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Protesters at Brome earlier in the year (Photo EDP)

The Diss Express reports that the Brome waste site that closed on 31st July is soon to re-open. This sounds on the face of it good news but when the site re-opens a private contractor will be charging between £3 and £12 for residents to recycle their waste.

Meanwhile down the road in Stowmarket Suffolk County Council's waste site is still open and residents pay nothing.

Residents pay identical Council Tax in both places and it is difficult to see this as anything other than completely unfair.

It is also very strange that Brome's Parish Council seem to be involved in the process in a strange way. Now I am a Parish Councillor myself and a fan of local decisions being made locally but waste sites are a strategic service provided at County level. It seems ridiculous that a small parish council and the larger Eye Town Council seem to be left having to make the best of a bad situation.

I am grateful to both Council's for what they have done getting the site re-opened and am certain that the volunteer councillors will have got the best possible deal for everyone who uses the site. But the point is they should not have to do this. It is bad enough local councils being left to run local services like libraries but ridiculous that strategic services used by literally scores of parishes have to be rescued by local parishes that happen to contain the services.

Ironically on the same day as this is is announced Suffolk County Council issue a press release complete with photos of Leader Mark Bee and Cabinet Member for Waste Lisa Chambers visiting waste sites. This, apparently "is part of a series of planned visits to find out more about the work of the authority and talk to staff who provide important public services."

Mark Bee is quoted as saying:

“The staff I met today and the services they deliver are a testament to the work Suffolk County Council does day in day out. We must not underestimate the challenges ahead of us, both in terms of service delivery and financial savings. But they are not insurmountable and I firmly believe that by working with partners, our staff and Suffolk residents, we can find the solutions we need.”

The thing is Suffolk County Council aren't working with partners but completely abdicating themselves of their responsibility to run services that we are still paying for and leaving local people to pick up the pieces.