Date: May 3, 2007
Suffolk’s foremost conservation body is extending a helping hand to a developer hoping to build four detached homes in Worlingworth.
Builder H. C. Moss (Builders Ltd), of Cottenham near Cambridge, is seeking planning permission from Mid Suffolk District Council for the four houses in Shop Street.
But Richard Ward, director of Suffolk Preservation Society, said that, as it stands, the development would “stamp on the toes” of the character and feel of the village.
“The planners need to stop and think about this,” he said. “While I have no objection to the principle of developing this site, the scale of what is proposed is completely out of character with the neighbouring houses and, indeed, the rest of the village.
“The consequence of one bad planning decision can blight the village for years to come, and that’s why this application should be delayed to enable some more thought to go into it. We would like to use our own years of experience to assist the developer, the local community and the planners to reach a proper consensus over should be built on the site. That way, we can work together to enhance the development and the views from the adjacent Great Green, which is an area of huge historic significance.”
Mr Ward has written to Mid Suffolk District Council to set out his objections to the current proposal on planning grounds, also stating the lack of any proposed affordable housing on the site was a missed opportunity.
The plans lodged with the district councils show four detached houses and four single garages arranged around the edge of a diamond-shaped plot, with a road running through the centre. The neighbouring houses, however, follow a line parallel to the road, with front and rear gardens.
Ends
Notes to editors
* SPS is the county’s leading conservation body, with a growing membership of more than 2,000 people. It is a county branch of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England. For more details about SPS, visit www.suffolksociety.com
* Details of the planning application can be found on the Mid Suffolk District Council website, reference 2470/06. www.midsuffolkdc.gov.uk/planning
For more information contact:
Richard Ward, SPS, tel 01787 247179, or
Email nicola.brown@geronimocommunications.com
