Henley Gate homes – Ipswich deserves better

We were disappointed that Ipswich planning committee has approved an application for 130 dwellings on Henley Road. This is despite the SPS, The Ipswich Society and The Ipswich Design and Conservation Panel all expressing the view that the design quality was simply too low.

SPS supported the development of this site for housing, accepting the Borough’s need to deliver a significant number of new homes. But the house types are considered to be bland, using mass produced materials and dominated by car parking.

The government has issued a National Design Guide which empowers councils to reject bad design and to promote building better and beautiful houses. But for Ipswich Borough Council their urgent need for housing outweighed these important considerations.

Ipswich deserves better and this should have been an exemplar scheme for the whole of the Ipswich Garden suburb.  A clear case of quantity over quality and a sad day for Ipswich.