A SCHEME to re-develop a former brickworks site and build 15 new homes has been recommended for approval, subject to a string of conditions.

Suffolk Coastal District Council will discuss the plans for the old Reade site in Saxmundham Road, Aldeburgh, on Wednesday. A report to the North Area Development Control Subcommittee recommends approval - so long as a number of issues are dealt with.

Applicant MS Oakes Securities Limited wants to build 10 four-bedroomed two-storey detached properties and five two-bedroomed single storey almshouses, that would be used for affordable homes. The brickworks, which stopped production in 2011, is a brownfield site within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The district council has received 28 letters of objection to the scheme, while Aldeburgh Town Council, Aldeburgh Society, The Alde and Ore Association, Suffolk Preservation Society and RSPB have also raised concerns.

There is a strong desire the affordable homes be protected to ensure they remain in perpetuity, to guard against them becoming second homes, while there is also a fear that as the development is outside the town envelope it could set a precedent for the future.

Concerns have also been raised about the impact on the surrounding landscape, while others have called for more information so the effect on environment can be better assessed.

There are two letters in support, while a planning design and access statement submitted by the applicant says they are in favour of a “sympathetic” layout and that views across the River Alde and Aldeburgh should be maintained.

“For the benefit of the local area most of the site will not be built on, but left undeveloped and managed to retain existing views,” it says.

The detached houses would also be sunk into the ground to give the impression of single storey structures to try and minimise the visual impact.

Mark Oakes, from MS Oakes Securities Ltd, has previously said the scheme has been given a “terrific amount of thought” and assured the almshouses would not be holiday lets.

The report to be considered by the district council concludes that on balance the scheme is acceptable. However it only recommends approval subject to the satisfactory conclusion of design negotiations and no objections from the landscape manager; a section 106 agreement to cover issues of affordable housing provision and management; off site contributions towards sports facilities and county council requirements; and an appropriate legal mechanism to provide public access.