Belle Vue Community Bid Team

@BVCBT
PRESS RELEASE
Thursday 5th March
The Belle Vue Community Bid Team has today nominated Belle Vue House and the
former swimming pool as an Asset of Community Value, or ACV in Local
Government speak.
The group believes the whole site currently for sale should be registered as a
community asset as it has been in constant community use for almost a century; from
its earliest days as a hospital for recuperating soldiers in WW1 to its present use a
Citizens Advice Bureau with a multitude of community-based activities in-between.
The nomination process takes 6 weeks for the council to assess and during this period
a moratorium is placed on any action relating to nominated asset. Following
successful nomination, the community group has 6 months to incorporate, finalise its
plans, raise finance and make credible proposals to the owner. The owner is not
obliged to accept the resulting offer. The Bid Team should however provide the
strongest regional benefit which is the preferred outcome of the present owner,
Babergh District Council.
The previously proposed plan for the site is to build a budget hotel. Evidence has been
identified by the Bid Team that this proposal has not been adequately researched and
other hotel provision is already available locally. However, if there is demand, the
team believe another location would be better, as Belle Vue is next to a popular B&B
on a busy junction in need of modernization.
Following its own market research the Bid Teams vision for the building is a
community-oriented portfolio asset with an emphasis on business development and
incubation to grow the Sudbury economy while augmenting the day-to-day park
experience for residents.
Activities in and around the building may comprise:

A 4-star reception and lounge area suitable for businesses during the week and
private functions at evenings and weekends
A licensed caf bar area with beer garden open to the public and to support the
reception areas (also suitable for functions)
Business incubation services for desk based workers, creative workers, textiles, IT
and food & drink; Exploring partnerships in the shared economy start up space
with operators such as Google, Seedcamp or Makerversity
A community-operated crche
Tourism planning and bike hire
Open air concert, theatre and cinema venue (summer)

Theodore Bird, Chair and founder of the BVCBT said We believe Belle Vue House
can comfortably turnover in excess of 250k p.a. employing local staff and

maintaining a nice environment for everyone to enjoy. If the resident businesses are
all successful, then the positive economic impact could be millions each year.
The Bid Teams proposal will incorporate the build of new, low overhead, low carbon
premises for the Citizens Advice Bureau on site in order to ensure the vital local
service is retained in Sudbury. A new build serviced building could also provide a
home for other local services such as the town registrar.
On researching the former swimming pool it was mentioned to the team by a former
Sudbury Mayor that the site was never fully redeveloped as it was set aside for traffic
flow improvements by the council. The Bid Teams aspiration for the swimming pool
site is that it should be further incorporated into the park while working with Suffolk
County Council to reorganise and perfect Belle Vue Junction to provide a grander
gateway to both the park and town.
Architect and bid team member Ralph Carpenter said, Increasing numbers of
dwellings in the centre of Sudbury have no access to green space and a revitalised
park, facing the town, visible and welcoming, is a critical component in a modern,
thriving urban hub. Baberghs plan to sell to the highest bidder will destroy this key
resource. Sudbury needs its Council to show real generosity and vision.
Bid team member and Sudbury Society Chair Lorna Hoey said, 'The Sudbury
Society supports the retention of Belle Vue House for the benefit of the people of
Sudbury alongside a financially viable plan to adapt and sustain the house while
retaining its character.
NOTES
Press contact: Theodore Bird, @Thdrbrd
Twitter for updates: @BVCBT
To join the group (encouraged): bellevuesudbury@gmail.com
Business incubation case study:
An example of local business incubation opportunities are many of the traders at
Sudbury Farmers Market. Typically a trader may turn over 20-30k but the high cost
of upsizing to a 30k+ commercial kitchen in order to grow is prohibitive. So why not
a larger and better kitchen at Belle Vue and rent it by the hour? The bigger kitchen
will support better on site catering and food produced on site could be used for events
and sold in the caf too.
Belle Vue Community Bid Team:
The Belle Vue Community Bid Team (@BVCBT) is an Unincorporated Community
Interest Group of 30 members registered in the Babergh. Once incorporated, the bid
team will become The Sudbury Community Estate with any profit invested into
local community-oriented projects or schemes for the greater benefit of Sudbury
residents.

Belle Vue House Background:

The site was originally developed by Nathaniel Burrough, a retired city grocer and
cousin of artist Thomas Gainsborough, who built a Georgian mansion in the 1780s.
This was occupied latterly by Edmund Stedman, a Sudbury solicitor, and his family.
He died in 1864. This house was demolished in 1871.
The site was then acquired by Henry Crabb Canham, a partner in Andrews and
Canham, solicitors, Friars Street, Sudbury. (The same Andrews family who, about
1750, commissioned Thomas Gainsborough to paint the portrait of Mr and Mrs
Andrews). In addition, Canham was one of Sudburys leading citizens being Clerk to
various local government bodies.
An advertisement in the Ipswich Journal in 1872 indicates that the present Belle
Vue House was designed by noted London architects Henry Spalding and Samuel
Knight (Nos. 12 13, King Street, Covent Garden, London, and later the following
Grade II Listed buildings: Dulwich and Camberwell Public Baths; Victoria Square
Dwellings, Manchester; the Drill Hall, Camden, London, and others). Work
commenced building the 15-room Belle Vue House sometime after June 1872 and the
Canham family were in residence in 1874.
The Canhams sold Belle Vue House in 1912 and it was then gifted to the Red Cross
who used it as a hospital for convalescing servicemen between 1914-19. In 1922 the
Red Cross sold it to a private owner who in turn sold it to Sudbury Town Council in
1936. In 1974, following local government re-organisation, it was passed to the
present owners, Babergh District Council.
Community uses:
Throughout the 20th and 21st Century the House and Grounds have been in continuous
use as a Community Asset:
Previous uses:
WW1 Red Cross Hospital for servicemen;
Community meeting hub - The building was used by residents for key discussions
relating to the town, most notably to host a Public Inquiry to save the Corn Exchange
from demolition (now Library);
Drop in centre for senior citizens;
Youth Club;
Outdoor swimming pool.
Recent / Current uses:
Citizens Advice Bureau (still current);
Adult education classes Closed 2014;
Social Services relating to pupil referral and tuition of excluded children. Still
current;
The Hub. Friday evening youth club - Closed 2014;
Outreach for West Suffolk College - (still current);
Over 50's drop in centre Closed 2014;
Sudbury B.M.X park (still current).