Pavements, parking and crime top of agenda

Residents flocked to the annual Bury St Edmunds Town Council meeting on Wednesday, with pavements, parking and crime high on the agenda.

The meeting, run by newly elected vice-chairman Cllr Paul Hopfensperger, got off to a productive start with reports on the year gone and ahead.

“We are here for one reason and one reason only,” he said, “to represent the people of Bury St Edmunds. Please let’s try and remember that.”

Along with several reports from community groups including, St Nicholas Hospice Care, Greener Growth and Gatehouse, Jessica Cullen-McLeod, one of the two new PCSOs for the town, addressed the council and residents.

She said: “It has predominantly been parking that takes up a lot of our time. Also we have been dealing with anti-social behaviour in the town which at the moment is prevalent.”

In figures provided by PCSO Cullen-McLeod, 231 parking tickets were issued in April, compared to 58 in March.

“We have had quite a lot of activity with the beggars,” she continued, saying that Community Protection Notices were being issued and enforced within the town’s wards.

Alan Broadway, from the Churchgate Area Association, raised the problem of parking within the zones and the medieval grid. “The problem is the district council is issuing four times as many parking permits than there are spaces available.”

The issue of broken cobbles on Angel Hill was also raised by a resident but councillors said these may not be repaired until as late as 2020.