More details of a planned 60-home housing development on the former Tooks Bakery site in Ipswich have been unveiled – with more than two thirds of the development set to be affordable housing.
On Monday, Ipswich Borough Council formally submitted a full application for the site off Old Norwich Road, which has remained largely empty since the factory was demolished in 2008. In the application, the council confirmed that 60 homes were set to be built, of which 41 would be designated affordable housing.
An Ipswich Borough spokesman said that all 41 would be council houses, while the remaining homes would initially be owned by the council before deciding whether they would be rented or sold.
If the homes are rented out, they will be rented at market price with the council remaining the landlord.
A planning brief in 2012 identified the derelict site as a suitable housing development, with the 60-home development potentially the first of three phases of work.
While no further concrete plans have been unveiled, planning documents have revealed that a second phase would be to build a healthcare facility, while the third would be a further 100-home development on the King George V Playing Fields to the west of the site.
It is understood that should the next two phases go ahead, land has already been identified for the playing fields to relocate to.
The spokesman added that the application will go before the planning committee in either December or January.
However, fears over traffic management have been raised from an initial consultation, with many questioning how the area around Bury Road and Norwich Road – already key routes for the town – would cope with the extra traffic demand.
One resident in Old Norwich Road, said: “Very concerned about the volume of traffic that this development will create as volume is very bad certain times of day and night. It can take me up to 15 mins to get out of my driveway some days.”
Another added: “Very concerned regarding traffic problems on Old Norwich Road. (The) existing road will be widened apparently resulting in two-way traffic. Already a big problem especially when football being played.”
Ipswich Borough Council said some of the issues regarding traffic had already been addressed such as putting in a priority T junction access from Old Norwich Road, with a portion of the road set to be widened to accommodate traffic in the area.
But the council added that further fears over access will be addressed through the consultation phase.
The factory was leased to Associated British Foods in 1984 until 2001 when it closed. It was knocked down in 2008 to pave the way for regeneration of the area.
The site is one of several to be identified by the borough towards its target of 1,000 new homes in the next decade.
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