Ipswich: Roads taskforce slammed for lack of action

The Ipswich Transport Taskforce was established in 2020 after the idea of a northern bypass -seen by some as a way of tackling gridlock in the town when crashes close the A14 and Orwell Bridge - was dropped. 

It is a cross-party initiative chaired by the town's MP Tom Hunt and MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, Dan Poulter - with Labour leader of the borough council, David Ellesmere, also a prominent member.

Ipswich MP Tom Hunt (Image: House of Commons)

Despite having some success with pressuring Highways England into introducing a variable speed limit on the Orwell Bridge, Mr Hunt has admitted that "without having its own budget, the taskforce is pretty powerless to effect meaningful change".

"When it was established I had pretty low expectations," he said.

"It largely consisted of the same people who meet in other forums to discuss the same issues - it felt like we were identifying issues we already knew were issues. 

"However, it did give us a platform to impact change on the Orwell Bridge and now closures relating to high wind speeds have pretty much been eliminated.

The taskforce was established to help combat Ipswich's traffic issues (Image: Gregg Brown)

"But it was unlikely to ever be a game changer."

The group has recently faced criticism from Ipswich's Labour Parliamentary candidate Jack Abbott, who said "we have seen little action or delivery" and called for a change of leadership. 

"When he was appointed, Tom Hunt promised that ‘this task group needs to be about action and delivery, and not another talking shop’, yet he has chaired it for nearly three years and we have seen little action or delivery," said Mr Abbott. 

Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Ipswich, Jack Abbott (Image: Sarah Lucy Brown)"If the Conservative MPs heading up the Taskforce cannot focus on this critically important strategy for Ipswich, they should consider making way for people who can."

However, Mr Hunt has hit back at Mr Abbott, arguing: "The idea that changing the chair of the taskforce would make any difference to solving the complex transport challenges facing the town is for the birds and demonstrates a certain degree of naivety."

"The task force was very much a collaborative initiative, with the Labour leader of the borough council being a prominent member.

Dr Dan Poulter, MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Image: Archant)

"I talk with the county council and the government about what might be done to improve our transport infrastructure and I will continue to do so."

Dr Dan Poulter echoed these comments, stressing it was a cross-party initiative that had managed to tackle issues such as that on the Orwell Bridge.