WORK on a multi-million mixed-use development which is set to regenerate an old docklands area in Ipswich is due to start at the end of this month.

Construction firm ISG Jackson, which is based in the town, will be working on the initial phase of an urban regeneration project which will see 386 new homes and commercial premises being built on a disused brownfield site bordering Stoke Quay.

A set of old industrial units, including the former Graham’s builder’s merchant, are being knocked down in the historic docklands area of Ipswich, off Great Whip Street, to make way for the new development.

County archaeologists will then have the opportunity to survey the triangular-shaped site and will continue to have a watching brief during excavation works for the foundations of the development.

The plans include a basement car park, doubling as a flood defence measure, a mix of town houses, flats and extra-care supported accommodation, and 1,000 sq m of commercial accommodation.

The central area of the new development is set to include two communal landscaped gardens with hard and soft landscaping.

ISG Jackson managing director Bernard Clarke said: “Our appointment to the initial phase of this major regeneration scheme marks a return to the docklands area of Ipswich, with previous projects including the extension of the Salthouse Harbour Hotel and the construction of the Neptune Marina mixed-use development.

“The scheme plays to ISG Jackson’s strengths of delivering technically complex projects for a client within a sector that the business has extensive experience of delivering award winning and innovative developments.”