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Local Plan Examination
Martlesham is covered by East Suffolk Council's document 'Suffolk Coastal Local Plan' which sets out the Planning Policy for our area until 2036.
- East Suffolk Council – Suffolk Coastal Local Plan (September 2020)
The Local Plan is of particular significance to the parish because the Suffolk Constabulary site and the Woodbridge Town Football Club site are included within the Local Plan as potential sites for housing development - as new policies SCLP 12.25 and 12.33 respectively - contrary to the Martlesham Neighbourhood Plan. The plans indicate the Police Investigation Centre is to be retained.
The inclusion of both sites was accepted by the Planning Inspector subject to Main Modifications being made. In summary: For the Police site, the Inspector sought modifications to ensure a mix of housing which contributes to high quality design, to provide for housing for older people and to conserve heritage assets in an appropriate manner. For the sports provision at the Police site, the Inspector wished to see that the policy accords with relevant national policy.
For the Woodbridge Town Football site, the Inspector advised any sports provision to be replaced must be replaced by an equivalent or better provision in terms of quality and quantity in a suitable location.
In our opinion the Local Plan process was flawed as the District Council admitted these two sites at a very late stage contrary to the Martlesham Neighbourhood Plan, and knowing the Neighbourhood Plan was written in reliance on District Council policy to limit housing development to Brightwell Lakes.
BACKGROUND
Specific modifications to the draft policies are listed at pages 134-135 of the Appendix - Main Modifications for the Police site and pages 145 - 146 for the Woodbridge Town Football site.
We submitted our 2020 Consultation Response. View our Specific Comments and General Comments
In April 2020 Suffolk Constabulary submitted its outline plans for 300 houses, with all matters reserved except for access. We objected to the application for outline planning permission for a variety of reasons including that the Constabulary application relied on draft Suffolk Local Plan policies which were not planning law at that time. MPC response to the Police planning application.
We attended the Planning Inspectorate Examination Hearings in 2019 to represent the Parish to the independent Inspector. We drew the Inspector's attention to the late inclusion of the Police HQ and Woodbridge Town Football Club sites nominated for housing, and the fact that the related policies failed to take in to account the Martlesham Neighbourhood Plan. We drew attention to our earlier 2018 responses: the 2018 versions of the draft Local Plan aligned closely with the Martlesham Neighbourhood Plan. In 2018, the Local Plan said that there would only be 20 additional dwellings required in this area up to 2036, as 2000 homes were already approved for the Brightwell Lakes site (near Adastral Park, BT).