Date: May 3, 2007
An application to build a new museum at West Stow Country Park is ill-thought out and should be refused by borough planners, says Suffolk’s leading conservation body.
Suffolk Preservation Society (SPS) is urging St Edmundsbury Borough Council, which is also the applicant, to consider carefully whether the proposed new building is in line with the authority’s own planning recommendations.
The council is suggesting using the building to house exhibits from the Manor House Museum in Bury St Edmunds, which it closed earlier this year amid a blaze of public outcry.
SPS director Richard Ward said: “This seems to be, at best, a hasty and knee-jerk response to the need to re-house the Manor House artefacts. We support the council’s desire to display items of historical significance, and would be very willing to work with them, but this application is merely shifting a problem from one place to another.
“The application contravenes many national and local planning laws. For example, the site is in the open countryside and does not offer effective protection of the environment or its character. Nor is there an overriding case for going against Suffolk’s overall strategy of refusing development in this type of area for buildings not crucial for agriculture, forestry or recreation.”
He added: “This is not joined-up thinking. St Edmundbury Borough Council should be setting a good example to others – they would be sending out a most unfortunate message should they grant planning permission to a scheme which is clearly against planning policy.”
Ends
Notes to editors
* SPS is the county’s leading conservation body, with a growing membership of more than 2,000 people. It is a county branch of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England. For more details about SPS, visit www.suffolksociety.com
* The planning application, reference SE/07/0481, can be found on the St Edmundsbury Borough Council website or by following this link: http://www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk
For more information contact:
Richard Ward, SPS, tel 01787 247179, or
Nicola Brown, Geronimo Communications, tel 01284 768935 or
Email nicola.brown@geronimocommunications.com
