Ipswich  -  Updates coming from the Ipswich Community Forums. IPSWI branding will remain, however, for the forum ipswi. com becomes ipswichforum. co. uk....

Ipswich News  -  Plans for Ipswich northern bypass business case delayed. The business case for a northern relief road in Ipswich has been delayed until at least 2019, it has emerged. Continue reading. on Ipswich Star....

Ipswich Buses Watch  -  Ipswich Buses is telling people across Ipswich the reason for delays to their services is due to the Orwell Bridge being shut. Which isn't true, only eastbound carriageway section of the A14 between J57 (Nacton) and J58 (Seven Hills) is closed. due to an overturned lorry literally blocking the entire section of road. Just easy to tell a little fib to the little people rather than say an overturned lorry outside of the town borough boundary is the reason why every bus service is having problems running to timetable. ....

Ipswich Dan  -  The water jets on the new Cornhill act as a security measure to protect anyone tampering or wanting to damage the installation. None of the 18 water jets would normally allow the workings to be inspected by members of the public without getting absolutely drenched with gallons of water! A close up of the water jets reveal the drain cover is secured by four bolts in the corners. Looks like you will need a special key to open them unless an Allen/hex key is adequate. These water fountain drains are going to be a target for cigarette butts....

Ipswich Dan  -  The new easyHotel in Ipswich's Northgate Street will be opening shortly. The sub £10 price tag promoted has attracted a lot of interest but the actual amount paid is from £13. 99 upwards. the £9. 99 Black Friday offer isn't going to be available by the time it has opened....

Ipswich News  -  Anger at plan for WHSmith to run Ipswich Post Office. Save our Post Office - that was the message from union members and Ipswich’s MP as they protested outside against a town branch being run by a national high street chain. Continue reading. on Ipswich Star....

Ipswich Dan  -  When I was in town yesterday with the absence of rain, I noticed not a single person sitting on any of the seats on the new Cornhill. This wouldn't have remained like this all day long, and today you will get more people sitting down. However, for a county town with a catchment of 250,000 people, the 20 something capacity of new seating in the most popular part of town (on the run up to Christmas too) had always resulted in a consistent flow of people from the elderly and less mobile. to people sitting down to eat, drink or smoke during the previous version of it....

Ipswich Buses Watch  -  Did you know? Ipswich Buses has nine different bus liveries it operates across its fleet of around 80 or so buses. Ipswich Buses do not sub-brand routes into networks but the fleet has a very inconsistent wide range of different livery designs. partly because some haven't been updated since the old livery and the rest, due to them getting bored of a livery and trying something new. Green represents the bus company....

Ipswich Dan  -  It is quite concerning. on my visit to the town centre this morning towards the end of my trip I diverted by Crown Car Park. Despite the surface car park part closed off for drainage works, and the bargain basement £1 per hour introductory offer, it was far from fully occupied. I remember when the expensive old 1000 space multi-storey car park used to get full up, especially this time of year....

Ipswich News  -  Anger as Upper Orwell Crossing announcement pushed back to January 2019. An announcement on whether the Upper Orwell Crossings will go ahead has been pushed back after council chiefs confirmed they were still pursuing funding. Continue reading. on Ipswich Star....

Ipswich Dan  -  Borough Council leader David Ellesmere has revealed how a prospective tenant for the Old Post Office pulled out following Cornhill Regeneration Project works. This comes as a major blow to the town centre following news that Ipswich Borough Council had purchased another out-of-town retail park through Ipswich Borough Assets subsidiary, this time out of borough too. The deal was having big brand Pret a Manager signed up for the Grimwades unit before the works went ahead, so they could instantly claim the revamp has attracted a new large brand to the town....

Ipswich Buses Watch  -  With Ipswich Borough Council's purchase of Beardmore Park in Martlesham Heath, the question remains are they considering of routing the Service 4 back up to Martlesham Heath? On acquiring Anglia Retail Park, Service 8 was routed towards it and they also created a new Service 7 heading to it. Service 4 was broken up after a part time service towards Martlesham Heath became a loss making service due to fuel costs and limited loading. Owner Ipswich Borough Assets will be a sister company in effect but the bus company is supposed to be operated independently to the council. ....

Ipswich News  -  Anger over First Ipswich’s re-routing of bus services. A controversial decision to divert a bus service on one of Ipswich’s key routes has prompted a wave of public anger. Continue reading. on Ipswich Star....

Ipswich Dan  -  It should be quickly pointed out most bus drivers working for Ipswich Buses are competent professional drivers - typically let down by customer service and poor time keeping - but there are a moderate number which are just plain liabilities. This photo from Twitter shows one of said liabilities pushing in across lines and cutting up other motorists. This is the 17:23 Ipswich Buses Service 3 Nacton Road to Ipswich Rail Station bus 149 YK08 EPF. ....

Ipswich Dan  -  Reading the 2015, Heritage Futures Report on Economic Benefits of Heritage for Ipswich it is worrying when even Suffolk Record Office and Orwell Lady River Cruises is included within the figures as "Ipswich heritage attractions", that less than 3% of day tourists and just over 1% of leisure users, even visit these attractions. This is to say only 1 in 34 "tourists" actually visits any of these five assets. This is despite Ipswich Museum and Christchurch Mansion being free to visit. Plus Suffolk Record Office of course....

