Suffolk - we're going to live forever... but where?

Apparently, the Office for National Statistics has released figures which indicate that Suffolk is going to be knee deep in old people by 2031. Being a relatively rural county, that perhaps comes as no great surprise, but the extent to which the county is expected to age is quite astonishing. There is, naturally, a health warning to be given with this data, in that the projection is based on a premise that the current population will remain unchanged between now and then - a very rash assumption, to my mind - but the numbers are nonetheless interesting.


At the current time, 19.3% of the population of the county is aged 65 or over, a proportion which is predicted to increase to 26.3% by 2031. The figures for Mid Suffolk are even more daunting, with the elderly population predicted to increase from 19.4% to 28.1% (including me, I have to admit).


Meanwhile, our Conservative county council is making threatening noises about the future of all of the residential care homes currently run by it which, given their track record, should come as no great surprise. Doubtless, the current financial position means that there does need to be a careful review of all spending, but the suggestion that the council may pull out of in-house provision of such care, leaving it all to the private sector, is a concern.


There are other issues too. Transport is of critical importance as we age, especially those of us who live in villages, and become less confident behind the wheel of a car. The cost of providing services in relatively thinly populated rural districts increases - who gets the wheelie bin to the curb? - and the impact of distance on basics such as meals on wheels brings organisational difficulties. One alternative is to drive the elderly out of their villages and into towns, another blow to rural communities which already depend on the retired for much local activity.


I dearly hope to grow old in Creeting St Peter, having served forty years on the Parish Council, pottering around the place as I please. It looks like I won't lack for company...