This weekend, CIFCO Capital Ltd, controversial investment arm of Mid Suffolk and Babergh district councils turns five – having snapped up 21 properties, from an NHS surgery to a wagamama.
Council chiefs said CIFCO completed a drawdown of funds ahead of year-end on March 31, 2021 and on the same day secured one of its final investments – an £8.3million industrial estate in Braintree.
Screwfix, a car wash and two more traders on an industrial estate in Ipswich’s Cavendish Street came next for £1.5m in April with one final new-build acquisition set to be announced in the coming weeks.
One of CIFCO s latest investments is in an industrial estate off Cavendish Street in Ipswich
- Credit: GOOGLE MAPS
It will cement the councils’ full £100m portfolio for years to come, with the authorities clear they have no further plans to invest in CIFCO.
Social distancing at Wherstead Park for Suffolk County Council s 2021 annual meeting
- Credit: Suffolk County Council
Two Suffolk council leaders have slammed the government for not extending remote meeting arrangements - after being forced to spend thousands of pounds hiring external venues for socially-distanced meetings.
The government, backed in a ruling by the High Court, refused to extend emergency legislation which allowed councils to hold meetings online through the Covid-19 pandemic.
That has forced authorities to meet in person after May 7 for decision-making meetings.
It left three of Suffolk s authorities having to hire Wherstead Park s atrium to hold their annual meetings, as the council chamber at Endeavour House in Ipswich would not be able to accommodate everyone with social distancing in place.
Insp Becky Kidd-Stanton is retiring from Suffolk police
- Credit: Charlotte Bond
She leaves a police force barely recognisable from the one she joined as a fresh-faced Pc on September 16 1991.
But as she retires following a remarkable 30-year career, Suffolk is saying a sad farewell to one of its most dedicated and experienced officers who has truly made a lifetime s difference to fighting crime.
Insp Becky Kidd-Stanton - Suffolk s longest-serving inspector - had her heart set on a police career from a young age, turning down the chance to go to university to apply to join the boys in blue at 18 and a half years old.