Sudbury Town Council and Chamber of Commerce seek to repair relations following Market Hill pilot scheme dispute
An attempt to build bridges between Sudbury’s town council and business chamber has been agreed after divisions led to a town centre pilot scheme being scrapped.
The two organisations will meet to discuss the possibility of a new joint working group, it was agreed this week, to collaborate on ideas for improving the town centre.
It comes amid lingering anger and frustration about the circumstances which led to the collapse of a planned summer pilot scheme for Market Hill.
The council was due to trial a partial pedestrianisation of Market Hill, removing parking bays to create space for events and outdoor dining, between May and September.
However, in April, Suffolk County Council withdrew permission for this, after Sudbury Chamber of Commerce submitted a business survey indicating heavy opposition to the loss of parking.
Former town mayor Jan Osborne confirmed that she has, independent of the council, submitted a formal complaint with the Local Government Ombudsman over the matter.
But, at a town council meeting on Tuesday, several councillors and Sudbury chamber leaders expressed a desire to move on from the past, and be more collaborative going forward.
Chamber chairman Robin Bailey said: “Over the past year, it has been apparent there are various things going on in the town with little or no information, or even, at times, misinformation.
“If it was explained to people what was going on, the outcome might have been different.
“Certainly, I think working together can only be advantageous. If you communicate with people and ask their views, you can bring them around to a common idea.”
At Sudbury Town Hall on Tuesday evening, a majority of councillors voted in favour of exploring the potential of a working group with the chamber of commerce.
Nigel Bennett also suggested involving the Sudbury Society, the local civic group, to receive additional input on plans for the town’s future.
“I think it’s worthwhile meeting to discuss what issues we can work on together,” he said. “If there are areas where we can work together, that’s what we should do.
“If there are areas where there is such a chasm, we might not be able to, but we should not throw out areas where we can work together.”
Some councillors voiced misgivings about the chamber’s role in the cancellation of the Market Hill trial.
Tim Regester claimed that the chamber’s survey of businesses had been ‘biased, poorly worded and fundamentally unbalanced’.
“The poor standard of this survey suggests they lack the professionalism to participate fully in such a working group,” he told the town council meeting.
In response, chamber committee member Simon Barrett argued that a proper consultation by the council would have revealed the negative opinion of businesses.
“We are, as it says on the tin, a business organisation, so we’re quite clearly representing the views of businesses,” he said. “We don’t have to be unbiased – we are not a political organisation.
“We took the time to canvas businesses to get their opinions. We took their opinions and that’s what we represented – no more, no less.
“What we are in favour of is actually working with the town council to come up with a really good scheme for Market Hill that everyone is signed up to.”
Giving a mixed response to the working group idea, Cllr Osborne said: “I very much believe in talking together, because obviously it makes us a stronger voice.
“But I find it really difficult because the scheme we had could have worked, if we had given it a chance. It’s only a pilot – if it didn’t work, we would have stopped it.”
Several councillors stressed the need to find common ground, and move on from the disagreements that occurred earlier this year.
Steve Hall told the meeting: “Argument after argument, disagreement after disagreement – respectfully, this needs to stop.
“I would be happy to chair a working group, or at least a meeting, between the organisations, to see if there is some common ground.”
This was echoed by Ellen Murphy, who said: “We’re talking about moving on, working together for the future of our town. Talking about the past helps nobody.”
Deputy mayor Andrew Welsh added: “I understand why some people are still hot under the collar about what happened.
“Unfortunately, the whole issue brought a lot of negative vibes and disinformation into the public arena.
“But I really do think now is the time to build bridges. I think that’s the feeling in Sudbury.
“I think a collaborative approach is the only way forward, because we don’t want to have a similar waste of time and money again.
“We need to be talking with each other, and we need to thrash out things that we can all be on board with.”
