Mildenhall Hub - background

Putting service at the heart of Mildenhall

It was a rare opportunity to bring together a range of public services on one site in Mildenhall, making access easier and cutting costs. A project group, involving the potential partners, obtained planning consent for plans to create a 'Mildenhall Hub' and building work started in 2019. The hub opened to the public in June 2021.

Those involved in exploring the Mildenhall Hub include:

Citizen’s Advice West Suffolk
DWP (Jobcentre Plus)
Academy Transformation Trust - Mildenhall College Academy
Abbeycroft Leisure - Mildenhall Hub
Suffolk County Council
Suffolk Libraries
Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner and Suffolk Constabulary
NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB)
West Suffolk Council

The project is also part of the Government's One Public Estate Programme

Important note: In some local plan consultation documents part of the proposed site for the hub is included within a larger potential growth site. Please note that the working title 'Mildenhall Hub' relates only to the relocation of existing public services as part of an extension of the Sheldrick Way school site. It does not refer to the proposal for a housing growth site to the West of Mildenhall, which is a separate matter (more details on the local plan).

Business case

The partners commissioned an outline business case in 2014. The purpose of this business case was to prove that the hub concept was technically feasible so that the partners could proceed confidently to implement it. The business case was also a snapshot in time, at August 2014 (and updated in February 2016), and it has inevitably adapted and changed as the project progressed. Nonetheless, it showed that there was a strong rationale for a Mildenhall Hub for taxpayers, service users and service providers.

It is critical to note that the designs contained within the business case were purely conceptual and not necessarily an indication of what might be pursued or submitted in any planning applications. While they reflected what the partners thought they might need as at July 2014 and February 2016, they were merely shown to demonstrate how the buildings could look and how they would fit on the sites. The financial models from that time were also based on these design concepts.

The business case was to help progress the project to design and delivery stage. Detailed design work since has reflected the results of consultation with the local community, an adopted Development Brief and pre-application advice from the local planning authority.

Download a copy of the 2016 updated Business case - May 2016 (PDF 3Mb)

Each partner has developed their own internal business case and funding plans. For more information read our background reports at the bottom of this page.

Development brief

In 2016 the local planning authority has consulted upon and adopted a planning guidance document, called a development brief, for any hub scheme at Sheldrick Way.

The final draft can be viewed at: Mildenhall Hub Development Brief - final draft. This version shows the changes made to the first draft as a result of local consultation, and was adopted without further amendment by the Local Planning Authority. (View The Mildenhall Development Brief - final version.)

Pre-application

Pre-application consultation 2017

An informal 'pre-application' consultation on initial draft designs took place between 10 January and 10 February 2017. In response to that process, the designs were updated before the current planning application was submitted in Spring, 2017. There were further formal opportunities to comment on the hub as part of that process.

View the Pre-Application Consultation: Public Responses summary document.

On 23 May 2017, Suffolk County Council held a drop-in event to discuss the proposed relocation of the fire station to the hub. After this meeting the county council decided not to proceed with this proposal at the current time and the scheme was amended accordingly.

Pre-application designs

In spring 2016, Forest Heath District Council, as the local planning authority, consulted local people on a development brief to guide any planning application for the hub. This was adopted as planning policy guidance later in 2016 and, Concertus Design and Property Consultants were employed as the design team by the hub partners.

The partners took on board the results of the 2016 consultation in their brief to Concertus. For example, there was no longer a proposal for 15-20 units of complementary housing within the hub site and a buffer has been created between the new development and adjacent houses by keeping a large amount of the existing school playing fields.

A planning application for the hub was submitted later in 2017, which involved formal consultation and an assessment of the highways issues on and off-site by the Highways Authority (which was the main issue raised in the 2016 consultation). However, ahead of that process, the partners tested some of the initial design work for the hub informally with local residents and stakeholders.

The pre-application consultation focused on the indicative site layout and external treatments of the proposed hub building - internal details for the building were still being developed. Also, it is important to note that the draft plans were a 'snapshot' of what is an evolving design, as at early January 2017 - they changed as a result of this consultation and as partners refinde their own operational requirements further.

See the draft designs:

Planning application - spring 2017

The partners submitted a planning application for the hub in spring 2017. This was consulted upon and approved by the planning authority in November 2017, subject to the agreement of the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State did not call-in the application and therefore a consent was issued at the end of November 2017.

View visuals of the designs for the hub.

You can view the full application, including all supporting information, and the decision notice on the council's online planning system. The application can be found by searching for 'Mildenhall Hub'.

Highways and parking were the main issues raised in the pre-application consultation and these comments were taken on board in the full transport assessment and travel plan documents which were part of the planning application. View the documents for highways matters that formed part of the application: