New homes plan for Boxford is opposed by villagers
Suffolk Free Press
24 February 2017
Villagers turned out in force to oppose plans for more homes to be built as part of a second phase of development in Boxford.
Boxford Parish Council held a public meeting on Monday night to hear people’s views on plans by developer Landex to build up to 24 new homes at Goodlands, off Daking Avenue.
Parish council chairman Julian Fincham-Jacques said the hall was packed for the two-hour meeting, with the consensus opposing the development, which includes eight affordable homes.
"No-one spoke in favour of it at all," he said. "There were a number of issues against the application, including traffic in Swan Street, which remains the main access to the development site.
"There were worries about how traffic would impact on the area, and traffic fumes in Swan Street, and there were concerns about flooding."
The parish council vowed to ask Babergh District Council to carry out a traffic survey in Swan Street and School Hill to get up-to-date information before any decision is taken. It says a traffic survey undertaken on behalf of the developer is based on limited information.
Mr Fincham-Jacques said: "There has been more development in and around Boxford since the 2013 survey, and that must be taken into account."
He said the council accepted Boxford’s designation as a core village and the need for sustainable development, but, while Swan Street remained the main access to the development, it was not the right site.
He said: "One solution would be to put a new road straight out from the development on to the main relief road."
In a planning report prepared for the developer, it says only 40 new homes have been provided in Boxford over the last five years.
It says: "That is nowhere near enough to sustain the natural growth of the village, let alone any other role this core village could have performed in a contribution to meeting the needs of the wider area."
Link: http://www.suffolkfreepress.co.uk/news/new-homes-plan-for-boxford-is-opposed-by-villagers-1-7838196