At Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils, we are passionate about building communities that people want to live, work, visit and invest in.
Following the local elections in 2023, in Babergh, the Green, Independent and Liberal Democrat groups formed a coalition for the four-year term and in Mid Suffolk, the Greens won 24 of the 34 available seats and is the first Green Council in the country. Both Councils have Cabinet governance.
We became a dual authority in 2011, with our two sovereign Councils sharing a workforce of around 600 people. This has transformed what we do - we’ve been able to deliver services more effectively and efficiently, with improved knowledge sharing.
But working together was just the start. We’ve used our size to influence and collaborate more widely, and our staff use this as a platform to relentlessly innovate and achieve better outcomes.
We serve around 200,000 residents across two districts and are well known for our collaboration and partnership working across public, private and voluntary sectors.
The richness of these partnerships is a bedrock of our approach, ensuring we can co-design or enable the right solutions for communities and work more efficiently.
But working together as a dual authority does not mean ‘one-size-fits-all’. We take a place-based approach, finding the right solutions for every area.
For more information about our strategic priorities, please access:
We are perfectly positioned in the heart of Suffolk, with historic market towns, beautiful villages and acres of countryside, with good train lines to London, Cambridge and Norwich and key road networks (A12/A14).
We have a local population of around 200,000 in an area that has consistently been voted as among the best places to live in the country.
Babergh is part of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths ANOB, which includes the Stour and Orwell estuaries, a site of European nature conservation interest, and Dedham Vale and Stour Valley ANOB.
Babergh and Mid Suffolk are rich in heritage assets. We have 60 designated conservation areas, over 6,400 listed buildings, 60 scheduled monuments and seven registered parks and gardens which represent 45% of the designated heritage assets in Suffolk.
At the heart of everything we do is our vision to create thriving, sustainable, empowered communities that leave a positive legacy for our children and grandchildren. This is underpinned by strong and valued partnerships with our communities, businesses and statutory, voluntary and private sector colleagues.
Mid Suffolk District Council has invested £36million acquiring land on the edge of Stowmarket and is developing Gateway 14, a major new business, innovation and logistics park.
Garden and leisure retailer The Range was secured as the first occupier on the site, which is part of the Freeport East, creating 1,650 jobs.
Other businesses are also moving in, including from the sustainable building sector, and it is fast becoming an emerging centre for green and hi-tech industries.
We are also developing an £18million Skills and Innovation Centre at the site. This centre will create a fantastic talent pipeline for local businesses – with a particular focus on the green economy, digital and AI technology. This is due to open in late summer/autumn 2026.
Crucially, it will bring businesses and training together in the same centre – not only helping bridge the skills gap, but helping firms to grow and innovate, and encourage more inward investment.
Babergh and Mid Suffolk were the first rural councils in the UK to start the switch from diesel to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) to fuel its fleet of bin lorries – drastically reducing emissions.
We were also the first rural authorities in the UK to commission a full tree canopy survey. The aim was to identify and protect existing places where biodiversity is thriving, while also locating areas with low coverage or gaps where it could be strengthened.
Following the publication of a revised National Planning Policy Framework in December 2024 (which resulted in an 86% increase in housing numbers for Babergh, and a 37% increase for Mid Suffolk), we are now carrying out a full review of our Joint Local Plan, which was adopted in November 2023. A new Local Development Scheme was published by the Councils in March 2025. Meanwhile, we continue to support communities to develop Neighbourhood Plans.
In 2023, our Councils won the Smarter Working Live Award for Putting People First, in recognition of our extensive wellbeing support for our workforce. We consistently invest in the development of staff – from apprenticeships to our leaders of the future.
You will join a dynamic and aspirational leadership team. Over the past year, our Senior Leadership Team and Heads of Service have participated in an externally-facilitated leadership programme, which ended in February.
We are now reflecting on what's next - but continue our commitment to supporting the personal development journeys of individual senior managers. We never want to stop developing ourselves and others.
We hold an annual in-person staff conference, Navigating our Future, to bring our teams together for a day of team-building and workshops.
Over the past year we have introduced additional non-pay benefits for all staff, including electric car and cycle leasing through salary sacrifice, a 24/7 GP helpline, and optional health checks every two years.
We have embraced a flexible working strategy, with a combination of home working, and staff based from the office, our depots, customer access points, and working remotely. Our ethos is that work is something you do, not somewhere you go.
But we’ve worked hard to ensure we have the right environments for staff to be at their most effective - combining technology, facilities and management support.
We have created a superb new modern office at our main office in Endeavour House, Ipswich, with collaborative working at its heart. This is a short walk from Ipswich Railway Station, and overlooks Ipswich Town’s Premier League football stadium.
Babergh and Mid Suffolk are part of the government's Devolution Priority Programme, and welcome the devolved powers and additional investment that will follow the election of a Mayor, and the establishment of a Combined Authority for Norfolk and Suffolk, in May 2026.
We are currently working with others in Suffolk to submit an outline plan and options for local government reorganisation, which is expected to take effect from April 2028. The successful candidate for the Director of Place role will have the opportunity to work with colleagues across Suffolk to contribute to the development of future plans.