WORRIED Kesgrave residents have joined forces to contest a new building project on Grange Farm which they fear will overshadow their back gardens.Redrow Homes has submitted an application for 129 houses on land to the east of Bell Lane and south of Nock Gardens.

WORRIED Kesgrave residents have joined forces to contest a new building project on Grange Farm which they fear will overshadow their back gardens.

Redrow Homes has submitted an application for 129 houses on land to the east of Bell Lane and south of Nock Gardens.

Bell Lane residents are furious at the height and scale of the buildings which will be just metres away from their lawns. The new site will back on to 26 houses along the lane.

Paul Offord, one of the residents, said: "No-one can believe they are planning to put two-and-a-half storey houses behind us. There's no such thing as a half-storey, so they're, effectively, three-storey buildings.

"We were always told any development was going to be in keeping with what was already here. But these houses are going to be just metres away from our back gardens and overlooking us all."

Richard Reynolds, of Bell Lane, said: "There's not enough open space left in Kesgrave as it is. When I moved here about ten years ago there was nothing but open fields. Now, it's just become a concrete jungle."

Geoff Harrison, also of Bell Lane, said: "We have enjoyed an open view for 40 years and, naturally, we are not very happy about having two-and-a-half storey houses there. It appears to be a very bad piece of planning."

Kesgrave town council have also criticised the application, with one member of the council describing it as a "pretty disastrous plan, a real hotchpotch of mews, drives and crescents."

The council state it is "one of the most contrived applications it's been consulted on" and, in letter to planners at Suffolk Coastal District Council, make a number of recommendations.

At present, there are plans for 53 of the homes to be two-and-a-half stories high. The council point out the need for more smaller two and three-bedroom properties in the town, and suggest the developers reduce the number of larger properties.

They also sympathise with Bell Lane residents and suggest a reduction in the height of the houses which are to be built along the boundary.

A spokesman for Redrow said: "Outline planning consent has been granted and a meeting has been arranged with the council's planners this Friday to continue discussions. We feel it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage."

nAre you worried about this planning application or others in the area? What do you think of the way Kesgrave has been developed? Write in to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or send us an e mail to eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk or visit the forum at www.eveningstar.co.uk