PEOPLE in the Trimley villages were reeling today after the first two of an expected stream of housing proposals became public.

East Anglian Daily Times: End of the road - householders are furious that this parking area in a quiet cul-de-sac, The Josselyns, TRimley St Mary, could be the gateway to a new housing development.End of the road - householders are furious that this parking area in a quiet cul-de-sac, The Josselyns, TRimley St Mary, could be the gateway to a new housing development. (Image: Archant)

Villagers have feared for years that their communities could be swamped by new homes and almost all the fields between the A14 and Ipswich-Felixstowe rail line lost.

Now the situation has become real with two projects being put forward – one in Trimley St Mary and the other in Trimley St Martin – and others expected to follow.

Developers have submitted a planning application for 66 houses on the site of the Mushroom Farm, while landowners have revealed proposals for up to 100 homes on land off The Josselyns.

People living in High Road and The Joselyns have voiced their opposition to the Thurmans Lane project – with worries about the loss of high-grade farmland, extra traffic, and the character of the area being ruined.

Parish councillors have been seeking a small number of homes in the village to provide for its future needs – especially affordable housing – and are against large-scale development and particularly the cumulative effect of projects.

Suffolk Coastal – which has to find land for at least 1,760 new properties in the Felixstowe area – has already identified a number of fields in the twin villages as having potential for development.

Parish councillor Richard Kerry, who is also chairman of Suffolk Coastal, said: “The council needs to show it has a five-year supply of land available for housing and at the moment we have a two-and-a-half year supply.

“Applications have been passed in recent weeks which would not normally have found favour. The problem when you look at the Felixstowe area is that we don’t have enough sites for 1,760 homes we have to provide, but the land must be found.”

At present the council has agreed 7,800 new homes across the district in the next 15 years, but this could rise to 11,000 – and a proportion of the extra 3,200 will also be built in the Felixstowe area.