Councillor rejected pause to North Felixstowe homes in letter

Earlier this month, this newspaper reported how Felixstowe Town Council was urging East Suffolk Council to halt the North Felixstowe Garden Neighbourhood scheme to enable issues around the number of homes and a lack of school places to be addressed.

The town's mayor David Rowe told a town council meeting he was concerned Felixstowe was taking "more than its fair share" of homes, while he wanted reassurances over secondary school places with the town's only secondary school, Felixstowe School, nearly full to capacity.

READ MORE: Concern about North Felixstowe Garden Neighbourhood scheme

Councillors at the meeting also felt circumstances had changed since the housing was first allocated in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Brexit and the war in Ukraine.

However, in a letter to the town council, East Suffolk councillor David Beavan, the cabinet member responsible for housing, rejected the plea for a pause.

He referred to the land for the homes between the A14 Dock Spur Road and the Eastward Ho! recreation area having been allocated for development within the town's Local Plan, which guides decisions on future developments.

East Suffolk councillor David Beavan, cabinet member responsible for housing, rejected calls for a pause in a letter to Felixstowe Town Council (Image: Submitted) He said: "We are currently in the middle of developing a draft masterplan for the site and therefore do not believe that it is an appropriate time to pause the process.

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"The Local Plan is an up-to-date statutory document and we do not believe there is any reason to question its accuracy."

He added the district council's cabinet would have the final say on whether the draft masterplan should be submitted for planning approval, a decision that would be made in the spring or summer of 2025.

If the decision was made to submit a planning application, he said, there would be a further round of consultation which the town council could respond to.

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With regard to school capacity, Mr Beavan said it was largely a matter for Felixstowe School, the Department for Education and Suffolk County Council's education team.

He added: "As North Felixstowe is a 10-15 year strategic project, we do not see how pausing this would have a material effect on the capacity of Felixstowe Secondary School.

"We are working closely with all parties through the development of the draft masterplan to ensure appropriate plans are made for future population growth." 

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