffolk Website is silent on the outcome. Perhaps everyone is just too heartbroken to update the site. Unconfirmed reports claim that the Babergh Facebook Page may well change its relationship status to "Single, Not Looking".