WolseysCat  -  A trip to Bury St Edmunds Christmas Market/Fair was undertaken on Saturday. I've been before, once, maybe twice, but wow, what a huge undertaking. Apart from the normal huge Bury Market on the Saturday its enhanced by stalls covering the whole of Angel Hill, the Abbey Gardens, various side street, stalls in just about every other available open public building including parts of the Cathedral and the Atheneum. Plus the square in front of the Apex, on two level inside the Apex, in fact pretty much the whole of Bury town centre....

Ipswich Dan  -  Just a look ahead to Christmas 2018 in Ipswich. Ipswich Festive Market - Not going ahead this year! Maybe they listened? Apparently will continue with the market and it is likely some changes will be made to accommodate festivities. Possibly, more food stalls in the Queen Street Food Quarter....

Ipswich Buses Watch  -  Ipswich Buses will increase their bus fares from this Sunday - which they have blamed it on rising costs including fuel (despite claiming some tax back through Bus Operator Subsidy Grant - fuel duty rebate) and their desire to further modernise their fleet (which was arguably responsible for their financial problems in the first place). The below are two adverts from Ipswich EXTRA newspaper. Paul Geater has been kind enough to write the following advert about how good the value is of the bus company and contactless payments. None of which really critical or proper journalism....

Ipswich Dan  -  Today, I received my first ever copy of the Ipswich Extra newspaper. Archant must be desperate to get the adverts out! I and discover it has been going since February! Every page has a date, so is this a free weekly newspaper? Is it monthly?...

Ipswich Dan  -  The Birkfield Drive stream has been such an ongoing problem you could reasonably expect it to be a natural feature. On FixMyStreet a user has complained to Ipswich Borough Council and Suffolk County Council. Ipswich Borough Council instantly recognises it as an Anglia Water issue, but Anglia Water has inspected it and discovered it not to be a burst water main but leaking underground water tanks owned by the council. It surely cannot be that difficult to fix surely? I am assuming these tanks get full and overflow....

Ipswich Dan  -  This year Ipswich Society truly scrapes the bottom of the barrel with the very limited selection of entrance for their Annual Awards 2018. Which highlights how terrible Ipswich is for new developments....

Ipswich Buses Watch  -  Ipswich Buses' Family Day Ticket (1 adult, 4 children or 2 adults, 3 children) has increased by £1. 80 in just 9 months. It went up by 80p in February 2018 and has gone up another £1 for end of November 2018. ....

Ipswich Buses Watch  -  Ipswich Buses' Adult Day Rover has increased by 90p in just 9 months. It went up by 40p in February 2018 and has gone up another 50p for end of November 2018. ....

Ipswich Buses Watch  -  Ipswich Buses' Adult Transfer Ticket (a second trip within 1 hour but not a return) has increased by 70p in just 9 months. It went up by 50p in February 2018 and has gone up another 20p for end of November 2018. ....

Ipswich Buses Watch  -  Ipswich Buses' Under 20 Day Rover Ticket has increased by 70p in just 9 months. It went up by 50p in February 2018 and has gone up another 20p for end of November 2018. ....

Ipswich Dan  -  This Thursday is the first ever Thursday late night shopping day in 2018 with the official Christmas switch on. Retailers who pay in hundreds of thousands of pounds each year (including the likes of Debenhams, M&S, Primark and Poundland) have been snubbed in a recent Ipswich Star article. Ipswich Central's Emma Lightfoot seem to absolutely forget the town centre has shops....

Ipswich Buses Watch  -  A simple service update tweet. 7 mistakes. Is there any hope for Ipswich Buses? ....

Ipswich Dan  -  Probably the best way of describing the new revamped Ipswich Cornhill is someones style over substance or should we say aesthetically pleasing to an abstract group of people without any practicality for the space for everyone. The above is a snapshot from a few rows of traditional styled benches from Google Images. No matter the material or specific design of these they all have a few things in common. The first is nowhere can water collect in puddles. The second is they aren't all made from solid material - designed with gaps to allow water to drip through....

Ipswich Dan  -  Trust Suffolk County Council's Suffolk Highways to install a bus stop here right next to a roundabout! If that isn't so bad the two lanes merge in on Bixley Road and they have removed the bus lay by relocating it further up near Ashdown Way! This was expected as revealed in their plans pre-works commenced. On balance, other county councils surprisingly have some bus stops actually on the roundabout itself, including in Suffolk actually, there is the bus stop on a roundabout in Sudbury. (probably some other examples too) except the roundabout road is extremely wide not to make this ever a problem....

Ipswich Dan  -  Interesting. Although it is better than the previous logo. A lot better. the selection tick is rather cliche, is it not? Not to mention ballot boxes are square and you stick a cross (X) in them not a tick!...

Ipswich Dan  -  What a disaster! Another day at Ipswich's revamped Cornhill another person is injured and another ambulance called. Today I just happened to be there when it arrived. I went into the Town Hall to enquire about the ambulance to see whether they were aware of it. They didn't seem to care....

Ipswich Dan  -  An outline planning application has been submitted for 75 dwellings at the Old Station Works near Westerfield Station. ....

Ipswich Buses Watch  -  Oh the irony, Labour-run public transport company Ipswich Buses Ltd, is using Tory tactics of austerity! Decreasing services but increased taxes, or in this case bus fares! Adult Single Fares for all three zones increase by 10p to £1. 10, £1. 60 and £2....