Agenda item

Members of the public who live or work in the Borough are invited to put one question or statement of not more than three minutes duration relating to items to be discussed in Part 1 of the agenda only. If a question is asked and answered within three minutes, the person who asked the question may ask a supplementary question that arises from the reply.

A person who wishes to speak must register at least 15 minutes before the time the meeting is scheduled to start. 

There is an overall time limit of 15 minutes for public speaking, which may be extended at the Chairman’s discretion.

Mr Adrian Graves of Great Barton, asked a question connected with the nature, content and volumes of waste streams to be handled through the Waste Transfer Station element of the proposed West Suffolk Operational Hub (WSOH), regardless of its ultimate location. 

In response, Councillor Peter Stevens, Portfolio Holder for Operations, stated that due to the detailed nature of his question which sought a significant amount of specific and factual information, he would supply Mr Graves with a written reply.

In response to Mr Graves’ supplementary question, Councillor Griffiths, Leader of the Council, agreed that significant development, transport, infrastructure and policy changes that affected the lives of people living in and around Bury St Edmunds needed to be considered within the context of their impact on each other and should not be dealt with on a piecemeal basis.  Councillor Griffiths added that this view extended to working with partners in both the public and private sector on such issues affecting those within West Suffolk, Suffolk and across boundaries. 

Ms Sarah Bartram of Fornham St Martin asked a question in connection with the pre-planning application consultation for the WSOH.   

In response, Councillor Peter Stevens, Portfolio Holder for Operations, stated that the Council was not obliged to publish every public response to the pre-application consultation in full as the it was not a planning application.  Responses to the consultation, which had been undertaken by the partner councils in their role as scheme developers to encourage community engagement and involvement to help shape and inform the preparation of any future planning application, were summarised and published on the WSOH website.

Mr John Corrie of Bury St Edmunds, asked a three-fold question in connection with the draft Masterplan for the South East Bury St Edmunds strategic development site.

In response, Councillor Alaric Pugh, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Growth stated that the consultation on the draft Masterplan had been undertaken by the developers and they had accorded with common practice and not published the responses to the consultation in full; however, it could be evidenced that changes had been made to the draft in response to the consultation. A Gypsy and Traveller site had been recommended to be reinstated in the draft Masterplan which was contained in the original draft; however, a Masterplan was illustrative only and could be modified through any future planning applications. There were no immediate plans to relocate the lorry park.

Mr Howard Quayle of Fornham St Martin, asked a question on the budget and detailed expenditure to date for the West Suffolk Operational Hub project. 

In response, Councillor Peter Stevens, Portfolio Holder for Operations, stated that the current budget and a detailed breakdown of expenditure would be provided in a written reply.

Mr Clive Harridge, a representative of Hopkins Homes and Pigeon Investments and developers for the South East Bury St Edmunds strategic site, provided a statement on the draft Masterplan they had prepared for that location.  Issues addressed included: the consultation process; the developers’ intention to remove reference to a Gypsy and Traveller site from the Masterplan; references to housing and self-build housing in the Masterplan at the site of the existing lorry park, however it was not the purpose of the Masterplan to identify a new location for the lorry park; the anticipated low flood risk in this location; and the intended provision of 30% affordable housing.