On Thursday the Sudbury & Cornard Police SNT reviewed the previous priorities set in November and set 2 new priorities.

1. Tackling criminal damage in the Cornard Rd, Kings Hill and Bures Rd area of Sudbury and Great Cornard.

2. Tackling crime against business on the Chilton Industrial estate, Sudbury.

The next meeting will Thursday 22nd March at 6pm at the Stevenson Centre, Great Cornard. It will review these 2 priorities and hear from you on any issues you wish to raise with local Police.

In 2012, with the economy not strong and retailers having a challenging Christmas & New Year period, the introduction of short term charges on car parks would be potentially a devastating blow to our market towns of Sudbury and Hadleigh.

Sudbury maintains a good position but we have the uncertainty of several national chains in the town restructuring nationally or on the edge of administration. We hope those stores are safe and remain but if any are lost why pay to visit an emptier high street? Sudbury also faces the threat from Sainsbury’s arrival in the near future with its free car park.

Sudbury offers good shops, a historical and attractive environment and free parking for 3 hours. A local centre needs an advantage against its bigger competitors and we need to protect ours.

So well done Strategy Committee. A sensible move for the good of the wider economy.

Crime against business does not get the publicity the scale of it deserves. I attended a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce and Insp Paul Crick this week which gave the business community a chance to highlight their concerns over crime eg burgulary, criminal damage, vehicle crime and metal thefts.

Insp Crick gave an excellent talk and fielded questions from the Chamber members. Crime against business has fallen 5% in Babergh over the last year but that does not mean complacency nor does it help those who have suffered it. Yet it was reassuring the work that was being done and the move to set up a Business Watch on Chilton Industrial Estate as well as other measures to reduce crime.

Thursday 19th January, 6pm at the Delphi Centre is the next Police SNT meeting which I chair. If you have not been before this is a chance to hear an update on the previous priorities set and for members of the public to raise concerns affecting them. The meeting will then set the pririties for the next 2 months. So if you have an issue with anti social behaviour or other crime related issues, please come along and speak to our excellent SNT team.

I hope all residents of South ward and readers of this blog have a happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year and 2012.

I hope to see you at my Councillor surgeries which will restart this month on a Saturday morning at the Town Hall. Dates to be published soon.

Best wishes, Nigel.

There is a real threat to our market town facing short term charges from Babergh DC. The reason is the 25% cut over 2 years in central government grant that Babergh has had to face.

In the present economic climate, a market town like Sudbury with bigger neighbours offering a greater range of retail outlets, does not need this in fact its the last thing it needs.

Sudbury has always bucked the trend and been a successful market town. Its got a great market and attractive environment whether its our water meadows or historic buidings. With a good number of independent shops giving variety in spite of the competition from the chains and supermarkets.

Babergh and Mid Suffolk DC are integrating services and staff to save money but there will still be a shortfall so inevitably officers remind members that our short stay car parks are free of charges (though the meters mean fine income is gained.) The public do not want the vitality and viability of the town centre put under threat or another tax levied on them.

Some Conservatives claim we should have merged with Mid Suffolk to avoid this. All I can say is:

1) Mid Suffolk have charges and do they think that if we had merged into 1 new council then there would be no common policies? To keep the Babergh area free then charges would have to be removed in MSDC. How would that be affordable?

2) The merger was for 2013. This issue is for 2012 so no savings from merger would have been gained. As for using reserves what projects would the Conservatives have stopped instead?

3) Regardless of what some Conservatives think and would still wish. The public did not want merger. Democracy rules.

So we are back to the need to save money elsewhere if charges are not to be raised. The challenge we face is to come up with suggestions of where money can be saved or cut if we do not want such charges. For example, some have suggested cutting ground maintenance such as grass cutting, flowers etc. Some will try to argue no cuts but that is the route to an illegal budget and in those circumstances it will then be the Finance officer who will decide.

Under the Environment Act1995 PART IV, Babergh DC is conducting a Consultation on a  DRAFT AIR QUALITY ACTION PLAN FOR CROSS STREET (A131), SUDBURY.

