KAGE have today also received notification from Will Lusty at Savills about the forthcoming Community Consultation on behalf of their client Persimmon. Mr Lusty was the point of contact at Savills for the Public Consultation in February so he will be well aware of the issues already raised about housing development on Long Strops. He also says that ‘Following the public exhibition that was held in February 2013, and having reviewed the community feedback received at that exhibition, the decision has been taken to progress proposals for development of the land to the east of Bell Lane, instead’. Our assumption is that Savills/Persimmon feel it will be easier to get permission for the ‘Bell Lane’ half of Long Strops first (and then presumably the ‘Dobbs Lane/Millennium Field’ half later).

Please do note that the proposed development is contrary to Suffolk Coastal District’s Local Plan as per point 4.14 on page 66 which sets out how they plan to satisfy the expected need for the creation of 2,320 new homes from 2010 to 2027 – this mainly being done via 2,000 new homes at Adastral Park. This part of the Local Plan is however subject to judicial review in the High Court on 16 and 17 January 2014 after NANT lodged a legal claim earlier this year and it is perhaps hope of further delay in the Council’s ability to deliver the new homes at Adastral Park that has led to Persimmon’s fresh ‘assault’ on the fields at Long Strops. If the proposed Adastral Park development survives the High Court review and is fully cleared to proceed, one would question why Savills/Persimmon would want to pursue their Long Strops proposal when the District Council have set out where expected demand for new homes will be satisfied over the next 14 years because as such the Planning Department would presumably recommend any proposal at Long Strops be rejected by the Council.

A couple of further things to bear in mind are that i) as per point 4.16 of the Local Plan it appears there will be a detailed Area Action Plan prepared to assess more exactly the number of new homes to be built at Adastral Park so it is possible the 2,000 homes may have to be scaled back and ii) the Local Plan does warn, at point 4.17, that longer term there may well be a need for further new homes and they intend reviewing their Local Plan with the aim of setting out by 2015 options for further future development.

The Local Plan and other Core Strategy documents can be accessed from here.