Interesting times ahead

Welcome to the first newsletter in 2005 - a year that's going to be an interesting one for Bury St Edmunds! For those of you with an interest in the Cattle Market redevelopment scheme here are a couple of dates:

3 February: Development Control Committee (Council Chamber, 10am) will determine Centros Miller's application for the Market Thoroughfare link between Cornhill and St Andrews Street South (planning application SE/04/3864/P - redevelopment of 19-21 Cornhill - and conservation area application SE/04/3865/LB - demolition of existing buildings).

The report covers what the site is, what's planned for it (new three-storey building for shops and flats), comments from those that the local planning authority (St Edmundsbury) has a legal duty to consult, such as the Highways Authority, and comments from interested organisations. The relevant planning policies which relate to the site are also listed, along with comments from the planning officer, whose recommendation to the committee is for approval. Copies of the report are available from St Edmundsbury's offices on Angel Hill and in Western Way.

21 February: Special meeting of the Development Control Committee  (Athenaeum, 10am) to consider Centros Miller's application for the full Cattle Market scheme. The agenda, including reports covering issues outlined above, will be available by 11 February. There will be a maximum of 80 seats for the public, operating on a first come, first served basis - doors will open at 9.30am.

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Business at the public venue

document and can be viewed on our website www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk (type Paper V454 into the keyword search box at the top of the homepage to go straight to the report).

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Finding out information

The Freedom of Information Act came into existence on 1 January 2005 and various requests are being dealt with, many of them about the Cattle Market. We have also tried to make as much information as possible available to the public through our website and through computers in our reception offices in Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill.

Using these computers you can find out all sorts of information about issues such as car parking, the venue, communications, correspondence, design, retail and the venue along with a number of presentations and pictures. Where they are likely to be of interest, we will also be making public on these computers our responses to Freedom of Information requests.

The computers are free to use (there is a small charge if you want to print pages) during office opening hours (9am to 5pm Mondays to Thursdays, 9am to 4pm on Fridays). You can book two-hour sessions in advance or just turn up and use them if they are available.

Working party, cabinet and council reports are available on our website (which can also be accessed from the computers in our reception areas) and more information about the scheme overall can be found on the developer's website at www.burysteds.org.uk

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Managing the impact

If the Cattle Market redevelopment scheme does go ahead (if the Development Control Committee recommends approval the Secretary of State of the Environment has the final say as the project is on council-owned land) then a tremendous amount of work needs to be done to manage the impact of construction.

That work has already been started by the Impact Management Strategy Group, which has representatives from the borough and town councils, town centre traders, the developer and other groups.

Agendas and minutes of the Impact Management Strategy Group, and the various sub groups which are all dealing with different aspects, are publicly available on the computers in our receptions.

What we are tackling now are issues such as:

• Where we can put public toilets when those in St Andrew's Street temporarily close?
• How can we get pedestrians safely from Parkway car parks into town when there's building work between those two areas?
• Where should we put temporary pedestrian crossings?
• When will the Variable Messaging System (to direct drivers to available parking spaces) be installed?
• What needs to be done to keep nuisances to a minimum for town centre residents?
• What is the best way of telling the public about changes to parking or road systems during construction?
• What's the cost of a seasonal park and ride?
• How can we make sure visitors know Bury St Edmunds is "open for business" throughout the construction period?
• What impact will construction work have on shops and businesses in town and how can we cut it?
• Where can we set up a holding area for construction traffic so they can be contacted by radio and brought on to the site just in time, saving congestion on town centre roads?
• Exactly what does the construction tender need to include to make sure disruption is kept to a minimum?
• What are the environmental issues to be covered in the tenders?
• How can we make the most of available car parking?
• What haven't we thought of yet - who do we need to get involved to make sure we're plugging all the gaps?

These are just some of the issues being sorted out now!

None of this can wait until just before construction starts, assuming the scheme gets the go-ahead, because it needs long-term planning.

One of the things we are doing now, for example, is finding out from other towns that have had major developments - such as Cambridge, Norwich and Kings Lynn - how they have been keeping their residents, businesses and visitors informed before and during construction. We will need to use a variety of communication methods because no single means will reach everyone.

Telling people about changes, potential disruption, the best times to come into or avoid town needs to be done in good time for them to make plans. If construction starts at the end of this year, for example, we would expect to start telling people what changes are likely perhaps a couple of months ahead, although the message about "being open for business" needs to go out even before that to make sure Christmas trade doesn't suffer.  The message that our tourist attractions are still easily accessible to bus and coach companies will go out during the winter, long before next year's tourism peak.

And then we'll need to have plans in place to keep up a flow of information. This emailed newsletter, for example, could be one method.

We are always open to suggestions - if you have a simple, efficient way of letting everyone know what's going on then please get in touch!

Email networks are a fast and simple way to get information out so if anyone knows of any that may want to be included in future communications (staff networks in businesses, for example) please contact the email address below.  

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Newsletter: This newsletter is from St Edmundsbury Borough Council, owner of the Cattle Market redevelopment site. Please forward it to anyone you think may be interested in the topic or contact me if you wish to be taken off the distribution list:

marianne.hulland@stedsbc.gov.uk