The leaders of Breckland Council have pledged to improve their communication with Thetford residents after listening to a raft of concerns about the future development of the district's largest town.

The leaders of Breckland Council have pledged to improve their communication with Thetford residents after listening to a raft of concerns about the future development of the district's largest town.

There was standing room only at the Carnegie Room on Tuesday night as townsfolk accused the district council of years of underinvestment and neglect.

But the council's leader and chief executive told more than 300 people that they were fully committed to Thetford and that the town's growth point scheme was Breckland's number one priority.

The public meeting - organised by the Thetford Society - followed an exchange of letters between leader William Nunn and a large number of readers of the EDP's sister paper The Thetford and Brandon Times.

Mr Nunn and chief executive Trevor Holden were quizzed over a range of issues such as the lack of elected Thetford representatives on the new look Moving Thetford Forward board, the state of some of the town's historic buildings, the bus station, closure of the bus station toilets, lack of sporting facilities, and a lack of Thetford representation within Breckland Council.

Stuart Wright, chairman of the Thetford Society, said the people of Thetford demanded more from the local authority and had been promised many “false dawns” over the years.

But Mr Holden told the meeting that Breckland was focused on the town and its growth point initiative, which will see 6,000 new homes and 6,000 jobs in Thetford by 2021, was the district council's “biggest” single project at the moment.

He also pledged to hold another public question and answer session in the town in six months time and launch a joint newsletter with the town council to keep residents informed and address confidence and communication.

Mr Holden added that £23m had been ploughed into Thetford since 2001 and more investment was coming with a proposed £1.5m project to relocate the bus station set to happen this year.

“There is a real focus on Thetford on a county, district and town council level to deliver the right outcomes for the people of Thetford. The last thing we want is Thetford to become a dormitory town. The whole infrastructure, jobs and housing has to be developed as a whole scheme,” he said.

Mr Nunn, who is also the chairman of the Moving Thetford Forward board, added that there were 150 Breckland staff in Thetford, but communication between the authority and townsfolk would improve.

“I go to promote Thetford in a really positive way. I would like to see a café culture in Thetford and I still go by that and as part of Moving Thetford Forward I will continue to sell that vision wherever I go,” he said.