As reported here in the Ipswich Star, a Persimmon Director is quoted as saying “Appealing the application enables the suitability of the site to be determined by a totally independent expert, based on national and local policies. Noting, however, the concerns related to facilities and amenities, a new application on the same site as that under appeal is to be submitted shortly, clearly containing such community benefits which, we hope, might be considered more favourably by the council and local residents.”

Last month, Persimmon appealed to the Planning Inspectorate against the SCDC’s decision (which was only reached on the chairwoman’s casting vote) to reject the building of 300 homes on the part of Longstrops east of Bell Lane and details of the appeal can be seen here.

If you don’t like what Persimmon are proposing then you can email Suffolk Coastal DC to register your comments – Leanne.palmer@pins.gsi.gov.uk – but all comments must be received by 17th January and must quote reference APP/J3530/W/16/3160194. Or you can make representations directly starting from this webpage but again this needs to be done by 17 January.

Persimmon’s application for the 300 homes at Bell Lane and Longstrops was rejected by the Councillors yesterday in the narrowest margin possible – with votes tied at 6 to 6, the vote by Debbie McCallum, ward member for Kesgrave, against the application became the deciding one as chairman of the planning committee.

Warnings were made by the planning office that if Persimmon appeal the decision then the Planning Inspectorate may come down on the side of Persimmon because Suffolk Coastal have not delivered the number of new houses required for the area.

Read more about the outcome and discussions at planning meeting in this Ipswich Star article.

Following the deferred decision in February, the Suffolk Coastal Planning Committee meet again on Thursday 9 June to decide on the application for the 300 homes. The public can attend the meeting.

As confirmed by Kesgrave Town Council there are no material changes to the original plans which on their own were about to be rejected until the decision was deferred by the Councillors to allow Persimmon to meet with other neighbouring landowners to see if a much larger development for 1,000+ homes with better infrastructure could be implemented.

It was expected that this current planning application would now be withdrawn and then a larger one submitted in due course (assuming agreement had been reached between all relevant landowners) although this Ipswich Star article indicates that the SCDC planners now want this application to be approved on the basis it is viewed as the first stage of the much larger plan (even though no plans have been seen by the public for the larger development and the infrastructure improvements this supposedly would bring!).

KAGE are against any further expansion of Kesgrave into the surrounding green space but if it has to happen then there should be absolute guarantees that infrastructure issues are in place before any permissions are granted. The infrastructure improvements should include highways (Foxhall Road will have to cope with the extra traffic from the 1,000+ new homes at or near Longstrops plus the 2,000+ new homes coming at Adastral Park), schooling (primary and secondary) and medical cover.