Plans for country park that will serve 3,500 homes in Ipswich approved
The Ipswich Garden Suburb housing development is due to be established in North Ipswich
Last updated 13th Jan 2022
Plans for a country park which will serve families of a major new housing development North of Ipswich have been given the green light.
Ipswich Borough Council’s planning committee unanimously approved the appearance, scale, layout and landscaping elements of phases two-six for the Ipswich Garden Suburb country park.
The development of 3,500 homes is due to be built on farmland near Westerfield, with a country park serving the new homeowners.
Work on phase one, which was approved in September, is due to begin soon, while a further planning application for the second part of phase six and phase seven is expected to be submitted later this year.
Outline permission for the park was granted in January 2020 at the same time as the first 1,100 homes to be known as Henley Gate.
Cllr Carole Jones, planning committee member, said it was an ‘exemplary’ plan, and added: “Its going to be so important to the 3,500 households who will be living in this development when it is completed, and to Ipswich more widely.”
The park will include hedgerows, woodland areas, wildflower meadows, off-lead space for dogs, a 10-space car park, walks and cycle paths, and landforms and land art areas.
Phases six and seven will feature a visitor centre, playground and more parking.
Karen Coulson, sales and marketing director at Crest Nicholson Eastern, said: “We are pleased to hear the news that the reserved matters planning application for the country park element of the wider Ipswich Garden Suburb has been approved at committee.
“Crest Nicholson are committed to building future-proof developments in which people love to live and the new 30-hectare country park – which will have over 2.7 kilometres of walking and cycling routes – will be a focal point for the new community.
“The park will be located alongside the new Henley Gate development which is the first of the three neighbourhoods that will form the Ipswich Garden Suburb.
“Once complete, Henley Gate will also include a new state of the art primary school and a local centre at the heart of the development for all to enjoy.”
As the country park straddles the border of Ipswich and East Suffolk councils, it is understood East Suffolk Council’s planning committee will also be presented with the plans.