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| Bury Free Press, 6 October 2003 |
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| BURY St Edmunds' attempt to cash in on the Cambridge expansion should be sidelined until land is made available, says MP David Ruffley. |
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The Bury and Stowmarket MP feels there has been a lack of progress in the town's attempt to capitalise on the A14 high-tech corridor between Cambridge and Ipswich.
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| And he says that Bury's attempts to lure high-tech business, will continue to be overlooked simply because it has no land to offer. |
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| St Edmundsbury Borough Council's Local Plan proposes an extension to the existing Suffolk Business Park, and business land near Westley, among other sites – but the earliest that will happen is 2006. |
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| Mr Ruffley said: "I started this two years ago. There has been a lot of talking but no movement. We want high quality jobs so that highly skilled graduates don't feel they need to quit our town to find work. |
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| "The reality is we don't have the land – we cannot go round to the entrepreneurs and say come to Bury unless we can offer them land to move on to and expand. |
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"Until we get a proper understanding of what land is available, we might as well forget it. People will get bored by the lack of delivery on this."
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| Nick Martin, the council's economic development officer said it is not just about attracting businesses from the expansion, but helping to encourage the development of knowledge-based businesses within the town. |
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| "David Ruffley is right to raise concerns. At the end of the day we need to start delivering but it won't happen overnight and we need to continue to raise our town's profile and create interest," Mr Martin said. |
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| "I think in about five years time we will see a a critical change, for the better. I think people are discovering what a fantastic place Bury is to live in – and once the land is there, they will think, why should I commute when I can start my own business here. |
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| "We have philosophised, cogitated, and talked about this 1,000 times over – now we must move on to the next stage and start to deliver." |
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| On Wednesday, Suffolk Development Agency's (SDA) board was due to discuss an independent report, which suggests ways forward. |
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| John Williams, chief executive at the SDA: "The report looks at the whole of the A14 corridor from Cambridge to Colchester, talking about what needs to be done to make the concept a reality. |
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| "With regard to the Bury area, it says we need to develop business incubators for new companies in Bury and Stowmarket, as well as promoting business network events." |
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| One such network event took place last Wednesday when West Suffolk College played host to more than 350 delegates from some 250 high-tech businesses across Suffolk, Norfolk Cambridgeshire, Essex, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire. |
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