Protestors are set to gather outside the offices of Suffolk Coastal District Council over its proposed local plan.

The protest will take place on Thursday January 3 at 6.30pm to coincide with the council’s meeting to consider the final draft.

It will be led by the Kirton and Trimley Community Action Group and Fair Play for Felixstowe.

They are vigorously opposed to the plan, which outlines planning policies and site allocations to be used to determine planning applications in the area.

The groups are concerned at proposals to develop 300 acres of land for a logistics park in Trimley St Martin as well as plans for new houses and an early years school in the area.

They argue that the new buildings are being proposed for highly fertile farmland and that the developments will “obliterate” Kirton and Trimley St Martin.

A spokesman for the groups said: “All these proposals threaten the Felixstowe Peninsula. The damage it will do can never be undone.

“The council and landowners take no notice whatsoever of the people who live here.”

A spokesman for Suffolk Coastal District Council said extensive consultation had taken place on the local plan: “The plan is a high level strategic document which covers nearly 20 years and outlines areas for possible development in the future, which will bring in much-needed new homes and create the jobs required to sustain our dynamic local economy.

“We have engaged with town and parish councils, as well as the local community, to identify areas where development could happen and, just as importantly, also show areas where we do not want to see development.

“This Local Plan is a detailed strategic document which, if adopted, will strengthen our ability to reject inappropriate, speculative applications in the future and protect the fragile unique environment in east Suffolk.”

If the plan is agreed by the council then it will have to go through a public examination by the independent Planning Inspectorate.

An examination hearing would be heard in June with the inspector’s report being released in October. A formal adoption of the plan would then take place in November or December of 2019.