Bury St Edmunds councillor calls for further scrutiny of plans for abandoned Cornhill Walk shopping centre

A West Suffolk councillor is calling for further scrutiny of a planning application for the former Cornhill Walk shopping centre.

Knightspur Homes has submitted plans to demolish the building in Bury St Edmunds town centre and build 37 flats, eight houses and two shops on the site.

District and town councillor Cliff Waterman, who represents the Eastgate ward, has outlined his concerns regarding parking, the quality of the public consultation and the appearance of the building.

Cllr Waterman described the Cornhill Walk area as ‘an important site in the centre of our historic town’.

He said: “It deserves better than another identikit block of flats. I want to give a message to developers that we want to encourage them to build in Bury.

“We want high quality developments which respect the historic nature of the town centre.”

Cllr Waterman added: “We don’t want a repeat of the failure of the existing building, which now has to be pulled down.

“We want buildings which add to our town, not just fill it up with anonymous blocks of flats.”

Cllr Waterman highlighted the concerns of the Suffolk Preservation Society (SPS) which has said, responding to the planning application, that the plans remain ‘too reliant on pastiche architecture’.

Though the SPS said the proposal is more suitable than those submitted in 2018, ‘in essence Bury deserves better’.

He has now asked West Suffolk Council’s delegation panel to look at the plans for the Cornhill site in more detail.

Most planning applications are decided by planning officers, who have the plans of the planning committee delegated to them.

However some applications that are more complex can be taken to the delegation panel which meets every two weeks.

This panel decides whether the plans need to go to the full planning committee.

A spokeswoman for West Suffolk Council said: “As it stands the matter remains under careful consideration by the local planning authority, including assessment of the potential impacts and concerns cited by Cllr Waterman. Outcomes and timescales are uncertain at this time.”