Melton: Consultants confident concerns about A12 traffic can be overcome and plans for 180 new homes can go ahead
An accident further down the A12 at Woodbridge
Worries over proposals for 180 new homes alongside the A12 at Melton are “not insurmountable”, according to planning consultants drawing up the project.
Exhibition of proposals for 180 homes at Woods Lane in Melton. - Credit: Archant
Traffic danger and concerns over pressure on local services were voiced by people when they were shown the plans for a 20-acre site just off the Woods Lane roundabout.
No planning application has yet been put forward for the land, which is not allocated for building.
However, those behind the project hope Suffolk Coastal planners and councillors can be persuaded to approve the scheme.
Planning consultant Richard Brown said around 250 people had attended the exhibition, and was pleased that residents had taken an interest in the scheme.
A variety of views and opinions had been filled in on the comment forms, giving the developers much food for thought.
Mr Brown said: “A lot of hard work has gone into the project and it was good to get such an excellent turn-out and response from the community.
“Residents I spoke to didn’t have any problem with the principle of development per se, but did have concerns about the potential impact of the proposals on the local infrastructure – items such as road junctions, schools and doctors’ surgeries.”
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The biggest concern was traffic and how this would add to peak-time capacity at the Woods Lane junction.
Mr Brown said the comments would be analysed alongside transport data being gathered to see whether cars coming and going from the development would cause problems in the area.
It was hoped to encourage people to use various transport methods – buses and cycles as well as cars – and it was possible to make adjustments to the road network and junctions to accommodate extra traffic.He said: “I think the problems raised are not insurmountable.
“New homes inevitably do mean some more traffic and possible congestion but there are ways of dealing with the issue to keep this to a minimum.”
Negotiations are taking place with planners over the scheme.
The homes would range from one-bed flats to five-bed detached properties.
