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Councillors on Babergh District Council’s Strategy Committee have given their backing to a popular proposal that could result in the transformation of a run-down part Sudbury’s town centre.
The Hamilton Road area, which is owned by various landowners, south of St Peter’s Church and to the west of Great Eastern Road and which includes the bus station has been considered something of an eyesore for a while. Babergh District Council, which owns the bus station, has teamed up with Suffolk County Council to work with local groups and others to collect the public’s views on a number of potential options for the area.
After one of the most widespread consultations of its type in the district, that saw thousands of local people attending exhibitions and visiting a purpose-built website, plus nearly 200 formal responses, councillors gave their backing yesterday (February 11) to the third of three options on offer for the Hamilton Road Quarter in the town.
Option 3 entails the relocation of the bus station to the south-east corner of the site with vehicular access in and out via Great Eastern Road. The existing bus station site
would become partly pedestrianised and could attract retail outlets and those relating to the evening economy, such as restaurants located alongside Borehamgate. Two and/or three-storey mixed-use (retail/residential/leisure) buildings would be built on the remainder of the site.
46% of those who responded to the consultation backed this option, compared to 27% who favoured a more modest alternative and 13% who backed a proposal that would have involved the scrapping of the bus station. A further 14% objected to all of the options on offer.
According to Cllr. Nick Ridley, Chairman of the Strategy Committee, “the consultation results and the advice of our planning experts shows that Option 3 is the way forward. After more than two decades of good ideas, but little action on this site, now is the time to take advantage of this golden opportunity for a better Sudbury town centre”.
With the backing of the Strategy Committee, Babergh planners, working with Suffolk County Council and other partners, will now be trying to make Option 3 a reality, starting with initial discussions with landowners in the Hamilton Road Quarter.
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