Thurston & Ixworth ThurstonAndIxworthFlyer_May2019_For_Web | Page 3

The Flyer News from Jo Churchill MP News from Matt Hancock MP It is increasingly clear that people are becoming more conscious of where their food comes from. This year’s National Gardening Week, running from 29th April to 5th May embraces this with theme ‘Edible Britain’. The local elections in West Suffolk will be held on Thursday, 2nd May this year. It’s the chance for you to elect your parish, town and district councillors. Local councils oversee what’s happening in your community. They are responsible for community development, housing, licensing and environmental health issues, planning and waste and recycling plus many more areas of our communities. These are the kinds of issues that affect us when we step out our front doors and allow the area in which we live to be the very best it can be. Councils also support local High Streets and offer support for local businesses and jobs, thus having a direct impact on the local economy. Conservative controlled councils have a proven record of managing your money wisely whilst delivering excellent public services and for lower council taxes than Labour and Liberal Democrat controlled councils. The choice you make when you go to the local polls will have a direct impact on the kinds of public services you receive and the amount of council tax you pay. Conservative councils save families more than £100 per year more than Labour and Liberal Democrat National Gardening Week is our country’s biggest celebration of gardening and raises awareness of the positive impact that gardens and gardening can have on people’s lives. The event started eight years ago and has grown in popularity ever since. This year, the Royal Horticultural Society is encouraging gardeners, garden centres and nurseries to highlight all things edible and ‘grow your own’. Everyone has the space to grow food, whether it is a single pot, vegetable patch or allotment. There really is nothing more satisfying than eating food that you have produced yourself. Gardening also serves to introduce the next generation to our environment and eco-system. Whether it is visiting our wonderful countryside and green spaces or the excitement of growing plants from small seeds, the benefi ts are clear. The earlier we can introduce children to the environment, the more likely they are to care about its preservation and all that entails. Seeing how nature interacts; from plants to insects to birds and what can be achieved when they are all able to thrive is an issue of real importance to convey to children from a young age. Some of the smallest creatures play an essential role in our food production, particularly bees and other pollinators. It is for reasons such as this that I strongly welcomed commitments made by the Government to leave the environment in a better state than we found it. Gardening should not be constrained to one week alone. Let this year’s National Gardening Week give us the impetus to embrace the merits that growing your own can bring and celebrate home grown produce. Get Together Tuesdays controlled councils. With local councils spending 25% of all public money, it’s important that we elect the candidates that will do the best job for us. A very big change that took place at the beginning of April was the formation of the West Suffolk Council. This is the amalgamation of St Edmundsbury Borough Council and Forest Heath District Council. The formation of a single council for West Suffolk will benefi t residents. It’s combined services under the Conservatives is already delivering saving of £4million per annum effi ciencies and starting in May will provide a further savings of around £800,000 per year of your money, whilst providing future proof fi nancial stability in order to provide for local communities. In West Suffolk the Conservative controlled councils are using innovative methods to raise more money to subsidise services and keep your council tax low. The Conservatives in West Suffolk have achieved a lot and I hope they may continue to work for you, but they need your support on 2nd May. This is a very exciting time for West Suffolk. I hope you will join me in getting to know your local candidates, ask their opinions and positions on the local issues that affect you. Once elected, these councillors will be working hard on your behalf. I hope you can get to your local polling station and vote Conservative on 2 May. #GetTogetherTuesdays bringing the community together and trying to combat loneliness. We had over 32 people attend this morning and raised a lovely £27 for the bury st Edmund’s Rickshawwho attend today and put a lot of smiles on faces. Thank you to everyone who attends see you all on the 14th May at 11am at nowton court village. Call Sammy for more info 01284 365247. P le a s e m e n t i o n ‘ T h e F l yer ’ wh en r esp o n d in g t o ad ver t isements T H E FLY E R | M AY 2 0 1 9 3