Our local MP, Dr Dan Poulter is standing firm with residents across Central Suffolk & North Ipswich in their fight against proposals for an Ipswich Northern Bypass. Dr Dan is leading the fight to stop the bypass, working closely with the Stop! Campaign and 20 Parish Councils.
20,000 new houses will need to be built to fund the bypass, concreting over the Suffolk countryside to the north of Ipswich, creating a new town the size of Bury St Edmunds. Residents in Kesgrave will be among the hardest hit by the extra traffic, pushing more cars onto the already congested A12 between Martlesham and Woodbridge. With Suffolk County Council’s ambitions to become the Greenest County, these additional cars will create more pollution, not less.
Dr Dan firmly believes that these current proposals are about extra house-building that’s simply not needed, least of all in this very special part of Suffolk. There’s little or no evidence to show that an Ipswich Northern Bypass will do anything to reduce traffic congestion in Ipswich. With the Orwell bridge closed on average for only 18 hours per year, a £1bn road is a completely disproportionate response to a problem that could be solved by better wind-shielding and traffic management of the bridge. Dr Dan would much rather see that money being invested in our local schools, hospitals and public services.
