Business chief welcomes pedestrianisation plan

Lee Walker said he was positive about plans to partially pedestrianise Lloyds Avenue in Ipswich

Plans to partially pedestrianise a town centre street are an "overarchingly good thing", a business leader has said.

Lloyds Avenue in Ipswich could be transformed if planning permission is secured.

Ipswich Borough Council committed to a budget of £1.4m and to move the plans forward at a meeting last month.

Lee Walker, CEO of Ipswich Central Business Improvement District, said he believed the plans could bring more people into the town.

The council has designated more than half of its £25m Town Deal funding, granted in 2021, to town rejuvenation projects

"I think it's about looking at the spaces that don't serve the modern consumer needs in Ipswich and making them places that people want to be eating and drinking," he told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"We have to be bold, we have to be brave and we have to create spaces that people want to be in."

Local taxi drivers had criticised the plan, which would cut the number of taxi bays on the street.

Consultations with them, along with surveys to analyse usage in the area, led to initial plans being amended.

The most recent plans show 10 taxi bays, plus a bay for deliveries - down from 21.

Mr Walker said he still believed taxi drivers would be able to serve the area.

"The project reduces taxi ranks by a few spaces. There is still spaces for taxis; they have been considered and consulted with," he said.

"But I'm not going to be anything other than bold in saying this is an overarchingly good thing for Ipswich and we cannot simply not do positive action for the sake of one group specifically."

Unex, which owns the former Debenhams building on the street, has faced difficulties in finding a new tenant.

Managing director Adrian Morris previously said there had been interest, but that Lloyds Avenue needed to be pedestrianised to secure a deal.

Mr Walker said he was aware of this and the plans would need to ensure balance.

Mr Morris has been approached for comment.

Unex said it would be able to secure a tenant for the former Debenhams if Lloyds Avenue was pedestrianised

The plans form part of the wider Ipswich Town Deal, funded by the government's Towns Fund.

Neil MacDonald, Labour council leader, said the next step would be a public consultation, running from 12 to 29 August.

"The responses from the public consultation will be used to inform the final technical designs," he said.