A key focus for me this week has been trying to find solutions for the crisis impacting my constituents at The Mill on the waterfront.
Following on from my meeting with residents last week which has been widely publicised, this week I met with representatives from the administrator, RSM, the Government Minister Lee Rowley, before again meeting residents on Wednesday virtually from my Westminster office to update them.
The Mill is yet another tragic and depressing story about how hundreds of my constituents have been left in limbo for years on end as a result of the building safety crisis that has affected so many people across the Town.
The Mill has structural issues and cladding issues that mean over 200 people have effectively become prisoners unable to move on with their lives and plan their futures.
This is despite the fact that parts of the Mill complex have effectively been judged to be safe to live in.
There are many different discrete elements to the “Mill complex” that appear very different to the tower and were built with completely different materials but they’re effectively being treated as one and the same.
These structural and cladding defects have been known about for many years. Yet residents are despairing that despite this, finding a solution to their plight has never felt further away.
A number of different people and organisations have serious questions to answer. However, my immediate focus is getting my constituents out of this limbo and working with others to try and find a solution that enables them to break free from this nightmare.
As it stands, there are currently a number of intensive and sensitive negotiations going on between different parties, negotiations involving the Government and Ipswich Borough Council that I really hope will provide a breakthrough in the not too distant future.
I do not want to say anything through my statements both verbal and written that could undermine any of this. Things certainly seem to be at a delicate stage.
However, I do want to say one thing. I think it’s high time we reflect on the fact that though there is indeed a building safety crisis that is impacting the whole country, the town in which we live appears to be one of the worst impacted in the country.
Sometimes it seems that barely a month goes by without another building being dragged into the crisis. It’s legitimate for people to ask themselves why this is.
I cannot think of a single area of the country that has such a high concentration of cases like Ipswich.
It's right that those affected by the building safety crisis ask searching questions of the Government.
I have done throughout the time I’ve been an MP. In fact at times, I’ve felt so strongly about it that I’ve rebelled against Government legislation.
However, if this was all about Government failure and nothing else, that simply doesn’t explain why Ipswich specifically has been so badly impacted, more badly than pretty much anywhere else in the country. If we’re going to ask searching questions of the Government, it’s only right that we ask searching questions of Ipswich Borough Council also.
Throughout the last decade it certainly seems to be the case to be that a number of buildings have been signed off by Ipswich Borough Council as meeting building safety regulations, despite falling short of what was required at the time. It was clear these questions have been a key focus for BBC Look East also.
On Wednesday I tried to do a Prime Minister’s Question but was unfortunately unsuccessful due to it being very busy as the first one since we have returned from recess. I will try again next week, and I will continue to meet with my constituents connected to the Mill development on a weekly basis.
for as long as necessary. We need to find a solution and the Government must do whatever it takes to support my constituents.
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