People living in a Suffolk village have raised grave concerns about the prospect of all year round tenants on a local caravan site, following an application to East Suffolk Council.

East Anglian Daily Times: The location in Ufford where the caravans are due to go Picture: JUDI HALLETTThe location in Ufford where the caravans are due to go Picture: JUDI HALLETT (Image: Archant)

Villagers in Ufford have been left angry by the proposals which would see people live all year round on a site at the Old Stables in Old Bredfield Road.

Permission for the caravan park was granted by the-then Suffolk Coastal District Council in March 2016.

However, since then little work appears to have been carried out on the site, apart from a small amount of gravel and some fencing.

Now, a new application has been made to East Suffolk Council to see whether the scope of planning permission granted covers people living all year round without restriction.

East Anglian Daily Times: Residents are concerned about the future of the caravan site Picture: JUDI HALLETTResidents are concerned about the future of the caravan site Picture: JUDI HALLETT (Image: Archant)

The case officer's report for the original application mentions that "If any holiday accommodation was allowed on the site, it is likely to have a condition imposed restricting its use to no more than 56 days."

No such restriction was made in the final decision notice.

Evidence submitted by the site owners highlights that the original planning permission did not cover the nature of occupation of the caravans and placed no limitation on it.

As such they believe that the council should permit all year round residential occupation at the site.

"The original application for the Caravan Site spoke endlessly of the park being 'for the purpose of tourism'," said Judi Hallett, clerk to Ufford Parish Council.

"If granted, this will be nothing short of housing via the back door."

Dr Kathryn Jones, chair of Ufford PC, said:"The concerns of the Parish Council and many residents to the original application were all but ignored by the Planning Authority when the application was considered back in 2016.

"We had grave concerns over access to and from the site, on to a notorious junction where there have been a number of recorded accidents."

Within 24 hours of being alerted to the new application over 90 residents had contacted the Parish Council.

"Some are very worried what a permanent site will mean for Ufford," said Dr Jones.

The caravan site owners were approached for comment.