Derelict Ipswich Wherstead Road building may become 32 flats

Plans submitted to Ipswich Borough Council suggest building new homes in place of the three-storey office building at 240 Wherstead Road, which dates back to the 1950s. 

According to a design and access statement prepared by the Ipswich-based Vision Design & Planning Consultants, the area has been unused for several years. 

“The site appears as a gap in the street scene and the existing building a blot on the townscape,” the statement said. 

“It has been vacant for some years and is now a derelict building that has suffered from squatters and vagrants using the premises.” 

It has been proposed to convert the unused office building in Wherstead Road into 32 flats. Image: Google Maps (Image: Google Maps)

It explained that there had been discussion about building 40 homes on the site in 2006, but that these plans were withdrawn. 

If accepted, these 32 homes will be a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. The complex will be spread across four floors, beginning at basement level, with eight homes on each floor.

The statement added that each flat will have windows to provide them with natural light and ventilation. 

Of the flats, 19 will have one bedroom, while the other 13 will have two.  

The application form showed that currently, there are 32 car parking spaces available, all of which will be retained. 

An additional 64 cycle spaces will be created, two for each apartment.  

The design and access statement concluded that the complex will provide a “high quality” housing and “long term economic gains through job creation and input into the local economy from expectant residents”.

It added that this will also “[remove] reliance on private transport owing to excellent connectivity to the town centre, services, public transport, and public footpaths”.  

Ipswich Borough Council has set an eight-week target date for a decision on this application of February 28.