“At tonight’s West Suffolk Council meeting Councillor Nick Clarke, Leader of the Conservative group, congratulated Cliff Waterman on his speech at the Local Government Association conference at which he praised the Mildenhall Hub and said he was proud of the different way of working that is facilitated by a hub.

Cllr Clarke said “I am pleased the Leader is proud of Mildenhall Hub and it is great to hear he has moved on from calling hubs vanity projects”. Cllr Clarke also said” He looked forward to the new Labour led administration continue to support the Western Way Hub to provide excellent services for the people of Bury St Edmunds.”

Councillor Waterman gave the clearest sign yet that he intends backtracking on the project. He cited inflation and interest rates as possible reasons not to go ahead with it. Does this signal the end of swimming facilities in Bury or will it just become much more expensive?“I fear the new administration is going to commit West Suffolk Council to a much more expensive option because they don’t understand the difference between revenue and capital spending” said Councillor Clarke.”