Christmas Fayre access

Bury St Edmunds will see the first ever Christmas Fayre on Friday 10, Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 December. It's centred around Angel Hill and the Athenaeum.

The official opening is at noon on 10 December by St Edmundsbury Mayor Cllr Michael Jones and Bury St Edmunds Town Mayor Cllr Frank Warby. The Fayre includes traditional fairground rides as well as stalls selling quality items and a number of market stalls from France to help give it a continental air.

Some roads will be closed from 4pm on 9 December until 6pm on 12 December:

• Angel Hill: The entire on-street car parking area

• Abbeygate Street: From its junction with the Buttermarket to Angel Hill (cross traffic from High Baxter Street to Hatter Street and from Lower Baxter Street to Angel Lane will be permitted)

From 10am until 6pm on Saturday 11 December these roads will be closed:

• St John's Street: From its junction with Brentgovel Street to its junction with Orchard Street and Church Row

• Brentgovel Street: From its junction with St Andrew’s Street to its junction with the Cornhill and St Johns Street

The closest car park to the Fayre is Ram Meadow. Also available is the multi-deck car park off Parkway and the park & ride service from St Edmundsbury Borough Council’s Office car park and the Bury St Edmunds Leisure Centre car park in Western Way.

Fayre. The cost is only £1 per car irrespective of the number of people on board.

Road closures for the Sunday provisions markets on 12 and 19 December, from 6am until 6pm, are:

• Abbeygate Street: from its east junction with Whiting Street to the junction with Angel Hill (cross traffic from High Baxter Street to Hatter Street and Lower Baxter Street to Angel Lane will be permitted)

• Buttermarket: From its junction with Abbeygate Street to the junction with Cornhill

• Cornhill: From its junction with the Buttermarket to the Shambles junction

Revised Cattle Market Development Agreement

Work on the Cattle Market site creates a complicated legal situation and it's important that everyone involved knows exactly who is responsible for what.

The Development Agreement is a contract between St Edmundsbury Borough Council - which owns the land - and Centros Miller, the developer. The original agreement, signed in June 2003, needs to be revised since the details of the scheme have evolved - many of the changes in response to public consultation.

A revised Development Agreement is now being worked on and will be considered by the Cattle Market Redevelopment Working Party on 10 January 2005 and full Council on 18 January.

The Development Agreement will be binding on both the council and developer when certain conditions (which are known as conditions precedent) are met.

These include operational matters, such as exactly how and when construction work will be carried out, design details and three main issues:

• the developer getting planning consent;
• the developer having a funder to finance the scheme;
• the responsibility of both parties to achieve the agreed viability of the scheme.

What the agreement covers

Development mix: A supporting document for the planning application includes a retail assessment by Montagu Evans. This has a retail demand survey, giving a list of retailers who have expressed an interest in coming to Bury St Edmunds and their requirements, such as sales areas. The Development Agreement sets out a letting strategy which has a list of about 250 businesses who have been approached by Centros Miller with a view to their locating in Bury St Edmunds.  The aim of the strategy is to get an appropriate mix of retailers in the scheme to create the right kind of shopping experience. 

Public venue: St Edmundsbury has set aside £10million to provide a new public venue at the heart of the scheme. The revised agreement will cover what happens if we choose not to go ahead - if planning conditions make it too difficult to operate, for example, or costs look set to go above the budget.

Car parking: We are required to provide a minimum of 650 spaces between Prospect Row/School Yard and Parkway. The agreement will also set out what happens if costs for the underground car park go above the £4million set aside in the budget. The council could decide, for example, to increase its budget.

Department store: Debenhams was chosen by St Edmundsbury as the scheme's department store - it was the most popular choice of store in the early rounds of consultation - and the developer has a contract with Debenhams. If that fails then we have the right to choose another department store.

Lease: Once the development is complete the council would grant a 150-year lease to the developer, after which time the land will come back to council control.

Approved plans: The former Development Agreement had designs attached to it but these have changed over the past few months. New designs, known as the Approved Plans, will be attached to the revised agreement. This does not mean they will have received formal planning consent - that needs to be considered by the council's Development Control Committee, as the local planning authority. The Development Agreement's Approved Plans are those which the council is satisfied should form the basis of the planning applications.

Finances: Details of who pays for what - for example, the developer being responsible for the cost of any archaeological investigations - is set out in the agreement.

Looking at the plans

The planning applications for the scheme and the Market Thoroughfare link, along with all the supporting documents, such as the Retail Assessment, are available for the public to look at.

They can be viewed at the receptions at the Borough Offices on Angel Hill and St Edmundsbury House in Western Way. They are also available at Bury St Edmunds public library, which is open seven days a week.

You can let the Centros Miller development team know your views about the scheme by writing to Halogen Ltd, FREEPOST NAT 6598, 227 London Road, Cheltenham, GL52 6BR; telephone 01242 256805; email cattlemarket@burysteds.org.uk

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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