A county councillor has expressed concerns about plans for a 1,100-home development in Sudbury which will change the face of the town.

An outline proposal for the long-awaited 270-acre Chilton Woods scheme has been submitted to the district council and the plan, along with supporting documents, should shortly be available to view online.

According to the main landowner Suffolk County Council, the development will deliver vital additional housing and employment to the Sudbury area over the next 20 years and will bring wider benefits including a new primary school, village hall, community woodland, a pub, shops, sports pitches, play areas, allotments and walking/cycling routes.

The application submitted to Babergh in December is for up to 1,100 homes – 150 less than was originally planned – plus more than 16 hectares of employment development including a hotel. A household waste recycling centre is included in the plans and a village centre with a number of retail outlets.

However, local county councillor and Sudbury stalwart John Sayers believes the large-scale development, which has been in the pipeline for more than a decade, could have a detrimental effect on the town’s “already fragile infrastructure”.

His primary concerns are about the amount of extra traffic the development would generate, and the possible impact it could have on Sudbury’s already overcrowded roads.

Mr Sayers said: “We need to be satisfied that a comprehensive traffic survey has been undertaken with regard to ‘rat runs’ on site and the increase to congestion in Sudbury.

“We should be asking if consideration has been given to the vehicle routes for delivery of building materials to this site.

“For the benefit of our local economy, more consideration should be given to the provision of additional car parking areas in town or even a park and ride service.”

District councillor Jan Osborne agreed that there were still a few issues to be resolved, but she said it was important to get the masterplan through the planning stages in a timely manner.

She said: “The biggest concerns at consultation stage were about the level of traffic coming in and out from surrounding villages and into Sudbury via Waldingfield Road and East Street. This should be addressed in the accompanying traffic study which we [district councillors] have not yet been shown.”

The plans will be discussed by Babergh’s planning committee in the coming months.