Open letter to Councillor David Ellesmere & The Ipswich Vision Board

Good evening all, I have penned an open letter to the powers that be, in pursuit of response to our concerns. Over 4000 have signed the petition, and I owe it to you all to make sure your voices are heard. The letter goes as follows: "Dear Councillor David Ellesmere and The Ipswich Vision Board, Earlier this month I started a petition on change.org to “Suspend and review the £3.6M changes to the Ipswich Cornhill.” It has so far received over 4000 signatures, and is climbing daily. Despite addressing you quite directly, I have been disappointed with your so far only indirect responses, chiefly via the Ipswich Star and Mr Paul Geater, and your current failure to adequately address the legitimate concerns of the people of Ipswich. On Sunday February 11th, BBC Radio Suffolk aired an interview with me where I challenged you to answer to these petitioners in a public debate. I would like to once more invite you to stand by these Cornhill designs in a public forum, where I am certain more than a few, of the thousands of petitioners, would be delighted to join you. In your response via the Ipswich Star, we were called ‘whingers and moaners’, in what was ironically a whinging and moaning diatribe. Instead of addressing our fair concerns, we were instead all childishly insulted. So far you have shirked public accountability in the face of your unpopular ideas, that were never sufficiently publicised in the first place. I think all of Ipswich’s residents would find the following reasonable, and would surely serve to quell any anxiety regarding the Cornhill project: A fully costed and financially transparent breakdown of the £3.6M budget, to be published in the EADT & Ipswich Star. A chronological breakdown of consultations, exhibitions, minutes, proposals and other publications of the current Cornhill designs. A public discussion for all, both for and against the current plans to attend and contribute. As of the 26th February, the latest developments of the Cornhill designs are a tacit admission of their ill-conception, and overall absence of meaning. Your fifteen ideas only prove the legitimate concerns of the petition, that the green monoliths are indeed meaningless to the people, culture, and history of Ipswich. For if they were so relevant in the first place, why is it now necessary to daub them with murals that are actually related to our town? At best, they are an after-thought. Furthermore, have these plans been in the works for five years also? For this was your previous excuse, and proverbial ‘get out of jail’ card. Where is the funding coming from? For in your response via the Ipswich Star, you stated all £3.6M had been signed off and accounted for, allowing for no further changes. This seems starkly contrary to the latest developments, where there is now again apparently room for change and public consultation. I ask you directly, instead of running a competition of IBC approved ideas, why not listen to the what the townsfolk actually want? Specifically “a simple re-paving of the Cornhill with the planting of new trees and maybe some benches are all that is required, and would assuredly cost much less.” In the spirit of democracy and civic duty, I hope you would be compelled to listed to the people of Ipswich. I look forward to your response. Sincerely, Mr Daniel Lansley" As we wait for their response, please continue to share the petition in the meantime. Thank you all to those who have signed. Best, Dan