Another Suffolk community is preparing for battle with its district council over proposals to build hundreds of homes which would change its character forever.
This time it is the joint parish of Copdock and Washbrook which is preparing to fight Babergh council after the district’s draft local plan suggested up to 623 new homes could be built in the village.
The joint village currently has 464 homes – so if the local plan was approved unchanged the community to the south of Ipswich would double in size.
A meeting has been organised by the parish council on November 2 to give local people the chance to have their say on the proposals in advance of the November 10 deadline for submissions to Babergh.
The draft document suggests 226 homes could be built between Back Lane, Elm Lane and the old A12 road in the village. Another 250 could be built on the opposite side of the old A12 behind Gladwell’s Mill. A further 100 could be built near Boss Hogg’s transport cafe.
There are also plans for a number of light industrial units in the village.
Local resident Zena Gravenor said local residents were horrified by the scale of the proposed changes to the village: “I live in a Grade II listed house and there are others nearby – but it is proposed that there should be light industrial buildings up to my boundary fence.
“We want as many people as possible to turn out to the meeting to show the district what they think of the proposals.”
The meeting, at the village cricket pavilion at 7pm on November 2, has been organised by the parish council which will decide its stance on the proposal once it has heard the public response.
Parish Clerk Angela Chapman said it was the council’s job now to give residents the chance to have their say.
A spokesman for Babergh said it was highly unlikely that all the developments proposed in the draft document would be approved – at this stage there had only been basic inquiries made about whether sites were suitable.
He said: “At this stage we are only saying we have not found any reasons to reject these sites which were put forward by landowners – but we really want to hear the views of local people so the more who turn up to the meeting the better so far as we are concerned.”
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