Concerns raised by residents of a housing estate about the quality of life in their area have been taken on board by local community leaders.

Sudbury Town Council has been working with people from Springlands estate on the outskirts of the town, on initiatives to help improve their environment.

Last month, they organised a Deal With It Day on the estate, where council ward members were available to discuss concerns with the public. The council’s community wardens, together with representatives from Babergh District Council and Suffolk police, attended and spent the day picking up litter, collecting fly-tipping and generally tidying up the patch.

As a follow-up, the town council also organised and hosted a Springlands Focus Group meeting on August 13 at The Community Hub in Northern Road. Part of the evening was spent identifying problems encountered by residents and coming up with possible solutions. The issues raised will now be discussed by the relevant town council committees. If the idea proves successful, it could be rolled out into other parts of the town, according to council member Jan Osborne, who initiated the project with community warden Bradley Smith.

Mrs Osborne said: “We initially organised the first Deal With It Day in the Nelson/Beatty Road area of Springlands after residents expressed concerns about things such as anti-social behaviour, litter, fly-tipping and tree roots pushing up the pavements in places. On the day, we picked up 7.5 tonnes of rubbish just from that area alone. At one time, people used to be able to just pick up the phone and ask a council to deal with issues, but with budget cuts and limited resources, that’s no longer the case. The idea of the focus group was to engage with the public, provide them with a kick start by clearing up the area and then getting residents to take ownership of the area.”

A second Deal With It Day will be held on September 17 in the First Avenue, Second Avenue, Essex Avenue and Talbot Road areas of Springlands.

For more details, call the town council 01787 372331.