NORTHERN FRINGE PROTECTION GROUP
Safeguarding the Character of Ipswich

Chairman’s Report for 2014/15

Thank you all for your support over the past year. As usual it has been a busy year and, I am pleased to report, with some success for us.

Our approach of continuing to emphasise the severe traffic congestion and impact on air quality that would be caused by the development of the Northern Fringe and the lack of infrastructure particularly sewage infrastructure is beginning to bear fruit. A traffic assessment undertaken by the developers painted a dire warning of traffic congestion/grid lock and has acted as a wake-up call for both Suffolk County Council and Ipswich Borough Council. With the help of our local MP Ben Gummer, we had a meeting with John Hayes, Minister of State at the Department of Transport and Suffolk County Council Officials responsible for our road networks. We believe this meeting was instrumental in the decision by Suffolk County Council to object to the planning application by Mersea Homes/CBRE Global Investors. Regarding transport modelling Suffolk County Council stated ‘Even with the lack of information and methodological flaws, the results indicate that the development has a severe impact on network performance and travel times‘. The use of the word ‘severe’ is important since according to

Paragraph 32 of the National Planning Policy Framework, development can only be prevented when ‘the residual cumulative impacts of development are severe’.

Suffolk County Council has raised similar concerns with the recent Ipswich Core Strategy consultation where they state ‘More recent assessments of the planning application for proposed development in the Northern Fringe have, however, suggested that there are not, currently, identified sustainable transport measures to ensure that the development impacts are adequately mitigated. Given the key role of the northern fringe, this makes it more likely that the planned development could give rise to severe traffic congestion across the town’s road network.’

Suffolk County Council are still clinging to the false hope that sustainable transport is the answer and people can be persuaded out of their cars onto buses, cycles etc in unprecedented numbers. The reality is that despite spending large sums on cycling lanes there were fewer people cycling to work in Ipswich in 2011 than in 2001. If planned jobs growth was in the town centre then this might be a plausible strategy, but unfortunately growth is not forecast to happen there. We wish it was because we would love to see an attractive, vibrant town centre with a flourishing economy that attracts jobs particularly professional jobs into the centre. The Ipswich Northern Fringe is poorly connected to sites of planned jobs growth and commuting by car is inevitable. Ipswich Borough Council, Suffolk County Council and the neighbouring local authorities have produced high-level strategies for economic development and jobs growth. These strategies now need to be developed and consolidated into a common view, linked to identified areas for housing growth and a transport impact assessment made. Such an assessment could help to redefine housing growth areas and position them nearer to jobs growth sites.

Although our message finally appears to be getting across, it would be a mistake to underestimate the determination and resolve of Ipswich Borough Council and the developers to pursue the development of the Northern Fringe regardless of the damaging consequences. Much remains to be done!

Over the past year we have responded on your behalf to the Northern Fringe draft masterplan, a planning application submitted by Mersea Homes/CBRE Global Investors and the recent public consultation on the Ipswich Core Strategy & Policies Development Plan Documents.

Mersea Homes/ CBRE Global Investors Planning Application (IP14/00638) –submitted at the end of July 2014.

We distributed a flyer for members of the public to respond and approximately 800 representations were submitted, including our own detailed response. Many key issues were raised and as a direct consequence the timescales for a planning decision by IBC have slipped from November 2014 to 30th September 2015 to allow the developers more time to resolve issues and modify their proposals. The plans consisted of an outline application for the parcel of land owned by the developers between Henley Road and Westerfield Road south of the railway line and detailed plans for the first phase of 80 homes. The latter has now been dropped which is good news since in our opinion the designs were bland and of poor quality. The key issues remain unresolved. We can expect that revised plans will need to be submitted for public consultation around June and a planning meeting has been pencilled in for July 22nd,when will be able to voice our objections. It will be important to get our key objections across clearly and have a high level of public support at the meeting.

Revised Core Strategy Consultation - this is the plan that is driving the development of the Northern Fringe.

The consultation, which closed on 5th March 2015, sought views on a revised Core Strategy & Policies Development Plan and the associated Sustainability Appraisal. We distributed a flyer for members of the public to respond and submitted a detailed response that can be found on our website http://ipswichnorthernfringe.co.uk/. The revised Core Strategy intends to allocate the entire Ipswich Northern Fringe for immediate development through multi-site starts. This is a high-risk strategy that will result in severe traffic congestion for both North Ipswich and the town centre and will damage the future attractiveness and prosperity of the town. Other key issues include the lack of sewage pipeline capacity between the Garden Suburb and Cliff Quay treatment works with no agreed solution in sight and the removal of a target for brownfield site development. The document will need to be examined in public before a Government appointed Inspector and this is expected to happen in the autumn of this year. We will need to make our case to the Inspector to show that the revised Core Strategy is unsound and should be rejected. This will be vitally important since if the revised Core Strategy is found unsound, it will not be able to be adopted nor will the Northern Fringe masterplan.

Over the year we have continued to meet local Councillors, Ipswich Borough Council officials and representatives of Mersea Homes/CBRE Global Investors. We have had several meetings with our local MP Ben Gummer, who has been both helpful and supportive.

The year ahead will present many challenges and is likely to be critical. We will need to focus on the Ipswich Core Strategy public examination, the Mersea Homes/CBRE Global Investors planning application and any other Northern Fringe planning applications, should they arise. The current position of Suffolk County Council gives some grounds for optimism but a difficult road lies ahead. Public support will be key and we look forward to your continued support.

Rod Brooks

Chairman NFPG

Please note that our email address has changed to

Northern Fringe Protection Group Contact Tel: 07742 991359