These are the first stunning images of the new Grafton Way Tesco development that is set to transform an area of the riverside over the next few years.

The new planning application for the �65million development has now been received by Ipswich Borough Council – and it is set to be discussed by the authority’s planning and development committee in the autumn.

It is not expected to encounter strong opposition – councillors are understood to feel it is a better scheme, and will cause less damage to the town centre, than the original plan approved more than two years ago.

Instead of a full superstore, Tesco wants now to build a food store – which would not compete with clothing and household shops in the town centre.

And instead of building 129 flats beside the River Orwell, it now plans to build 17 town houses facing the water.

Work on the project will be in three phases – with work expected to start next summer and for the store to be open by Christmas 2013.

There will also be ten other shop units or cafes facing on to the river alongside the first of the hotels.

The first hotel, shops and homes will be built as the second phase – and will start while the first phase of development is underway. The second phase should be complete by the early part of 2014.

The third phase is the construction of a three-star hotel near Stoke Bridge which has to start within five years, although it is expected to start sooner than that.

It is understood that hotel companies have been signed up for both units, although they are anxious they should not open at the same time in case they flood the hotel market.

Is the new development going to be good for Ipswich? E-mail: starletters @archant.co.uk