Demolition work has started on former Suffolk council offices, which are set to be replaced by nearly 100 homes.
This week, diggers moved in to level the old home of Suffolk Coastal District Council at Melton Hill, Woodbridge, in preparation for building to start in the spring or summer on 98 properties, including 29 one-bed apartments, 39 two-bed apartments and 22 three-bed apartments.
There will also be five family houses and two duplex homes as part of the development, called King's View, by Manningtree-based ROSE Builders.
The authority, which merged with neighbouring Waveney District Council to form East Suffolk Council, moved to nearby Riduna Park in Melton in 2016.
Two public consultations have taken place into the plans, with 300 people attending the first exhibition and their feedback resulted in a number of changes to the layout.
The second exhibition took place at the Melton Hill site in September, with 250 people visiting to provide their views on the project.
A spokesperson for ROSE said depending on the planning process, construction should start by the summer with the first residents moving in by 2024 or possibly earlier.
He said: "There will be a few days setting up the site in preparation before the dismantling works begin. We anticipate that works will be completed approximately by the end of April 2023.
"Please note that these works will only cover demolition and other investigative work for now, as part of the previous planning permission for redevelopment of the site.
"New designs are still being prepared and will be submitted to the council for approval in early 2023.
"Our hope is to achieve a deliverable planning consent by summer 2023 so that construction work can begin thereafter."
The site had been the subject of previous plans, including by developer Active Urban, which caused controversy after being likened to ‘cheese wedges’ because of their design and had attracted more than 200 objections.
East Suffolk Council sold its former offices for £5,250,000 and pledged to use the funds raised to finance the council’s ambitious capital and transformation programmes by investing in facilities across the district and maintaining service delivery.
In June, the EADT reported that the council had spent nearly £1.5m maintaining and securing the offices, but the money from the sale was not used to pay off this sum.
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