Sudbury Town Council forms working party to create planning proposals for incoming regional mayor

Work has begun on new Sudbury planning proposals to help influence the incoming regional mayor – but local councillors believe a full Neighbourhood Plan may take too long.

Sudbury Town Council agreed last week to form a new working party to draft a new Story of Place document, setting out the town’s history, identity and ambitions.

It will also aim to produce a new supplementary planning document (SPD), with specific proposals for future local development, in collaboration with Babergh District Council’s chief planning officer.

The goal for both of these documents is to help the council’s initial engagement with the new mayor for Norfolk and Suffolk – a position due to be elected for the first time in May 2026.

Cllr Nigel Bennett, chairman of the town council’s planning committee, told a recent meeting that it is important to have these documents ready, to ensure they can steer the direction Sudbury takes.

“There was a request, with the forthcoming election of a mayor, that we had a document that told the story of our place,” he said.

“To me, that’s a no-brainer. It’s a couple of pages saying, this is what Sudbury is like. The Story of Place is something we can do ourselves relatively quickly, with a bit of help from Babergh.

“The supplementary planning document is with a view of working with Babergh, just as we have always worked very closely with Babergh on everything to do with the Local Plan.

“We would input very thoroughly into anything related to Sudbury, and also the general policies. An SPD deals with areas that everyone is interested in and cares about.”

It was also agreed to discuss options for starting a Neighbourhood Plan – a document that, if formally approved, would give a legally-binding guide on how and where development occurs.

Town councillors acknowledged, however, that the process for making a Neighbourhood Plan is normally around three years, so it could not be done before key decisions have to be made.

Cllr Tim Regester warned that the lack of a Neighbourhood Plan could limit Sudbury’s influence on planning matters going forward.

“Without a Neighbourhood Plan, we have no weight in terms of planning decisions,” he told the meeting.

“An SPD doesn’t have anywhere near as much weight as a Neighbourhood Plan.”

But Cllr Jan Osborne argued that they can still shape the Babergh and Mid Suffolk Joint Local Plan – the broader policy framework for development and land use in the area.

“What we need to do is concentrate on that Story of Place,” she said. “As we all know, a Neighbourhood Plan can take two to three years.

“I believe its weight only gets more as it goes through the stages, so you’d have to get to the final stage before it carries much weight.

“Under the Local Plan, we can add to that. We need to do it quickly because by the time we get to the end stages of a Neighbourhood Plan, Sudbury could have been ruined completely.

“We need to make sure we have a much quicker process. That will set the scene for Sudbury, so that’s why I would not go with a Neighbourhood Plan at this stage.”