Planning update January 2022

The Society’s committee has had sight of new pre-application proposals for the redevelopment of the vacant Cormhill Walk premises. Members will recall the Society lodged a strong objection to the original plans for 48 apartments over two large shops and a 24-hour gymnasium. We were concerned about the scale of development, bulkiness of the design, highways/parking issues and the excessive retail space. The application was refused by the Council and then dismissed on appeal. Overall, the committee was positive about the new plans. We welcomed the reduction in retail area and the reduced apparent storey height by setting back upper floors. A U-shaped plan has overcome the bulkiness of the previous design and helped address issue of overlooking properties on the north boundary. We were also supportive of the overall design concept of three terraces of varying character around a central parking courtyard. The Society therefore wrote a generally favourable response but also making some suggestions as to how the design might embrace a more local context.

The Society also commented upon preliminary proposals to locate the new hospital at Hardwick Manor behind the existing building on Hardwick Lane. The existing hospital was built in 1974, but now has only a ten year life expectancy.The proposed hospital is one of those allocated by the Government for ‘seed-funding’ as part of a nationwide new hospital building programme. Preliminary plans suggest the existing building will be demolished and replaced by surface parking and a new multi storey car park.The Society accepted the case for building the new hospital at Hardwick Manor with caveats about access, parking and making maximum use of the existing site. We also sought assurances that the current level of health care would not be diminished. We do not wish to see our new facility reduced to the status of a satellite for Addenbrooks or Ipswich hospitals.

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Along with many local residents, the Society lodged a strong objection to plans to build 76 houses on an area previously allocated for a leisure/sports facility on the edge of Bury St Edmunds at Marham Park. We objected because the application lacks community involvement and does not represent local democracy as clearly advocated in central Government planning directives. The applicants say they are experiencing difficulty in finding a willing leisure/sports operator, so we have suggested they look to funding a greener, more bio-diverse option such as the Government’s ‘Pocket Park’ initiative. Such a facility might provide a less structured, more locally managed mix of activities, including a jogging track winding through wildlife gardens or a ‘trim trail’ interspersed with individual outdoor exercise spaces and themed children’s adventure play areas together with a community orchard and neighbourhood allotments. The Society’s Bury in Bloom group has said it would be happy to cooperate.

The Society also commented upon revised plans to build nine flats on a vacant car sales site on Tayfen Road. We had challenged earlier plans which included offices, so we were pleased to see that they have now been omitted. However, we remain concerned about the building’s cliff face appearance as well as the impact of CO2 emissions from Tayfen Road.

Applications to convert former commercial premises into new homes continue, including the conversion of the former Peatlings wine shop Westgate House on Westgate Street into either two houses or one rather grand Town House and plans have also been lodged to convert the Beauty Clinic on the corner of Whiting Street and Churchgate Street into residential use.