Designs revealed for 85 home estate approved on appeal

Designs have been unveiled for 85 homes which were approved by the government’s planning inspectorate on appeal. 

The estate, which is to be built on land to the west of Thorney Green Road in Stowupland, had been refused by Mid Suffolk District Council’s planning committee in August, 2017.

However, after a lengthy appeal process which was put before the government’s planning inspectorate in 2018, the decision was overturned. 

The plans are part of a total of 143 homes to be built on two fields off Thorney Green Road.

Both applications, one for 85 homes and one for 58 homes submitted separately, were rejected but the decisions were later overtuned on appeal.

Since then, developer Linden Homes has been in talks to agree outstanding conditions with the council’s officers which concluded this week giving the estate the final go ahead. 

The 85 home estate will see a range of one, two, three, four and five bedroom homes including 35 affordable properties.

A planning statement says the homes have been “designed to reflect the local character” and will feature a mixture of brick and render.

It also says the properties will deliver “high quality, well-designed homes” with public open space and excellent pedestrian and cycle links.

The plans were originally rejected by Mid Suffolk’s planning committee on a number of grounds including the risk of harm to nearby heritage assets and the reduction in separation between the village and neighbouring Stowmarket. 

In refusing the application, the committee said: “The proposed development would unacceptably compromise an acceptable level of separation between the built up area of Stowmarket and the village of Stowupland. 

“The open farmland which separates the village from Stowmarket makes an important contribution to the character of the village and the development of this land would undermine the separate character and appearance of the village from the town of Stowmarket.”

However, concluding the appeal, a planning inspector said the development would only result in “some moderate landscape impacts” and “low-moderate level of harm to nearby heritage assets” before approving the plans.

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