Agenda and minutes

To receive announcements (if any) from the officer advising the Mayor (including apologies for absence)

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Terry Buckle, Margaret Marks, Jane Midwood and David Roach.

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary or local non pecuniary interest which they have in any item of business on the agenda no later than when that item is reached and, when appropriate, to leave the meeting prior to discussion and voting on the item.

Members’ declarations of interest are recorded under the item to which the declaration relates.

(Council Procedure Rules Section 6) Members of the public who live or work in the Borough are invited to put one question of not more than five minutes duration and the question must be limited to the business to be transacted at this meeting. A person who wishes to speak must register at least fifteen minutes before the time the meeting is scheduled to start.*

(Note: The maximum time to be set aside for this item is 30 minutes, but if all questions are dealt with sooner, or if there are no questions, the Council will proceed to the next business.

Each person may ask one question only. A total of five minutes will be allowed for the question to be put and answered. One further question will be allowed arising directly from the reply, provided that the original time limit of five minutes is not exceeded.

Written questions may be submitted by members of the public to the Service Manager (Legal) no later than 10.00 am on Monday 18 April 2016. The written notification should detail the full question to be asked at the meeting of the Council.)*

*For further information, see Public Information Sheet attached to this agenda.

No members of the public were in attendance.

Report No: COU/SE/16/006

Council considered the Referrals report of Recommendations from Cabinet and contained within Report No: COU/SE/16/006.

(A)    Referrals from Cabinet: 29 March 2016

1.       Western Way, Bury St Edmunds Masterplan (Revised)

Approval was sought for the adoption of the revised Western Way, Bury St Edmunds Masterplan.

Councillor Alaric Pugh, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Growth, drew relevant issues to the attention of Council, including that thorough consideration had been given to this item by the Sustainable Development Working Party and Cabinet, both of which were satisfied that the masterplan had been prepared in accordance with the Bury St Edmunds Vision 2031 Development Plan document and the Council’s Protocol for preparing masterplans.

A revised masterplan to the adopted 2006 version had been prepared taking account of the opportunities offered by the inclusion of the NHS/DHL distribution centre site. The opportunities now available exceeded what was originally required for the creation of a Public Service Village (PSV), so although the concept of a PSV remained, the masterplan had been retitled the Western Way Masterplan.

Unanimous support was shown for the revised masterplan and what was considered to be an exciting vision for this area of Bury St Edmunds. 

In response to comments and questions, Council was informed that:

(a)     the multi-decked car park was expected to be constructed in three phases.  As each phase approached, an assessment would be made to mitigate any potential impact to the amenity of residents of Newmarket Road.

(b)     Increased traffic generation was an inevitable element of  the delivery of new development; however, whilst the Highways Authority had indicated that improvements to road systems in this area would be a priority at the appropriate time, alternative means of transportation in this location would be positively encouraged to alleviate pressure on the road network.

(c)     It was anticipated that the first phase would commence in April 2018.

RESOLVED:

That the Masterplan for Western Way, as set out in Appendix A to Report No: SDW/SE/16/003, be adopted as non-statutory planning guidance.

2.       Western Way, Bury St Edmunds Development Site, Phase II (PSVII)

Approval was sought for the adoption of the revised Western Way, Bury St Edmunds Masterplan.

Councillor Alaric Pugh, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Growth, drew relevant issues to the attention of Council, including that the original Public Service Village concept (now to be known as Western Way Development site) was approved and adopted by the Council in 2006. West Suffolk House was built as part of Phase 1.

On 16 December 2014, Council had agreed to undertake initial work to formulate Phase II of the Public Service Village project.  Funding was approved for the appointment of consultants to:

(a)     assist with the review of the adopted Masterplan;

(b)     provide project management support; and

(c)     provide legal and property advice.

As part of this initial stage, the commercial considerations were examined to establish whether the proposals contained in the revised masterplan for this project were financially feasible.

The initial appraisal concluded that the most financially prudent option, if the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 142.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded during the consideration of the following items because it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings, that if members of the public were present during the items, there would be disclosure to them of exempt categories of information as prescribed in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, and indicated against each item and, in all circumstances of the case, the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

See minute 144 below.

Exempt Appendix 1 to Report No: COU/SE/16/006

Council considered Exempt Appendix 1 to Report No: COU/SE/16/006 under Agenda Item 4, however no reference was made to specific detail and therefore this item was not held in private session.