Residents of Marham Park, in Bury St Edmunds, launch petition calling for long-awaited shop

A petition to establish a shop on an estate in Bury St Edmunds has garnered more than 350 signatures with residents expressing their frustration over a six-year wait.

Residents of Marham Park continue to wait for the long-promised local shop which would serve the 1,137-home estate and the surrounding areas.

While West Suffolk Council has hinted at behind-the-scenes progress, resident Emma Ashworth, 35, has launched a petition to rally support from her neighbours.

Emma, who moved to the estate in 2018, said: “Ever since the beginning we were always promised a shop. We were told a certain amount of houses had to be built before a suitable company would be found to go into the space - but we’re way past that now.

“It feels like no-one is willing to give us a straight answer. I understand the council can’t say anything until more is confirmed, but I feel like they’ve been saying that for a good few years now. It’s just the ongoing story.

”It’s so frustrating - especially since Co-op closed. We just feel like we don’t have that local shop on our doorstep.”

West Suffolk Council confirmed that it has approved plans for a shop at Marham Park, meaning no further planning permission is needed.

Cllr Jim Thorndyke, cabinet member for planning at West Suffolk Council, said: “We have had discussions with a potential developer, but as this is a commercial matter between third parties, and driven by market forces, we don’t have any further details we can share ourselves at this stage.

“However, we are ready to assist with any remaining planning matters once a developer is ready to proceed to ensure the new shop is delivered as quickly as possible for residents.”

In March, Marham Park residents voiced their frustrations about the estate's lack of amenities.

Plans for a Co-op and five flats at the estate's 'village square', in Crosses Link, were approved in September 2021.

However, the site remains undeveloped, with the only visible progress being the installation of a ramp by Sheppard Developments in September, days before the developers would have been forced to submit a fresh planning application.

Developer Countryside Homes’ 2013 estate masterplan included a village square with amenities, allotments, leisure facilities, and sports pitches with a pavilion.

While much of the masterplan has been completed or is on track, including the £20 million David Lloyd leisure centre, off Sandlands Drive, set to open in December, the shop's development remains uncertain.

Emma said: “Obviously building the very expensive gym has been absolutely fine and built very quickly, but I don’t know many people on the estate who will actually use it.

“But for whatever reason, a little shop, something that everyone around here would use, just can’t be done.”

A link to the petition can be found here.

She added: “We just wanted to put that petition out there to see how others in the estate are feeling about this and see if they agree with what we’re saying.

”Hopefully someone might listen if we all sign it.”

A spokesperson for Countryside Homes said: “The intention has always been to have a village centre for Marham Park which includes a convenience store.

“To facilitate this, Sheppard Developments, a specialist developer, acquired the site and obtained approval for a convenience store in September 2021.

“We understand that Sheppard Developments has made a technical commencement of the development.”

According to HM Land Registry, the site’s registered owner is FPC (Marham Park) Ltd, in London.

In September, FPC (Marham) Ltd sought to discharge conditions relating to the local centre regarding the sustainable urban drainage scheme and surface and foul water drainage.

Suffolk County Council, as Lead Local Flood Authority, recommended refusal to discharge a condition relating to the urban drainage scheme and detailed the action required to overcome it.

Anglian Water said the discharge of the foul and surface water conditions were not recommended.

Sheppard Developments and FPC were approached for comment.