King Charles statue among windfall ideas
A STATUE of Charles II, the monarch responsible for establishing horse racing in Newmarket, could yet be installed in the town if residents give the project their backing.
The plan to commemorate the town’s racing benefactor was originally drawn up last year after talks between the Save Historic Newmarket Action Group (Shnag) and Suffolk County Council, the highway authority, but it failed to win support from the town council.
Now the idea is being revisited as part of the new council’s participatory budgeting scheme, which asks residents to select a project to receive a £50,000 windfall.
The money has come from council savings on its horticultural contract. Its existing £80,000 contract was tied in with that of the district council, Forest Heath, but following the retirement of Clive Sperrink, boss of Sperrinks Nursery, which supplied the town council, it switched to a new supplier, bought its own equipment and hired three groundsmen, saving a significant sum.
The council’s community and leisure services committees was asked how the money should be spent on community projects. Suggestions include the statue, to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, a replacement water feature in the memorial gardens, regeneration of the High Street and improvements to the market, an event organised in conjunction with the town’s youth council, and the setting-up of a community event for local groups and charities.
Monday’s town council meeting agreed the projects should be considered at the public town meeting on Tuesday, November 8, at the Memorial Hall. Information about all projects will be available. Town clerk Isabelle Barrett stressed that the chosen one must be completed within one financial year.
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