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SUDBURY
RAMBLERS
APRIL
Sunday 28th April, Hadleigh Railway Walk and Pond Hall, 4.5
miles, meet at Magdelen Road car park, Hadleigh, IP75BB, 10:30am
start. Linda 01787370291
MAY
Wednesday 1st May, Lavenham Fields & Byways, 5 miles, meet
at Cock Horse Inn, Lavenham, CO109SA, 10:30am start. Peter 01787880495
Sunday 19th May, London coach & walks, meet at
Kingfisher Car Park, Sudbury, CO102SS, 8am. Booking required and details
are available from Peter on 01787468536
Details of all our walks can
be found by searching www.sudburyramblers.org.uk
STOUR VALLEY SINGERS
Saturday 4th May, 7.30pm. Llanfair Singers and Stour Valley Singers
present SONGS FOR SPRING in St Peters Church, Sudbury CO10 2EH. Conducted
by Graham Trew and Susannah Edom. Accompanied by Susi Morrow and Sarah
Whymark. Tickets £10 to include wine and refreshments available at the
door or contact A York 01787227490
Permanent and Seasonal Attractions
Permanent and Seasonal Attractions in the District include: Flatford
(NT), Lavenham Guildhall (NT), Melford Hall (NT), Kentwell Hall. Please
see contact details for these below.
Gainsborough’s House - Mon to Sat: 10am – 5pm Adults £6.50
Long Melford Heritage Centre - Sat 10am-4pm, Sun Noon-4pm, Weds 2pm-4pm.
Free Entry
Various Dates
Stepping Out in Suffolk- Health Walks, See web site www.walkingforhealth.org.uk
Guided Countryside Walks – See www.getting-out.co.uk
SAVE FREE PARKING IN SUDBURY
Sudbury’s businesses are proud to be able to offer their customers 3
hours free parking in their District Council Car Parks. However,
there is currently a review by Babergh District Council who are considering
starting charging for the currently free period and businesses are very
concerned by how this will affect their trade. There has been a lot
of publicity about how High Streets all over the country are struggling,
initially it was the competition from out of town shopping, who not
only benefit from being able to offer free parking but also have lower
business rates, now it is the growth in online shopping, which again
does not have the same high levels of business rates. Reports can be
found to show evidence that shopkeepers overestimate the proportion
of customers that travel by car. However, these reports relate to metropolitan
areas rather than small rural towns where many people have no option
but to drive to the shops.
Keeping three hours free parking in Sudbury is important to both businesses,
visitors and residents as demonstrated in two recent surveys carried
out by the Sudbury Town Team. In a survey of businesses in Sudbury Town
Centre in January 2014, free car parking was the main issued which was
raised as the most important factor to the success of their business
in the future. Stephane Chapotot co-owner of The Secret Garden in Friars
Street said "business rates are a large proportion of our costs
and on top of that as a business we also have to pay for our bins to
be emptied, what are these business rates going towards if we are also
going to lose free parking for our customers?"
Another survey carried out by the Sudbury Town Team and Gainsborough's
House of visitors and residents who visited the town centre which come
out in June 2015 showed that 31.7% came into Sudbury because of the
free parking and 27.3% would like more free parking available.
Jane Hatton from the Sudbury Town Team said " Local authorities
should see free parking as a service for local people not a short term
method to raise money and more importantly as a way of supporting their
market towns. It has been proven in other towns that when they lose
free parking it discourages people from using the town centre, towns
where parking charges have been introduced have then had to offer hours
when parking is free to increase footfall but the damage to their town
centres has already been done".
Chris Storey from Sudbury Chamber of Commerce added "A careful
scrutiny of the details surrounding the location of Sudbury, access
to the town and other retail centres and the particular challenges of
the town centre should make it absolutely clear that three hours free
parking is essential if the town centre is not to decline significantly.
From a purely economic perspective the council should not have any grounds
for bringing in charges. The town is dependent on this for its future
prosperity and a more retrograde step is hard to envisage. Reducing
the long term rateable value of the town centre – which is likely to
result from such an act – together with the reduced employment and wellbeing
derived from the town centre would reduce long term local government
income and be far more costly than the small income car parking charges
would produce. The Chamber in conjunction with the Town Team remain
resolved to fight these proposals and ensure that the town centre can
have a long term viable and successful future for the benefit of all,
including Babergh District Council.”
If you have any comments or thoughts on Sudbury losing free parking
please leave your comments at http://seeanddosudbury.co.uk/community-news/10154/
or email info@seeanddosudbury.co.uk
CONTACTS
Assington Mill, Assington Ln,Sudbury, CO10 5LZ. 01787 229955
www.assingtonmill.com
Flatford: Bridge Cottage – NT Flatford,East Bergholt
CO7 6UL 01206 297201 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/flatford- bridge-cottage/
Kentwell, Kentwell Hall, Long Melford, CO10 9BA, 01787
310 207, http://www.kentwell.co.uk
Lavenham Guildhall – NT, Market Place, Lavenham CO10
9QZ. 01787 247646 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lavenham-guildhall/
Lavenham Tourist, Information Centre, Lady Street,
Lavenham CO10 9RA. 01787 248207 www.southandheartofsuffolk.org.uk
Melford Hall, Long Melford, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10
9AA. 01787 379228. http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/melfor
d-hall/
Mander Auctioneers, Glemsford, near Sudbury CO10 7QU.
01787 282261 www.manderauctions.co.uk
The Quay Theatre, The Quay Theatre, Quay Lane, Sudbury.
CO10 2AN. 01787 374745. www.quaytheatre.org.uk
Contemporary East Anglian Artists and Tudor Life Exhibition.
Gainsboroughs House, 46 Gainsborough St. Sudbury CO10 2EU Normal
entry prices. Contact 01787 372958 www.gainsborough.org |
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