City party in the park is cancelled

A popular event that draws hundreds of people to the Suffolk town centre has been cancelled, organisers have announced.

The party in the park was scheduled to take place at Belle Vue Park in Sudbury this summer.

However, Sudbury City Council has now confirmed that the event will not take place this year.

Due to ongoing work on the new Belle Vue Park toilet block, the council was hoping that Party in the Park could take place in Market Hill.

A spokesperson for Sudbury Borough Council said: “In April this year, Suffolk County Council decided not to implement the experimental traffic order planned for Market Hill, meaning many summer event plans also had to be cancelled.

“Unfortunately, this means that Party in the Park will not take place in 2024. During this hiatus, we are considering how we can reshape the event in the future.”

The plan to close half of Market Hill to motorists and remove parking during the summer months to allow for additional space for outdoor dining received final approval from Sudbury city council in February.

However, Suffolk County Council, the body empowered to approve the experimental traffic control order that would have been required for the measure, confirmed it had decided to withdraw the proposal due to “opposition from a number of local businesses, the Sudbury Chamber of Commerce and other stakeholders”.

The decision was taken just weeks before the pilot project began in May and after 18 months of work between municipal and departmental councils.

The plan has been controversial, with the Sudbury Chamber of Commerce conducting a survey it said found a majority of businesses were not in favour of it.