To summarise the key points are:

Nitrogen dioxide is an air pollutant formed when nitrogen oxides from burning fuels react in the air, such as occurs in road vehicle exhaust fumes.  NO₂ can have both short-term and long-term effects.  The short-term effects can include irritation of the eyes, nose and throat and can increase the symptoms of existing respiratory conditions such as asthma, bronchitis or emphysema.  However, these health effects do not normally occur at typical levels of NO₂ experienced in Cross Street.  The concern is long-term exposure at homes in the AQMA which could contribute to the gradual deterioration in health of people who are already suffering from respiratory problems or heart conditions and could cause an increased susceptibility to respiratory infections amongst healthy individuals. 

Despite making up a just 7% of the total traffic volume on Cross Street, Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) have the largest impact, accounting for up to 46% of annual mean NO₂ concentrations.  Therefore measures that minimise HGV emissions are potentially important.  The ambient background concentration and emissions from cars also contribute a significant proportion to the overall concentration.

A 20% reduction in the annual mean NO₂ concentration at the worst measured location is necessary in order to achieve the Annual Average Objective.

One of these measures has already been implemented and its effectiveness assessed – namely the removal of the former build-out at the southern end of Cross Street.

Measurements confirm that properties which are located adjacent to the build-out, experienced an increase in concentrations in the 12 months following the removal, while the site located opposite the build-out (where concentrations were significantly above the Objective), experienced a reduction in concentrations.  This is likely to be due to the change in the road centre-line moving traffic away from one side of the road and closer to the other.  Overall the removal of the build-out reduced the margin of exceedence of the Air Quality Objective in the immediate vicinity, which is the primary aim of the Action Plan.  A number of locations further from the build-out also experienced reductions in concentrations after the removal of the build-out, which could be due to a reduction in traffic queue lengths.

Another measure proposed in the draft Action Plan is an Experimental Traffic Regulation Order to remove the parking bays at the northern end of Cross Street. Removing the parking bays would also further reduce acceleration/deceleration and queuing along Cross Street, contributing to lower emissions and hence a reduction in concentrations at most locations.

HGVs account for a major part of the traffic emissions on Cross Street, but the road is part of the strategic lorry network in Suffolk/Essex and therefore potential measures to restrict HGV traffic are limited.  It may also be possible to introduce a one-way system for HGVs.

Have your say….

 The draft Air Quality Action Plan for Cross Street is open for public consultation until Monday 30 January 2012.  The Council would be pleased to receive your views on it, in particular:

Are you satisfied that the draft plan accurately reflects the causes of poor local air quality in Cross Street?

What additional actions would you like to see included in the final Action Plan?

What actions do you feel should be removed from the draft Action Plan?

You can view the full draft Action Plan on-line at: www.babergh.gov.uk/babergh/airqualitymanagement, or in reception at Sudbury Town Council, Old Market Place, Sudbury.

 Please send your comments by email to: air.quality@babergh.gov.uk

There are some potentially controversial proposals here on the residents, business and local school. Please get in touch with your views to both the officers and myself.

Subject to the Section 106 agreements, Sainsbury’s gained permission to build a store on the former Armes site. The development will create 300 jobs which are welcome in these times. There were a number of highway issues that were finally overcome especially access for Stephen Walters Silk Mill opposite.

We will have to watch carefully highway issues not overcome as I fear that both Cats Lane and Ingrams Wells Rd will become short cuts. Also other sites in town may become vulnerable to housing developers as this site was allocated for 121 homes of which 30% would have been affordable.

The woodland/wildlife habitat to the rear of the site will be protected and handed over to the Town Council. There should also be the creation of a Town Centre Manager post to promote our town centre and shops.

Lib Dem Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has outlined a £1 billion pound Youth Contract to tackle youth unemployment. The aim is to ensure that all jobless young people are earning or learning again before long-term damage is done.

• Over three years, the Youth Contract will provide at least 410,000 new work places for 18 to 24 year olds into work. Starting April 2012
• Including 160,000 wage subsidies and 250,000 new work experience placements.
• In addition, there will be at least 20,000 more incentive payments to encourage employers to take on young apprentices.
• A new programme to help the most disengaged 16 and 17 year olds – getting them back to school or college, onto an apprenticeship or into a job with training.

Last night at the Town Council the Police report showed that crime fell to 91 reported crimes compared to 197 in 2010. This is a quite remarkable decline and excellent news.