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BURY ST EDMUNDS SOCIETY
We will soon be including the Report from our current Chairman, Sarah Green
Past Chairman’s Report - October 2007
As we move towards the end of 2007, I am pleased to report that the Society is in good heart and the Committee continues to debate issues in the town and seeks to influence the decisions that are made.
First to start with the celebration of the success of Bury in Bloom in the Britain in Bloom awards, where we won the section for large towns and small cities. This is a very considerable feat because of the strong showing by a number of our competitors but enough was done to convince the judges that we should again be judged the best in the whole country.
Many people think that Bury in Bloom is run by St Edmundsbury Borough Council but it is in fact organised by a remarkably dedicated group of people as a sub-committee of the Bury St Edmunds Society and the joint chairman, Mike Ames and Jo Ellen Grzyb, are to be congratulated along with a whole host of other people, and particular mention should be made of the contribution in so many ways by the Borough Council – but also of the excellent and dedicated work of Julia Rackowe who spends so much time raising funds for Bury in Bloom. Click on this link to go to the Bury in Bloom page.
The same dedicated team has been in place for several years. They urgently need extra help and some revitalisation in certain parts of the town, and to carry out more of the work, so that we improve further. Those interested in working with the Bury in Bloom committee can get in touch with the Bury St. Edmunds Society where we will be pleased to point them in the right direction.
And then to other matters in the town which inevitably is dominated at the moment by the work being undertaken in the Cattle Market which is so important to the future well-being of the retail sector in the town. While there are those, including many in the Bury Society, who would have preferred something different, our Council has made their decision and the scheme is pressing forward rapidly.
In the meantime, the Borough Council is looking at the street scene in the town and is anxious to have the input of as many people as possible into what they have described as the “Streetscape Strategy” which is all to do with the lighting, materials, and the landscape in an attempt to further improve the town centre. Contributions are very much welcomed by the Borough Council.
And then to look at one of two of the other big issues that are going on in the town. We have the lengthy saga of the ASDA supermarket on the western end of the town which has been strongly promoted by the residents in the western end of town as being something that might reduce their travel distance to the supermarket and be more convenient for them. Your Society has considerable sympathy with that approach and has written to the planners to say so.
The development close to Bury St. Edmunds railway station will become one of the biggest developments in the town for very many years. Some have expressed concern at the sheer scale of some of the buildings but I believe that it is best to wait until this is completed and is occupied. In any event, there is no more that we can do about the scale of the building at this stage.
The whole of the Tayfen area is eventually going to be developed although this will be over a period of some years. The Council has now reached the stage of indicating to developers that they should produce a master plan, but it appears to be something of an anomaly that two different developers are producing a master plan for different parts of the site. It seems to me that that, by definition, cannot be a master plan, and one can but hope that the two parts meet together somewhere near the middle.
And then to the final point of celebration for the extraordinary work undertaken to the Theatre Royal. This is a remarkable scheme for a wonderful building and, while there has been some carping criticism from a tiny number of people, I am sure that we should celebrate the result that has been achieved. I know that some of the criticism comes from people who have not even been into the building and I regard this as unforgivable. By all means, go and make up your own mind what you think of it and I know the management of the Theatre Royal will be pleased to talk to you about it.
There is perhaps no greater truism than that you take for granted what is available to yo on a daily basis. If the wonder that is Bury St. Edmunds was taken away, perhaps more of us would come to appreciate just how fortunate we are to live in such a lovely town.
Simon Pott.
Past Chairman
The Bury St. Edmunds Society
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