FOUR homes could be demolished to make way for an upmarket housing development overlooking a golf course, it was revealed today.

Taylor Wimpey East Anglia has applied for permission for the project at Purdis Farm with the aim to create a seven-acre site for 25 bespoke detached homes of four, five and six bedrooms.

But the project is already causing concern in the area with worries that it will put pressure on local schools and there will not be enough off-road car parking for properties likely to own several vehicles.

Brightwell, Foxhall and Purdis Farm Group Parish Council is also concerned that the existing sewerage system will not be able to cope – despite assurances from Anglian Water that the network has capacity for extra houses.

Councillors say there is currently a back-flow problem and some properties in Bucklesham Road have sewage bubble up in their gardens and there is a sewage smell in the area.

Head of planning Philip Ridley is recommending members of Suffolk Coastal’s south area development control sub committee visit the site off Bucklesham Road, next to Ipswich Golf Club, before making a decision on the project this autumn.

The homes to be demolished would be Cranleigh, Timbertops, The Chase and Purdis House.

The district council has carried out some consultation already on the proposals and has received 18 letters of objection, with residents claiming the homes are more piecemeal development which will ruin Purdis Farm Lane, an unspoilt area containing wildlife, bringing extra traffic, and changing the rural character of the area.

Suffolk Wildlife Trust said surveys would need to be done to see if there were bats and great crested newts on the site. A small population of common lizard has already been found.