COUNCILLORS and business-owners are to be given a chance to help design a town centre traffic scheme from scratch.

Earlier this year, Suffolk County Council put forward a plan for how �500,000 could be spent on traffic improvements in Sudbury town centre before March 2015. But the town council and local chamber of commerce rejected the list of suggestions and requested a rethink.

The county highways department has already spent �60,000 on a traffic calming hump in King Street this year, but a council spokesman said they intended to give the town a “blank sheet of paper” for suggestions on how the rest of the money could be spent.

An independently-hosted meeting will be held in the town next February for stakeholders including councillors, police, disability groups, business-owners and young people to have their say about what should be included.

The spokesman said: “It’s about trying to create a vision for the strategic plan for the town and the suggestions gathered at the meeting will inform the creation of a program of projects.”

Sudbury Steering Group met last week to discuss key traffic considerations ahead of the meeting, including the possible impact of 1,000 new homes planned for Sudbury over the next 20 years. Members would like to see measures such as modifications to the Belle Vue junction, the development of a cycle path network and the re-routing of HGVs through the town.