Only a week after the original planning application was withdrawn by the developer Active Urban …a new application has been submitted by the same developer! Is there ‘something that does not sound right about this reapplication’?
Is the new application an attempt to cut the number of much needed affordable homes from 33 to 11 or even none?
The original application required the development to provide 33 Affordable Homes… now the new application seeks to reduce this much further to only 15-11 flats, mostly only 1-2 bedroom, and could even be zero!
On the 15th August 2018 a new Planning Application for the development of former council offices at Melton Hill Woodbridge was submitted by Active Urban. Remember the initial application was made in 2016 some two years ago, with the first ‘Community’ notification of intentions made in April 2016. Now after more than two years of talks and promises the people of Woodbridge are extremely angered by this new worrying turn of events.
For further detail read the story published in the East Anglian Daily Times:
Anger at attempt to cut affordable homes from Melton ‘cheese wedges’ proposal
“…AUWL won the council contract to redevelop the site in 2016 and its application received provisional approval from SCDC’s planning committee in October 2017.
The subsequent delays, which related to difficulties finding a registered social provider to take on the affordable housing, led to calls for a fresh start on the deal.
Now, critics claim the project appears to be falling apart.
Woodbridge resident Barry Zins said the VBC claim showed AUWL was “trying everything” to make it financially viable. He said he believed SCDC would reject the claim.
Woodbridge Society chairman Alan Vaughan claimed people in the town would be “extremely angry” if the VBC claim was agreed. He pointed to a file note lodged on the previous application by SCDC’s head of planning Philip Ridley, which claimed “VBC would not be applicable on this site…”
Full Artical can be read here: East Anglian Daily Times / CLICK HERE
EADT / Andrew Hirst
CONTACT THE PLANNING OFFICE DIRECT: Quoting Application Ref DC/18/3424/FUL
Case Officer: Liz Beighton
Telephone: 01394 383789
Email: Liz.Beighton@eastsuffolk.gov.uk
THE PLANNING APPLICATION DOCUMENTS: Application Ref: DC/18/3424/FUL
- This can be viewed online: Planning Portal
- Visit Suffolk Coastal District Council in Melton and ask to view all documents including drawings (You can ask for copies, there will be a small charge)
- There might be copies at your local library
Planning Application Reference:
DC/18/3424/FUL | Residential development (100 units) including affordable housing (Class C3) plus a community building (364.1sq.m) (Class D1) and a retail unit (102.3sq.m) (A1/A2/A3), car parking, means of access and landscaping, all following demolition of the buildings on site | Former Council Offices Melton Hill Melton Woodbridge Suffolk IP12 1AU
Direct Contacts for Questions and Answers and to present your objects or approval:
– Website: www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk
– Planning Department: www.eastsuffolk.gov.uk/planning
Telephone: 01394 383789
Email: customerservices@eastsuffolk.gov.uk
Its about time the applicants for planning got their act together or give it up entirely and get some decent plans on the table which will provide the much needed affordable housing. Any back door attempts at permission such as the latest proposals must be resisted at all costs.