DETAILED plans of a £500m development which will change the face of a Suffolk market town have gone on public display.Up to 500 people are expected to visit the exhibition outlining details of the Chilton Woods development on the edge of Sudbury - which will be the largest build in the town for more than three decades.

DETAILED plans of a £500m development which will change the face of a Suffolk market town have gone on public display.

Up to 500 people are expected to visit the exhibition outlining details of the Chilton Woods development on the edge of Sudbury - which will be the largest build in the town for more than three decades.

The scheme will be centred around 700 new homes in the middle of the 270-acre development, which stretches from behind the Tesco superstore across to the edge of Waldingfield Road.

The revised plans also revealed that 53 acres of land north of Woodhall Business Park would be earmarked for industrial use, creating 20 new factories and 500 new jobs.

The exhibition has been organised by Babergh District Council as part of an ongoing public consultation exercise.

The authority is leading the project in conjunction with Suffolk County Council and the Ashwell Property Group.

If the plans are finally approved, it is hoped work could start 2006 - providing the town with a major economic and educational boost. It would also create much-needed new sporting, retail and community facilities.

The plans reveal a new primary and nursery school, catering for 240 pupils, would be built on the existing All Saints Middle School campus.

A 20-acre recreational area, between Acton Lane and Waldingfield, would provide brand new sporting facilities, including full-size and five-a-side football pitches, a cricket pitch, tennis and basketball courts and changing rooms.

It was revealed that a new neighbourhood complex including shops and 150-seat community hall/education centre will be built between the school campus and the main bulk of the housing, which will consist of one to five bedroom properties.

The whole scheme will be enveloped by community woodland, to protect the nearby parishes of Newman's Green, Acton and Great Waldingfield from becoming swallowed up by the development.

Babergh's head of planning policy and economic development, Neil Greig, said: “This development is very important for the future of Sudbury. There is an ongoing need for affordable housing and employment opportunities in Sudbury that will not develop if Chilton doesn't happen.

“A development of this size will bring people to the town who will support the town centre.”

The scheme will be considered as part of Babergh's local plan that is subject to a public inquiry in September.

If the plan gets through the public inquiry, the Chilton development will then go back before Babergh councillors for final approval. It is hoped work on the development will begin in 2006 and completed by 2016.

The third and final day of the exhibition is today at St Peter's Church, Sudbury.