Orwell ahead campaign backs CitY Status for Ipswich.
20 reasons why IPSWICH can and must win CITY status.
Suffolk is the 12th largest county in England. It is the largest English county without a city and the only county in the top 20 without a city.
There is no precedent that a city must have a cathedral. Bath, Cambridge, Hull, Lancaster, Newport, Nottingham, Plymouth, Salford, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent and Wolverhampton do not have cathedrals.
Ipswich is one of the country’s largest and fastest growing economies with £4.5bn GVA per annum.
Ipswich is very similar in population size to Norwich and Cambridge. Our urban centre has a higher population than Norwich. Our greater urban area and Travel to Work area is also similar.
Ipswich is Suffolk's only true conurbation. You can pretty much fit Suffolk's biggest towns inside of Ipswich's urban population (Lowestoft, Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill, Felixstowe and Newmarket).
Neighbouring, rural Suffolk Coastal District Council (now part of East Suffolk District Council) plans to dump 51% of their new houses in the Ipswich area, similarly Babergh District Council a large number too. A total of around 8000 new houses that these rural districts cannot sustain and don’t want anywhere near their villages. All are dependent upon Ipswich services and infrastructure yet the centre they rely upon has been neglected, stripped of a joined up voice, focus or ambition.
Ipswich Borough also plans 4000 extra houses within the ancient borough boundaries. Clearly we need joined up thinking, planning and representation?! We need a single focus and direction. Ipswich as a centre needs a very clear identity and sense of place within all this growth.
Kesgrave, Martlesham and Trimley were once villages. Suffolk's 9th largest town is now Kesgrave and the soon to be 12th largest town will be Martlesham. Both are, in truth, Ipswich suburbs and part of a growing and prosperous greater Ipswich area. So why not acknowledge it, empower it and allow it to work as one for ALL residents and stakeholders who share the area?
We love Bury St Edmunds... who doesn't? It has a strong identity and position as an historic town. It doesn’t need any more accolades or ego. City status will not improve Bury St Edmunds in the slightest. It will, however, give Ipswich a much needed boost.
Ipswich had a Suffragan Bishop as far back as 1534, a full 380 years before the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich was created or before Bury's St James Church became a cathedral (1914).
There is no precedent that says our beloved Ipswich Town F.C. must change its name to Ipswich City F.C. However, Ipswich becoming an ambitious city may attract more ambitious owners, managers and players. Many players are too young to have heard of our illustrious history and have never heard of Ipswich as a place. Perhaps playing for a city just 70 miles from the capital will prove a more attractive sell.
Many Ipswich Town F.C. fans say "what is the point of being promoted to the Premier League, we'd only come straight back down". Such apathy and loser mentality not only suppresses our club, but the entire town. Ipswich needs greater ambition. We need people hungry for the "premier league", not only in football terms but for Ipswich as a place too.
If we want to attract top retail to Ipswich we need for it to be "on the map". All cities are on the radar for the major retail outlets. Ipswich is England’s 42nd biggest urban area and 35th biggest retail centre. Bury St Edmunds has a beautiful retail centre, yet Ipswich is still three times bigger for retail spend and should better use its leverage. In fact of all the major English urban areas, only Manchester, Leeds and Norwich (which is successful because it is so isolated up there) really buck the trend. Ipswich punches at our own weight and in spite of plenty of major competing retail centres all within one hour drive. If we had critical mass - and were a city - we may register with the bigger retailers and attract more interest.
Ipswich was not only a County-Borough, but it was County Town and major stakeholder in East Suffolk. In recent times, Suffolk Coastal D.C. and Waveney D.C. have merged to form East Suffolk District Council, leaving Ipswich isolated and permanently stripped of many assets which it created.
Ipswich has a charter granted by King John - issued 15 years before the Magna Carta - guaranteeing the town a right to govern itself. Ipswich governed itself for 774 years before its identity and autonomy was stolen by the Local Government Act 1972 (implemented 1974). Now we rely on the enlightened permission of rural Suffolk County Council cabinet members from as far afield as Bury St Edmunds, Mildenhall, Aldeburgh, Threadling, Nayland or Halesworth to tell the 250,000 people in and around Ipswich how we should run our area.
Stripped of its political authority, representation and pride in 1974, Suffolk’s society and districts take delight in looking down upon Ipswich. Yet, it should not be this way….
Ipswich had 22 major engineering and manufacturing giants. Without a strong Ipswich there would be no BT Adastral Park, no Port of Felixstowe, no Sizewell, no Orwell Bridge or southern bypass. All Suffolk's major economic development has come when Ipswich has been in a position of strength.
Ipswich has a charter from Henry VIII in 1518 which gives Ipswich complete control over the River Orwell and its shores. Without a strong Ipswich there would be no Port of Felixstowe.
Greater Ipswich area has a GVA of around £8bn pa. Norwich area (including Aviva/Norwich Union and Norwich Research Park) is £6.5bn. Ipswich IS at the heart of the greatest economic zone in Norfolk and Suffolk. Ipswich should not be a poor relation in Suffolk. A strong and confident Ipswich could do even better for Suffolk.
Ipswich should not be in the shadows of Norwich and Cambridge. We are an equal. We are Suffolk’s regional centre. A strong Ipswich means a stronger Suffolk. We cannot hope to win government investment, third party investment, lottery funding, LEP focus and funding for highways and economic development unless we are equipped with the same tools and status.
It is time to re-evaluate Ipswich as a place; to celebrate what is great about Ipswich, to be more positive and ambitious for it.
City status won’t solve all our problems or challenges, but it will give the town a fresh start; a new sense of place, identity and value once again, in Ipswich, in Suffolk and beyond.
This page created: 4 February, 2018. Last Amended/Updated: 21 April, 2020.