‘Our position is quite clear’ - Suffolk town warns developers new housing will not be supported
People in Framlingham are opposed to more housing being built on green field sites, such as this one, where 163 homes are currently being built off Fairfield Road. Picture: ARCHANT
Developers looking to create new homes in a Suffolk town where hundreds are already being built have been warned their proposals will be opposed.
Framlingham Town Council said meetings had been held with two prospective developers – and both were told the applications would not be supported.
“We said our position is quite clear,” said planning committee chairman Simon Garrett. “This is not in the provision of the current neighbourhood plan.”
The housing proposals emerged last year after Suffolk Coastal District Council launched a consultation seeking development sites for its “Local Plan”.
Several landowners in Framlingham offered sites, including a “masterplan” for 250 homes to be built on sites between Mount Pleasant and Saxtead Road.
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Philip Summers, the agent for the masterplan, was one of those to meet with the town council.
The other, Scott Properties, wants to build homes for older people on land behind Thomas Mills High School.
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Mr Garrett said it was council policy to accept invitations to meet with developers but only to provide information.
“We don’t want to get into discussion or negotiations with them or make any offer about what the council will do,” he added.
Framlingham has seen more than 350 new homes approved since 2014, with large developments currently underway in Station Road, Fairfield Road and Mount Pleasant. Housing has become a controversial issue after the Fairfield Road and Mount Pleasant applications were granted on appeal to the Planning Inspectorate, despite local opposition.
Mr Garret said he believed the amount of housing the town has been forced to take in recent years would absolve it of any more.
Based on the district’s requirements for new housing up until 2031, he said Framlingham had already delivered 108 more than its share.
“Even with revised housing numbers that the Government is cascading down, it would be nice to think we would not get any more housing imposed on us,” Mr Hering.
Mr Summers said previously that although further large-scale housing supply is not currently required in Framlingham, “it is important to have a masterplan in place so the town can respond as and when such need does arise.”
